"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You're on your own. And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go!"

As is so often the case Dr Suess says it best of all... Some of his books are perhaps the greatest on self leadership ever written and contain lessons not just for kids. The one I recommend to my clients, which is ultimately a lesson in goal setting, with verse quoted above is "Oh, the Places You'll Go!". Dr. Seuss tells readers that "all journeys face perils, whether from indecision, from loneliness, or worst of all, from too much waiting," Despite the dreaded "waiting place" a metaphor describing most adults existence living in their comfort zones, doing as they have always done, wishing their lives away on that illusive lottery win, children learn that by setting goals and staying focused they are likely to conquer life's "great balancing act."

It is unfortunate that by not setting vision, purpose and goals to maintain focus and direction plus values to steer by, most business leaders end up being driven by their business rather than the other way around. Here is another shocking statistic: less than 1 in every 100 business owners will ever create the wealth, lifestyle or level of success they are after. Don't be another 2012 statistic...

In reality you are never in the past or future.  You exist only in the present moment.  Even when you remember the past or envision the future, you're still thinking those thoughts in the present.  All you really have is right now.  And that's all you ever will have.  You can't control the passage of time, but you can control your present moment focus. That's all. No past. No future. Just right now.

First, understand that you can only achieve anything in the present moment, and you can only enjoy those achievements in the present moment.  You can't consciously achieve anything or enjoy anything in the past or future because you're consciously never actually there.  That's why goal setting is a function of your conscious mind, whilst goal achievement is ultimately a function of your subconscious mind. 

Let me explain: You consciously set a goal and thereafter you must consciously remind yourself of that goal every day. You must consciously visualize yourself achieving that goal, and take conscious action every day toward it. By doing this your subconscious filters will present opportunities to the conscious part of your mind that you would have normally missed because you were not focused on your goal. Plus you will subconsciously reprogram far better habits of thought, which we call beliefs that will in turn improve the quality of the questions you ask of yourself and others, the decisions you make, the actions you take, and the results you acheive.

Unfortunately too often people act incongruently with this fact, most especially when setting New Year Resolutions. Here are the three scenarios that typically occur:

1. You consciously set a goal, but then what? You forget about it, istead filling your mind with what if thoughts again. Very rarely do you write the goal down and even if you do it gets put in the bottom drawer or under a pile of magazines lost forever.  

2. You consciously set a goal that's based on an inaccurate model of your reality - in other words subconsciously you believe it very difficult or perhaps impossible to achieve. Such a goal will surely be an uphill struggle.

3. You only ever set away from goals. Those that will allow you to move away from some pain you are feeling. The only problem with away from goals is that they very rarely drive you out of your comfort zone. Once you stop feeling the pain you sink back into your comfort zone and more often than not the pain eventually returns. Move toward goals drive you out of your comfort zone.  

The purpose of goal-setting isn't to control the future. The only value in goal-setting is that it improves the quality of your present moment reality, in other words it is how we challenge ourselves to improve. However, although the future only exists in your imagination, never underestimate its power. The real key to achieving goals is to also focus on WHY you want to achieve them. Whenever you set a goal, always ask yourself, "How does setting this goal improve my present reality?"  It should bring greater clarity, focus, and motivation to your life whenever you think about what you will get out of achieving it; you're real WHY for setting it in the first place.

Goals shouldn't be generalized desires, such as "I want more money" or "I want to be happy." Goals should be exact, specific outcomes--results you can get your head and emotions around. The first step to living your dream life is put your goals in writing. To fuel action on your goals, take some time to consider how achieving them makes you feel. How will you act, walk, and talk when you achieve each goal? What will you do with your new abundant life? Come up with as many positive reasons and anchors (WHY's) as you can for achieving your goal to fuel you to do your best. Don't sit on the sidelines waiting for things to change. Take charge and make your dreams come true.

Setting goals hones our focus, gives us direction, and makes it far more likely that we'll actually live the life of our dreams rather than just drift along on whatever whim our circumstances present.

Today we know that a couple of things happen when you write your goals down. When you write your goals in clear, precise terms, you activate your reticular activating system. This powerful subconscious tool filters out all the distractions and information you don't want. By eliminating the unnecessary 98 percent-including all the information that tries to get your attention every moment of every day through adverts, TV, radio and the Internet-you can zero in on the important 2 percent and become absolutely mega-productive. There are opportunities around you right now to solve every challenge you have, but you may not see them until you condition your brain to look for, accept, and apply them in your life.

My 7 Steps To Getting Anything You Want in 2012:

Step 1 - Decide exactly WHAT you want and write it down as a goal

Step 2 - Decide WHY you want it and write those down next to your goal

Step 3 - BELEVIE you will get it, visualizing and affirming that believe every day.

Step 4 - Make a strategy plan of HOW you can achieve it

Step 5 - Be resolute in reviewing your HOW, WHAT and WHY every day

Step 6 - Be resolute in taking ACTION towards it every day

Step 7 - Have FAITH it's on its way to you and hold yourself accountable

Bonus Step - As most top athletes and business people do.. Hire a great coach to help you DEFINE and keep you FOCUSED on all the steps above.   

I wish you, your family and your team a very Merry Christmas and an Abundant and Profitable 2012.