Tag: goals

Creating Financial Goals

In a perfect world, money would grow on trees and every financial obligation would be a breeze to overcome. Unfortunately for most, money is something that leaves our hands as quickly as it arrives, which can create stressful moments when unexpected situations arise. With trying financial times these days, how can we stretch our dollars to meet our needs and save for the future? My book, Trading Pain for Purpose, overviews successful strategies you can use to meet your financial goals as well in both short-term and long-term. It is incredibly easy to set yourself up for financial success if the proper planning and strategy is the baseline to your money transactions. By taking a look at these easy and structured steps, you can help save for your future financial goals.

Budget (if you haven’t already) – Before understanding what money you have to meet financial goals, you most importantly need to understand how much money you have to work with. Budget your paycheck and other income vs. rent, car payments and other non-negotiable bills. Determine where you can cut back (do you really need that extended sports package on cable?) and shop around for better offers (cell phone companies are always offering lower competitive rates).

Determine your goals – An obvious step, but what exactly are you aiming for financially? It can be one large goal like saving for a brand-new car, or it can be multiple objectives like paying off student debt while getting a new refrigerator. To start your financial planning, writing out all of your goals is the first step to meeting your needs.

Create a timeline- When do you expect to meet these goals? This doesn’t have to be a specific day, but break up your goals into short term (less than 6 months) vs. long term (1+ years) and be as realistic as possible. Prioritize the most important and time-sensitive goals that can affect you if not dealt with (mostly debt-related).

Establish an amount – How much do you need to meet these financial goals? Create a higher amount of savings for your short term goals, and a smaller amount for long-term if possible at the time. If paying off debt, take note to pay off the principal amount and not just interest. Many banks offer monthly auto-transfers to other accounts, which can be easier to manage for some.

Re-work your budget – Does this plan make practical sense? Add in another column to your budget to include financial goals. If you see your savings as an obligation, your future self will be thankful! Ensure that all costs are covered and that some extra money is available for emergencies. That extra cash can be spent on unnecessary items, or could build your future.

Be sure to monitor and re-visit your financial plan from time to time, as life can throw curve balls and change financial needs. As goals are met, there will be room to create newer and bigger ones. These simple steps will create a basic plan for meeting financial goals, and will allow you to work your dreams into a wonderful reality.

July 21, 2015
The Proven Power of Visualization

Have you ever had an imaginary argument with a friend or colleague? Often a reflection of an actual event, our brain will replay a scenario where we say what we wish we could have said – or we visualize what we will say next time. I find sometimes these imaginary conversations can get me so worked up, and I forget how long I’ve been in the shower or how I managed to not lose a finger while chopping a vegetable. Our brains are much more powerful than we know! The fact that adrenaline can build so much over a non-existent event proves so.

What if we could take the same concept of thought process and direct it towards something healthy? The power of visualization is a proven factor in achieving any goal – in relationships, in work and in health.

My book, Trading Pain for Purpose, takes a good look at the link between the power of visualization and obtaining your goals. For an overview, we will go over some cold hard facts on the effectiveness of the power of visualization.

Mental studies have revealed that mental imagery stimulates brain processes, such as perception, muscle memory and motor control. In laymen’s terms, this means your brain reacts to thinking about a task, just as if you were actually doing it. This phenomenon pays off for many, such as:

Athletes: Michael Jordan always visualized goals before playing out the same movement thanks to muscle memory activation. Many athletic teams stress mental imagery before facing competition to “warm up” muscles and activate the brain.

Gaming Champions: The reason chess players take a long time per turn? Visualization of the next move. Their brains exhaust every possible move until finding the one that works.

Public Speakers: Visualization of delivering a speech or heading up a business meeting can actually boost confidence, while assisting with reciting at the same time.

The power of visualization is directly related to one’s success. A huge difference between currently successful people and those striving for it lies in how to dream; successful people live life based on where they want to be, not based on current poor circumstances. If your goal is to climb the corporate ladder, let the visualized confidence and affirmation become proactive today as a part-time receptionist.

So how do we proactively use visualization to achieve goals?

-Continuity: practice makes perfect. Spend a few minutes a day to visualize your goals and where you want to be, and keep holding onto that dream each day.

-Associate affirmations with your goal to establish a positive belief system. Reminding yourself that you are powerful and intelligent can help you get to where you want in your career faster.

-Lastly, recognize the steps needed to get to where you want to be. Remaining stagnant never helps anyone, you need to create movement.

For a better perspective on the proven power of visualization and achieving goals, take a look at my book titled Trading Pain for Purpose. Before you know it, the power of visualization will become prominent in your life and will direct you to a life of success – all starting with your mind.

July 21, 2015
The Art of Creating Fitness Goals
“The greatest danger for most of us isn’t that our aim is too high and miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it” – Michelangelo

At several points in our lives, we run into obstacles that challenge us to revaluate different portions of our lives. This need for a plan can surface in our work lives, relationships, and in our journey to find balance in health and wellness. Many of us have visited this epiphany time and time again, where we realize our health has been slowly put on the back burner when other “more important” issues arise. So how does one create achievable, realistic fitness goals that will hold true in the long run? In my book Trading Pain for Purpose, I explore the full scope in taking charge of your goals including your health goals. For a taste of my book, we will look into creating practical fitness goals.
1. Establish what you want: Yes, we all want to be amazingly fit with a next-to-nothing body fat percentage. But before trying to tackle a million goals at once, I find it extremely effective to tackle one task at a time. Are you looking to tone muscles? Are you training for a 5k marathon? Are your energy levels plummeting due to lack of movement? Finding out what you really want with your fitness plan creates foundation to your future goals.
2. Challenge yourself, but be practical: I believe the biggest reason people quit their journey to fitness is due to unrealistic goals. Mostly, this is because your timeline does not match the goal in a realistic, healthy way – dropping 10lbs a week won’t happen for most. Unrealistic expectations can be birthed at the very beginning of creating fitness goals, where setting aside 2 hours a day at the gym seems practical at the time but impossible a few weeks later. Challenge yourself, but keep in mind what is practical and what is influenced by adrenaline.
3. Keep track of the good and dirty: This is incredibly important in being transparent with yourself during your journey. If too many sweets near bedtime is the problem, keeping a food diary is imperative. For marathon training, a stopwatch is your best friend. I want to mention that keeping track does not exclude moments of weakness! If mess-ups aren’t tracked, it is hard to gage what needs to be worked on.
4. Renew your vows along the way: Newsflash – at one point, you will find every excuse to quit. In fact, you may very well drift back into bad eating habits or ignore the gym for a week. Instead of accepting defeat and sabotaging your fitness goals in their entirety, simply recommit. I have had bad days, like everyone, but the difference is in acknowledging the bad day and carrying on versus calling it quits completely.
These four steps will create a healthy foundation in your journey to wellness. I hope that you found this helpful.
July 21, 2015
Overcoming All Odds: Beating the Obstacles Blocking Achievement

Obstacles come in all shapes and sizes, and can surface in every aspect of life. All of us are fighting a different battle of some kind that is trying to keep us from achieving goals and gaining success. Some are smaller and fixable (communication breakdown with a colleague or a highway closure on the way to work), and some seem impossible to overcome (physical limitations from an accident or rejection from several job interviews). Fortunately, whenever we are struggling with our own demons, we can always look to others who have beat all odds to achievement as a shining example of hope. Sometimes looking at another’s struggles can shed perspective on our current situations, and reassure us that anything is possible.

One of my favorite examples of someone beating all odds is none other than Albert Einstein. Einstein was a globally recognized American scientist who wrote the most profound and complicated scientific theories known to man, and changed the face of science forevermore. Even though he passed away in 1955, Einstein’s theory of relativity is still one of the two pillars of modern physics.

The best part of Einstein’s story is not quite in his successes, but the hurdles he had to conquer to achieve goals. Ironically, family and school professors thought Albert was a stupid and effortless child. Not speaking until the age of 4, Albert’s parents thought he has mentally slow. In school, Albert did not often speak or make effort in his homework, forcing teachers to believe he was lazy and would amount to nothing.

Einstein’s hurdles in education did not end in childhood – he failed an entrance exam into a Swiss polytechnics school the first time around and was accepted only because of an “acceptable” understanding of math and science. After graduation, Einstein searched fervently for a teaching career and did not land a job for two whole years.

Remove self doubt – you CAN do it!

The most amazing testament of Albert Einstein’s story is that for over 20 years he was a misunderstood individual who was deemed as unintelligent, when in reality he was working through equations and theories in his mind since an early age. Einstein later judged the teaching system as it did not allow for creative thinking.

If Albert Einstein had quit and believed he was useless, we would not have Quantum Physics and the Theory of Relativity today. Einstein’s theories changed the world, and fortunately he was alive to experience the fruits of his success in his latter years. His story is a beacon of light for those of us currently facing trials in achieving goals.

I strongly believe that any complicated trial we face means success is just around the corner. For more inspiration of overcoming obstacles and achieving goals in your life, take a look at my book titled Trading Pain for Purpose.

July 21, 2015