Vic Johnson, founder of Goals-2-Go.com and co-founder of the popular Champions Club, will be “riding along” with NASCAR’s John Andretti during this Sunday’s Checker Auto Parts 500 Nextel Cup race in Phoenix.

Andretti’s #49 Dodge Avenger will sport the image of Johnson along with six other experts from the website HealthLife.com which launches in December. Johnson was chosen by HealthLife to be its resident expert on goal setting.

“I’m really excited to be a part of the HealthLife team,” Johnson said, “and I’m honored to be included on the #49 car during a major NASCAR race. Racing, especially at the Nextel Cup level, has a lot of lessons for all of us who are looking for ways to achieve bigger goals and dreams. Focus, persistence, commitment, preparation and belief get you across the finish line first on the race track and on the life track as well.”

My friend Mark Victor Hansen has achieved some remarkable success (including selling 130+ million copies of the Chicken Soup books) and there’s no question that he had to build a great team to do it. In this excerpt from his great newsletter, Rich Results, he talks about the importance of concentrating on what you do best and letting others do the rest.

In my experience, this is one of the very best (and most important) lessons you can learn that will instantly translate to success. Within weeks, and even days, of adopting this principle, you will begin to see dramatic increases in production and results. Put it to work today!

“Focusing on your primary goal is your job – it is what you have to devote most of your time to. You can’t be great at everything, so while you’re concentrating on what you need to do, hire others to do the things you don’t have time to do, or aren’t talented at doing.

For example, if someone’s primary goal is to write a book, that’s what they need to focus on – writing. If they are spending the majority of their time balancing books and sorting through their finances they’re not writing. That person should hire a bookkeeper – someone who has a knack for numbers.

Or take, for instance, someone is a brilliant businessperson, but they don’t enjoy (and aren’t very good at) making sales calls. That person would have an experienced, successful telemarketer or telemarketing service make their calls for them.

THIS WEEK’S LESSON:
Concentrate on What You Do Best – Pay Someone Else to Do the Rest

Why bother doing something yourself that you don’t love to do, are not talented at, and takes up your valuable time and energy?

Delegate undesirable activities to those who can do them faster and better than you can. The principle is: delegate or stagnate.

THIS WEEK’S ACTION STEP

A good way to decide what to do with tasks is to label them as they come in – don’t let them pile up. A great system is the 4-D Formula:

1. DO IT – these are urgent tasks that need to be taken care of right away. Take action immediately and finish the task.

2. DELEGATE IT – these are things that need to be done, but don’t have to be done by you. Hand these over to someone else immediately so you don’t have to think about them at all. Make that person responsible for these tasks from start to finish.

3. DEFER IT – these things need to be done, but not right away. Put them in a pile marked “later” and handle them after the urgent tasks have been completed.

4. DUMP IT – these are things that you don’t want to do and don’t necessary have to be done at all. On your computer it’s the ever-present “delete” key. That handles our junk e-mail.

As you really get going on your primary aim, the workload is going to increase. If you are a person who wants complete control of every little thing in your life and business you’re going to be in trouble. Control is an illusion. No one controls anyone or anything. You will need to continue to focus on your primary goal and allow others to help you. It will help to practice the 4-D Formula.”

“Build your own dream team. It starts as a concept, but it projects your future into reality.”
- Mark Victor Hansen

A lot of people have a dream as a child of growing up to be a doctor.

Most people never realize that dream — many of them because they allow their circumstances to get in the way of the dream.

Kellie Lim was one who didn’t, even though she had plenty of “circumstances” in her life. At eight years old she became a triple amputee with an 85% chance of dying in the next few months.

What’s happened over the past 18 years is the stuff that dreams (and movies) are made of. Just ask Dr. Kellie Lim who just graduated from UCLA with her medical degree.

You can find the whole story (and a few more surprises) here…

It’s rare for Hollywood to produce a movie that inspires us, and from all accounts, The Ultimate Gift does that and more. Appearing in theaters across the U.S. and Canada it stars Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin, Drew Fuller, James Garner, Ali Hillis and Brian Dennehy. Based on the best-selling book by Jim Stovall, The Ultimate Gift is an unforgettable, involving story that has already created a strong grass-roots movement of giving and inspired millions of dollars of donations to charity. Watch this preview and then get to a movie theater and see for yourself.

Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator of the massive Chicken Soup for the Soul series, recently wrote some very powerful words about how easy it is to get into action:

“Doing doesn’t need a lot of definition! It means action, taking steps toward your goals! Once you understand your beliefs and thoughts … once you know what it is you want to be and who it is you wish to become … once you are clear on your dreams and begin living those very visions in your mind … you’ve already opened the door to action.

Action actually begins when you put that initial thought energy out there. The next step might be researching the activities you want to do. It might be networking or meeting people who are in the arena you’re interested in becoming a part of. It might be signing up for a seminar within your specific interest. It might entail researching the career position you wish to hold and finding out how – exactly – to get there.

When you take initial action, it doesn’t mean that you have to climb the entire mountain next Saturday. When I decided to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro last fall, I didn’t just decide to show up at the trailhead one day with a Powerbar in my back pocket. I started with small steps several months in advance. I began to change my diet; I incorporated exercise that increased my cardio endurance; and I started doing research on shoes and equipment used by those who had succeeded before me.

It’s not the size of the step that gets you there. It’s the fact that you’re taking the step.”

There’s an outstanding DVD of Mark Victor Hansen included with the Professional Edition of Goals 2007.

My friend Loral Langemeier has helped a lot of people build seven-figure wealth and I found this excerpt from her last newsletter to be “spot on,” as my U.K. friends would say.

The Vision Thing

An important step on the path to becoming a millionaire is to create and refine your vision, which is a description of what you want your life to be at any given moment. This may seem like a superfluous task but it’s really not since it concerns the financial infrastructure that supports your ultimate goals. Describing your vision should make you excited and proud. What does yours look like?

Become A Landlord

If you like being a homeowner, then you may love being a landlord. In addition to tax deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes, owners of rental property also enjoy deductions for homeowner’s insurance and property depreciation. Bottom line: you get a steady stream of income on an appreciating asset, pay less in taxes and keep more of your income.

Get A Mentor

Why would someone want to mentor you? Maybe they wouldn’t —but you’ll never know unless you inquire. At the very least, a potential mentor will be flattered you asked. Moreover, enlightened professionals understand that it never hurts to make an ally, even a newcomer to their industry. Plus, it could be the start of a lucrative referral source for both of you. After all, everyone has a specialty. For example, lawyers are often the best source of referrals for other lawyers.

My friend Michael Angier at SuccessNet.org had a great post on his blog that is worth some contemplation. And it doesn’t just apply to money. It applies to everything.

I’m writing this message while attending Rick Raddatz’s Business Makeover.

I’m spending two days in Denver—then two more days hanging out at Rick’s home in Breckinridge—with several other business owners masterminding about our business, how it works and what we’d like it to be. We brainstorm ways to take their business to the next level.

Rick is brilliant—smart, quick, experienced and very perceptive. He cuts right to the chase.

I’ve learned a lot, shared a lot and gained tons of ideas and gotten great clarity on how to simplify, grow and add value to those we serve.

Yesterday, while we were brainstorming with one of the participants, we asked how much they wanted to earn per year. They were unsure, so we asked again: $100,000? $500,000? A million?

This person was still thinking about their answer when Rick said, “It takes about the same amount of work to earn $100,000 as $1,000,000.”

That really made me stop and think.

Is that really true? With only a little reflection I could see that it was.

I realized that I had worked harder to make $50,000 a year than I worked to make $100,000 a year. And I’m not working any harder today when I’m making a lot more than that.

So what changed?

Well, I know more now. I have more experience. I’ve built upon my strengths and I’ve gained confidence. But mostly I’m thinking bigger and seeing more opportunity.

So I believe Rick’s viewpoint is accurate.

It doesn’t neccessarily take more work to earn a million dollars a year than it does $100K per year.

It does require a good attitude. And it helps if you believe this premise to be true.

With that—plus consistent effort and dedication—you can do it, too.

My note: Most people think the solution to more income, or more of anything, is simply to work harder. I know a lot of broke people who work very hard. If working harder was the answer they’d already be wealthy. The right, consistent activity is always required to reach every goal, but that doesn’t mean you have to work any harder than you are now.

Typically speaking, science is a pretty dry subject. But this article on goal setting at sciencecareers.org is anything but dry. This is a great article for goal setters in all careers. It’s called “Mastering Your Ph.D.: Setting Goals for Success” and I’d suggest you check it out before the end of the year and incorporate the principles into your action plan for 2007.

Read the article on setting goals for success here…

There’s still time to let your family and friends know what you really want for a Holiday gift.  Tell them you want Goal! The Dream Begins, an outstanding video you can pick up at Amazon.com or other video stores.  And if they don’t buy it for you — buy it yourself.  It’s the kind of stuff that reaching big dreams and big goals is all about!  Watch the preview.

And when you’re ready to begin YOUR dream click here….

My friend and mentor Jim Rohn is one of the wisest people I’ve ever known and this is some of his most classic wisdom:

“The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.

When Andrew Carnegie died, they discovered a sheet of paper upon which he had written one of the major goals of his life: to spend the first half of his life accumulating money and to spend the last half of his life giving it all away. And he did!

Some people are disturbed by those tough days because all they have are the days. They haven’t designed or described or defined the future.

Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. And there’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.

We all need lots of powerful long-range goals to help us past the short-term obstacles.

The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them.

Don’t set your goals too low. If you don’t need much, you won’t become much.

If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us.

We all have two choices: We can make a living or we can design a life.”