So how do we stay on track? How do we remain motivated and focused toward our highest and best?

Allow me to share with you a few things that have worked for me. Perhaps they can help you stay on track.

Three Most Important Goals
I have many goals. I always have a few dozen I’m working toward. But I keep three first and foremost in my mind. Every day, I know I must do something that will help me make progress toward their achievement. I look at these goals every day. They’re rarely out of my consciousness. And I usually do take action every day on each of these three goals.

What’s Next?
Martin Sheen’s character in the hit TV series “The West Wing” is President Jeb Bartlett. His way of saying that he’s done with something and ready to move on is to ask the question, “What’s next?”

It’s a good question to ask ourselves. Not only what’s next, but what’s the most important thing we can do today to move us closer to our most important objectives.

Keep Your Goals in Front of You
Put pictures of your goals up so you see them often. Review them regularly. And most importantly, review the REASONS why you want to accomplish these goals. It’s the reasons that will make the difference.

Talk About Your Goals with Supportive People
Having a mastermind group is ideal, but even if you don’t have one, you can still share your goals with people who will encourage and support you. And you can do the same for them.

By talking about your goals, you make them more real. You’ll also get ideas from others on how you can better achieve them. People can’t help you if they don’t know what you want.

Forgive Yourself and Move On
Way too much emotional energy and thinking is wasted because we keep reviewing past behaviors. The past is gone. Today is all we have. Don’t squander time and energy thinking about what you should have done, could have done, what you did or might have done.

Today is a new day. Move on. The point of power is in the present.

Affirmation and Visualization
Affirmative statements and visualizing the achievement of our goals help us to “feel” our way to success. Anything we can do to elevate our emotional connection with our objectives will help us stay on track.

It’s well worth developing strategies that work to keep us consistently moving toward our goals. As we do so we build a track record of success, and setting and achieving bigger goals becomes even easier.

Michael Angier is the founder of SuccessNet, which is celebrating ten years of helping people empower themselves to be their best.

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Money Magazine’s January issue has an interesting survey of American’s goals for 2006. They noted that traditional goals for health and money are taking a back seat this year to the desire to spend more time with the people we love.

Top Overall Goal
30% Spend more time with family and friends
19% Get healthier
18% Manage money better
17% Pursue enjoyable activities
12% Improve career.

Just as revealing, the top financial goal chosen by 33% was to save more money this year. Here’s a tip that Loral Langemeier, the Wealth Diva, shared during one of our tele-seminars: Open an Orange Savings Account and set up an automatic investment every week (or every month) to be taken out of your checking account. Start with a modest amount and gradually increase it. You’re not likely to miss the money and you’ll have the beginnings of a real investment account.

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“You can forget about making New Year’s Resolutions if you’re hoping for a successful outcome. Most aren’t worth the paper they’re written on,” says Vic Johnson, a leading goal setting and motivation expert.

Most New Year’s Resolutions have gone by the wayside before January is over and most won’t even be remembered six months later. And the reason is pretty simple. Most are made in response to something negative; a habit or situation that the person wants to change or end. And therein lies the problem – it’s hard to develop momentum from a negative response. It is always easier to move toward something than away from something.

Consider one of the most adopted goals — weight loss. No one can get excited about losing weight – it requires deprivation. It’s a negative response to concerns about appearance, health, etc. The results of weight loss New Year’s Resolutions demonstrate their weakness. A 1998 survey sponsored by Gardenburger found that more than three-fourths of all women between the ages of 25 and 54 make diet and weight-loss plans each year. Nearly nine of 10 respondents reported only occasional or no success, while almost half lost little or actually gained weight instead.

“The people who succeed at losing weight and maintaining the loss have usually been motivated by a dream much bigger and more positive than just losing weight,” explains Johnson. “They see themselves living a healthy lifestyle. They begin to act and think like people who are in good physical shape. There’s more of a radical change in a person’s thinking and actions than you see with most resolutions. It wouldn’t be possible to effect and sustain such a radical change unless the person is motivated by a big dream that is positive in nature.”

Another popular aim is to quit smoking. Johnson himself was a three-pack-a-day smoker until he celebrated a smoke-free New Year’s twelve years ago. “For over twenty years I had tried to quit many times using every tool and technique I’d hear about. But as long as I was trying to quit, I couldn’t break the grip. Instead, I developed a dream to become a non-smoker. I fell in love with the idea of breathing clean air instead of smoky air, of my body and clothes smelling nice instead of smoky. I thought about how wonderful it would be to taste food again. I decided to start acting and thinking like a non-smoker, and when the thinking took hold I simply quit smoking. In all the years since, I’ve never wanted another cigarette, never even thought about wanting one.”

According to Johnson, the best goal to set is one that calls for the individual to create a plan for their life based on a set of personal dreams. “Most people are in a free-fall through life, careening from one crisis to the next. If you were going to build a new house and you had this idea for a fabulous master bedroom suite, you wouldn’t rush out and start building the master bedroom. You’d have a complete plan before you started. When you approach resolutions and goals in the same manner, you end up with a much better chance of achieving success.”

For help in developing your life plan, see the new Goals 2006 offerings…

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My son and I participate in the “MS150″, a charity event benefiting Multiple Sclerosis research, encompassing a 150 mile bicycle ride from Cherry Hill, NJ to Ocean City, NJ and back over 2 days. I’ve done it for several years every Sept. and find it challenging, enjoyable and satisfying. Two years ago, as I was at the very beginning of the ride, mile 1, I passed a fragile looking Oriental woman who appeared to be in her 70′s. She was riding an old fashioned girl’s bike and wearing a dress. Understand that over 6000 cyclists ride in this annual event, most of whom have expensive bikes and wear special clothing. It was apparent she gave no thought at all to the fact she looked somewhat out of place or that she was being passed by absolutely everyone in the field.

I didn’t give her much thought the remainder of the day and finished day one by about 1:30 in the afternoon. My wife picked us up at the finish line and we went to our hotel to get cleaned up. We showered and relaxed for a while and decided to head back to the boardwalk to get some dinner. Our driving route took us through the last two or three miles of the bicycling course and at about 5:30 in the evening we saw the out of place, little old lady, just coming in to the finish line. She had ridden a little over 75 miles in about 11 hours.

I thought to myself what a lesson in persistence. Her pace seemed terribly slow but she kept on keeping on and didn’t give up. Slowly, one mile, one turn of the pedals at a time she conquered the course. This frail little old woman refused to be beaten and accomplished a physical feat that physically tests me each time I do it.

I had forgotten this story for some time and was going through some pictures posted by the organization from this past September’s event, and I found her picture. It reminded me of the story and I thought to myself what an inspiration to all of us who are currently setting our goals. We need only to follow the example of this woman: keep our minds keenly tuned to our goal, and one step at a time, with persistent effort, we’re sure to get there.

- Contributed by Chris B., New Jersey

Thanks Chris. Outstanding example of persistence!

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How important is visualizing your goal or dream? Heisman Trophy Winner Reggie Bush said it was a key to him. Interviewed after his landslide selection as college football’s best player in 2005, Bush said he had envisioned winning the Heisman since he was nine-years-old. He said his mother had taught him that what you vision is what you get.

Bush has often credited visualization with helping him reach his goals. In fact, his hometown newspaper included this in an article after his senior year in high school: “There are nights when Reggie Bush is asleep, but not really sleeping. He’s thinking, dreaming, visualizing . . . whatever it’s called when a young athlete can’t keep his mind from wandering.

“I like to visualize me running down the field, scoring touchdowns,” Bush said recently. “I feel like I have to see it before I do it.”

Hmmm….sounds like he’s a pretty wise dude in addition to being a great athlete. Is it time to dust off YOUR vision?

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While you’re dreaming big dreams and setting big goals, you should also be creating some big dreams and goals for your physical health. Use the life expectancy calculator at MSN to see how your current habits are affecting your longevity. It’s amazing that just one or two lifestyle changes can add years to your life.

If you’re not happy with what you find, check out the real life stories at Fit Over 40.

…find your life expectancy here

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“As you’re setting your goals for 2006, ask yourself where you are focusing your mental energy. If you only have 100 mental energy units per day to use, how many are you investing and how many are you squandering? The middle class wastes most of their mental energy on the trivial matters of the moment. The world class invests their mental energy moving toward their ultimate vision. Is it any wonder the world class is living their dreams while the middle class struggles to survive?”

–Steve Siebold, author,
177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class

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I saw this trailer while speaking with Bob Proctor several months ago. Bob met the organizers in Australia and it’s well worth putting this on your calendar. Learn more here…

Vic Johnson

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This quote was seen in a high school yearbook, of all places. Then again, what a great place to begin teaching the importance of having dreams and goals.

“The key to happiness is having dreams. The key to success is making dreams come true.”

- Unknown

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Dennis’ dream was to become a PGA touring professional. From all appearances, he was well on his way. On July 21, 1974, he was riding a golf cart down a steep hill on a course near his house when the brakes failed. Dennis Walters was thrown from the cart and suffered severe spinal cord damage.

At a hospital in Morristown, New Jersey, he was diagnosed as a T-12 level paraplegic and told that he would never walk again, which also made playing golf highly unlikely, to say the least. However, at age 24, Dennis was determined to prove otherwise.

When the obstacles to your goals seem a little overwhelming, it’s a good time to read how Dennis Walters handled his. Read more….

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