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Pick four targets. Take a notebook to a
quiet place. Go there alone and get
comfortable so that you can think in clear and large terms about the four vital areas of
your life. Write “Financial Targets”
at the top of the first page. Below the
heading, write a short paragraph to describe what you want to attain financially. Don’t begin with specific sums of money. Focus on the purposes that you want the
money for initially. You might begin with “My purpose is
to be independent of outside financial aid for the rest of my life, and to support myself
and my family. I wish to provide my children
with college education, and ourselves with two wonderful trips together each year.” Think about what that will cost, and then
write a second paragraph: “My purpose is to have a steady
income of _________ for the rest of my lifetime. I
can realistically achieve this in the field of real estate by attaining a volume of
________, and by investing in _________ in this program: __________.” On this first page, keep your thoughts on
the overall picture. Then write out your
financial purposes in great detail on succeeding pages as you refine your thinking. Title the second page in your notebook, “Social
Target”. Write your own purpose that
reflects your emotional needs. “My purpose is to have three
significant people in my life who are outside my family.
These three will be people I love, people I can count on in times of joy and
sorrow. I would like to share common
interests with them. I am not a club joiner,
and prefer a small, select group of intimate friends.
I recognize that this will take time and patience to develop.” You may be a club joiner. You may prefer having a wider circle of friends. Perhaps traveling abroad, and developing
friendships with people of other cultures, intrigues you.
There’s an enormous variety of social purposes. Having ones that strengthen your will is
what’s important, not who they are. Next page write across the top, “Spiritual/Mental
Target”. “I wish to read at least two books a
month, and attend at least one new seminar quarterly.
I want to go back to college and ____________
. I wish to develop my spiritual awareness,
and increase my understanding of the supreme forces in life by
_____________________________.” The last page of the four target areas is
“Physical Targets”. “My body is healthy and I intend to
keep it that way through good diet and adequate exercise.
To this end, I will __________ (jog, lose weight, play tennis, whatever). I intend to reach these measurements, __________,
and remain there. I also realize that if I
follow this good physical program all my life, I will be more desirable and the statement
that you get better, not older, will be very true of me.” The most common barrier to strong
purpose is the failure to throw off negative childhood training. Many of us are blinded to what we want by our
compulsion to do what we think others value. We’re
so busy worrying what other people think we don’t tune in to what we feel. We must hear our own inner voices to have strong
purpose. This exercise will give you clear
new focus for the New Year. |
