10 Steps to Set and Achieve Your Goals - Every Time!
by Dr. Philip E. Humbert, writer, speaker and success coach

It's been said that everyone has goals, whether we know it or not. We have goals to keep our current job, or to get a different one. We have goals to save for the future, or to travel, take a vacation, or purchase the things we need and want to make our lives more enjoyable. An important distinction, however, is that top achievers are very intentional and focused on their goals, while many of the rest of us are not.

Top achievers know that the wording, structure, timing and format of a goal can make its achievement much easier - or far more difficult. Top achievers understand the basic skills for setting and reaching their goals, every time! They know how to design goals that create success. Here are the 10 most important steps to set and achieve your goals:

1. Reachable goals are SPECIFIC. Top achievers know that to reach their goals, the brain must know exactly, precisely, what they are trying to accomplish. Never word a goal with vague terms like "some" or "a little bit", or "more". Be specific! If you want to lose 8 pounds and reach a weight of 175, specify those exact numbers. If you want to save $200 this month, be exact. Your brain can help you accomplish almost anything if it knows precisely what you are aiming for.

2. Reachable goals are SIMPLE. Many people describe their goals in complex terms of retiring on the beach in Hawaii, with nice cars and lots of money, and ..... their list goes on and on. Any ONE of those things is a great goal, but the combination becomes over whelming and the brain gets confused. If you want to retire in Hawaii, just say so! If you want to increase your sales by 10% this month, say so! Keep your goals simple, clear, and focused.

3. Reachable goals are SIGNIFICANT. No one can muster the enthusiasm, hard work and courage to reach a goal they don't really care about. A reachable goal is one you really, really, REALLY want! It's something that will change your life, enhance your health or wealth, and make you proud. It gets your juices flowing, gets you up in the morning, and keeps you going all day long, because it is important! Set goals that are worth achieving!

4. Reachable goals are STRATEGIC. High achievers know that the best goals accomplish many great outcomes, all at one time. Running a 10K race will almost certainly: 1) feel great! 2) help you lose weight 3) lower your cholesterol level 4) strengthen your heart 5) lower you risk of heart disease 6) increase your energy and stamina, and 7) improve your outlook. Design your goals to strategically impact as many areas of your life as possible. You'll have more reasons to reach your goal and more excitement when you do!

5. Reachable goals are MEASURABLE. A goal without a measurable outcome is just a pipe-dream. You can't achieve a pound of "happiness" or 6 inches of "self-esteem", but you CAN get a new job. You CAN run a mile in under 7 minutes, or do 100 sit-ups. Someone has wisely observed that, "What gets measured, gets done." Define your goals in terms of height, weight, dollars, inches, or hours. Then measure your progress until you achieve your desired outcome.

6. Reachable goals are RATIONAL. To reach your goal, you will need a plan, a path, and a vehicle for getting there. Your goals must make sense! When you explain them to friends and family, your goals should create excitement, draw support, and promote encouragement. Your goals should be just out of reach, but not out of sight! You want to stretch to be your best, not strain after impossible dreams. Set goals you CAN and WILL achieve!

7. Reachable goals are TANGIBLE. Choose goals that you can see, hear, smell or touch. Go for things you will enjoy and that you can clearly visualize. The brain has hard time going for "financial security", but it can visualize a bank statement with nice, large numbers on it! Define your goals in terms that excite the senses, then go for it with all your heart!

8. Reachable goals are WRITTEN. High achievers always know precisely what they want, because they've written it down. Often, they write a short description of their goals every single morning, as a personal reminder of their priorities and their objectives. The act of writing your goals down vastly increases your chance of success. Write it down! Then, keep your notes where you can see and read them every day.

9. Reachable goals are SHARED. We are far more likely to stick to our plan and reach our goals if we know our friends and family support us. Being part of a team increases our determination, our stamina, and our courage. Caution: Never share your goals with anyone who may ridicule, tease or discourage you! The world is full of doubters and you have no time for them. Instead, find a support team, a group of cheerleaders, and a coach who will encourage you every step of the way. High achievers count on and work with other winners!

10. Reachable goals are CONSISTENT WITH YOUR VALUES. One of the biggest reasons people fail to achieve their goals is that they have conflict between their behavior and their values. However, when your values and your goals are in agreement, there is no stopping you! Clarify your values first, then set simple, specific, measurable, tangible, written goals that are consistent with those values. You will achieve them, every single time!

Goal Setting for Children

As a parent, you have the most important job on earth. You can guarantee your child's future success by instilling success characteristics-namely goal setting, and self-confidence-into his daily life, so that he will use them automatically throughout life. This will ultimately ensure his success in academic pursuits and later in whatever career or business he chooses. To succeed in life, we must know exactly what it is we are trying to do. This is the first and foremost secret of successful people-a secret you can give as a gift to your kids when you teach them to set goals. YOUR goals should be to give your kids a habit of setting goals-just as you teach them to brush their teeth!

Smart goal setting for children should be approached with the help from an adult in a manner that will allow the child to succeed if able, and to show them what happened, if the outcome of their goal is not met.

Discussion
Talking to the child has to be the first step in any goal planning session. Knowing what a child truly wants the outcome of a situation to be is necessary to help them reach for their goal. Oftentimes, a child will not be clearly focused themselves on what their goal is, and that is where you, as the parent, or significant adult, can be of purpose. Ask them questions that may or may not have yes and no answers, questions that can bring a discussion of the goal into the open, helping to define the goal. If the goal they are reaching for is obviously not going to be accomplished, do not make a statement to that fact, but ask them to define how they think they are going to reach it. By having them examine their goal more clearly, they will usually be able to recognize that the original goal was possibly too far fetched, and they will be able to reassess it themselves.

If their goals are not really goals, but more along the way of minor steps, be patient above all else, and using the same question technique above, try to draw them out through discussion on what they would like to do after that step is met. Working through these systematic ideas will many times grow into actual goals.

Also important to the discussion of the goals is to find out what the child actually perceives the reaching of the goals will mean. Do they realize that oftentimes the goal itself is the only reward?

Chart
Kids are visual by nature. Help them create a chart that they can refer to that defines their goals. One rule for older kids; the chart HAS to be easy to alter. A dry- erase board is perfect for this. Providing an alterable chart is not meant to make it easy for them to back away from their goals, but to make it easy for them to 'add' to their goals. Small children can also benefit from a time tested goal marker, stars! A simple chart that can mark goals being met with stars, or other desired stickers, is a simple, but effective way to identify that the goals are being met.

Age Appropriate and Individualism
If you are dealing with more than one child, as with anything where children are concerned, do not assume that just because it worked for one child, that it will necessarily work for another child. Each child will most likely have a very different approach to attaining goals. Some may be more determined to reach goals that are identified, while others will just not appear to show any effort at all for even some of the most mundane goals set down. Be patient, provide guidance, and give encouragement to each child in the manner in which they are most receptive.

By Example
If getting your child to set and reach for goals just does not seem to be working, try to show them by example how setting goals can be beneficial. Set a somewhat simple goal for yourself, such as not answering the phone during mealtime by turning the ringer off, and then sticking with it. Use this quiet time at dinner to talk about how this simple to do action created time. For a smaller child, set up matching goals, such as tooth brushing charts, that can be visually compared by the child as the chart progresses. Consistently brush your teeth, applying stickers to your chart when you do. Your child will quickly understand the idea behind setting a simple goal.

Prolong Your LIFE with Martial Arts!

By: Brad Evenson National Post

Gladiators benefited from surge in 'natural killer' cells


Pacifists take note: Medical research shows why Vikings, gladiators and samurai were so vigorous. It turns out fighting is good for you.

Two studies published today in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggest martial arts and wrestling can stave off disease.
"The true meaning of martial arts is the prolonging of life, not just self-defense," says Peter Douris, a professor of physical therapy at the New York Institute of Technology. "It's self-defense against the ageing process. If you notice these [martial arts] masters as they get older and older, they stay in incredible condition."

What makes fighting unique among most forms of exercise is the way it blends strength, endurance, flexibility and balance. Although the studies were small in scale, their findings should make people aware of fitness alternatives to traditional sports such as running and lifting weights.

In recent years, millions of elderly North Americans have discovered the benefits of tai chi, a Chinese martial art that uses slow, smooth movements to train the body in balance, endurance and strength. But Dr. Douris wanted to see whether a more dynamic art form could offer benefits to people aged 40 to 60.

"I was interested in middle aged people like me," said the 47-year-old researcher.

Dr. Douris recruited seven men and two women who had practiced a Korean martial art called soo bahk do. However, he says other forms, such as karate, judo, tae kwon do and kung fu would confer similar benefits. The subjects had done the martial art for three years or more, but did no other exercise.

He compared them with adults of the same age and gender who did no exercise, measuring body fat, balance, flexibility, muscle and grip strength.
"The difference was incredible," he said.
For example, the sedentary group had 12% more body fat than the soo bahk do group. The martial arts group performed more than twice as many push ups and sit-ups in 60 seconds.

They could also hold their balance on one leg with eyes closed for an average 62 seconds, compared with only 26 seconds for the sedentary group. In a test called the "sit and reach test," the soo bahk do group enjoyed 114% more flexibility in the hamstrings, low back and hip joints.

Not only does fighting help fitness, but it may also prevent illness.
In a study of teenaged boys, a team of California researchers found wrestling added a powerful boost to the immune system.

Until now, most studies of immunity and activity focused on adults. But in recent years, evidence has piled up that exercise can bolster the immune systems of children, which can influence their growth.

"What is emerging from this is that the role of exercise in children is not only for growth and development, but also in the immune response," says researcher Dan Cooper, a professor of pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Cooper and his colleagues measured the levels of white blood cells of 14- to 18-year-old boys at a high school after a 90-minute wrestling practice.

They chose wrestling because of its intense blend of resistance, endurance and stretching exercise.

"What I think is interesting about the wrestler paper is here is an activity that is done by kids," he says. "It's comparable to other sports, and before we had sports, probably it's comparable to what children did during the early evolution of man."

They found the cell counts rose sharply after the exercise, especially a class of cells called natural killer (NK) cells.

The most aggressive of all immune cells, NK cells are the first line of defense against viral infections and cancers. They patrol the bloodstream, seeking out "banners" on healthy, normal cells. When they find diseased cells without this flag, the NK cells blast them with a lethal burst of chemicals that destroys them.

Dr. Cooper suggests immune chemicals produced by exercise, such as an inflammatory protein called IL-6 may help children grow.

"[IL-6] may cause the formation of new blood vessels," he says.

"The formation of new blood vessels in the muscle is probably one of the most important adaptive mechanisms. It's what allows you, the second time you do the activity, to do it better and more efficiently."

In fact, he suspects many forms of illness caused by defects in the immune system, such as diabetes, asthma or arthritis, may be caused by a lack of vigorous exercise, such as wrestling or martial arts, in childhood.

© National Post