How To Believe In Yourself

If you have been beat down long enough, believing in yourself can seem impossible. When you have had people in your life who do not lift you up, you pretty much take over for them when they are not there. You proceed to discount your skills and abilities based on what other people have said. You are doing a great disservice to yourself and giving your power to someone else. To reach your goals in this life, believing in yourself is extremely important if you want to get anywhere. Those assumptions about who you are become a way of life. You will stay stuck in these patterns until you change the way you think.

Here are some simple ways to start learning how to believe in you:

1) Try Even When You Still Think You Can't Do It

Because you have pattern of not believing in yourself, this will take a little work. Make a vow to yourself today that you will try your best at any opportunity that comes your way. It does not matter if you have fallen on your face before or whether you think it's even possible. The important thing is to pledge to yourself that you will try no matter what the outcome may be. The worst thing to do to yourself is to assume you can't do it before even trying. Tell yourself right now that any effort to do better is not a waste of your precious time.

2) Establish Evidence For The Assumptions

Get some paper and start a list. List every one of those things you really believe about yourself and your abilities or the lack of them. List them whether they are large or small. Once you have that list go through each assumption and examine it. Ask yourself, "Is this true? What is the proof?" Then go and do whatever it is you feel you cannot. It does not matter if you do it better than anyone else. It only matters that you DO.

3) Recognize The Possibilities

A constant onslaught of self-defeating assumptions obviously puts you in the place of believing you cannot succeed. This goes back to the people in your life who have impressed their own beliefs on you. A silly bunch of girls in high school told you that you were fat and no one would ever want you. Guess what you have been doing since? Saying that same self-defeating comment to yourself. It is time to push beyond what you believe are your capabilities. This is a scary thought. It also will be a step in the direction of finding the belief in you. The assumptions you have about yourself may not be true. You have simply accepted these assumptions as truth without proof. Consider all the possibilities of each situation. Challenge the assumptions and have an open mind to the possibility that you could be wrong!

With every success, whether large or small, the belief in yourself will grow. That will be the push you need to keep stepping outside your comfort zone and attain the accomplishments you truly deserve.


James Boehm

Top 7 Steps to Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Happen

There's still time to get your resolutions rolling... The first of the year gave you a blank piece of paper on which to write the next year of your life. New Year’s resolutions anyone?

The holidays may have widened your hips or piled on the credit card debt. That's why people say things like, "This year I'm definitely going to get back into my skinny jeans." Or, "I’m going to get rid of my debt and start saving once and for all." These declarations may give you an initial boost of inspiration, but most of them will soon disappear. In fact, studies show that most people's New Year’s resolutions have dropped away by February.

So what can you do to beat the odds? How can you really make your New Year’s resolutions happen? These 7 steps work to accomplish a resolution or any goal. Apply them this year, starting today, and make your resolutions come true!

1. Ask yourself: "What do I want to accomplish this year?"

As you look toward the year in front of you, what do you really want to accomplish? If you actually made your New Year’s resolutions happen, what would you gain? Look to key areas of your life for inspiration—career, family, health/fitness, money or romantic relationships. As I stated in the How to Set Goals That Stick Special Report, "Imagine that you’ve already completed the coming year with satisfaction and ease. What are you most proud of? What thrilled you the most?" From there, come up with ideas for your yearly goals.

If you’re drawing a blank, think about what you dislike in your life. On the career front, do your work hours stretch into the evening? Do you want to stop missing out on family dinners and outings? From a health/fitness point of view, are you tired of feeling low energy every day? Are the daily trips to the office vending machine taking their toll? Frustration and dissatisfaction can be great motivators for change.

By viewing what you want to move toward, or sorting through what you want to move away from, come up with several possible goals. Then narrow down your list and pick one to three final goals. Make them important. If you could only achieve three things this year, what would they be?

2. Ask why? Why did you pick these goals?

What's behind them? Connect to what's really driving you. As I said in my Special Report, "Set meaningful goals, not just any old goals." What goals would be meaningful to you this year? Be as specific as possible.

For example, if you want to save money, go beyond saying, "I want to save money because it would be great to have some extra cash." Wanting more money for the sole sake of having more money isn’t meaningful enough to keep most people going. Connect to something deeper. What's behind your desire for more money? Here’s one possibility: "I've always wanted to own a home. It’s time to take action toward that dream. I'm tired of renting and I want to lay down roots for my family. I also want to move to a nicer area that is safe and close to good schools for my children. I will use the money I save this year toward a down payment. I can definitely cut back on spending to buy a house!" When you clarify the "why" behind what you want you’ll feel much more driven and connected to your goal.

If you have no idea why you want something, dig deeper. Ask, "Why is this important to me? What would I get out of that? What would my family/friends/coworkers get out of that?" You can also ask another person or coach for insight.
If you keep coming up with nothing, maybe you need to reconsider whether you want that particular goal at all. Create a goal that has some passion behind it. Give yourself reasons to strive toward your aspirations.

3. Follow the "do what by when" formula.

Most New Year’s resolutions fail because they remain vague or wishful. Goals such as "I want to lose weight" aren’t tangible and will be difficult to make happen. If weight loss is a goal of yours (and you already know why you want to weigh less), make it specific. For example, "I want to lose 20 pounds by May 30, 2008." Using the "do what by when" formula clarifies exactly what you intend to do (lose 20 pounds) by a specific month, day and year (May 30, 2008). Then you can measure your success every time you jump on the scale.

Speaking of measuring, make sure you can count, measure or touch your progress. The above weight goal, for example, can be measured in pounds—20 to be exact. How will you know when you've met your goal? Define it in a measurable way. Do you want a promotion of 10% or 20% this year? Do you want to save $1,000 or $10,000? How much money do you need to earn each month to pay your bills? Without ways to measure your goals, they remain wishes.

Financial advisor and founder of Insideout Investing, Anna Choi, says, "You can manifest your goals better when they are specific, measurable, time-bound and achievable." To do that, apply the "do what by when" formula to quantify your goals. Then, to make those goals achievable, do the "rubber band" test.

4. Do the "rubber band" test.

The trick is to set ambitious goals that will stretch you without making you “snap.” In the November 2007 article, ''Top 3 Must-Do’s Before the New Year," I said, "Like a rubber band stretched between two fingers, the goal should have the right mix of tension and flexibility. Put enough stretch in your goal to make it enticing yet with a touch of slack to make it doable." Setting a challenging goal will encourage you to try harder and to go for it.

Anna Choi agrees, "It's important to set a goal you believe can happen. But it also has to be a stretch goal, versus a goal so ridiculously huge you feel deflated even looking at it." Peak performance comes from doing something tough but possible given your time frame.

A common New Year’s resolution is to learn a new language. But unless they are multi-lingual or languages come easily, most people won’t achieve this in a year. Try something more doable, such as “to attend Spanish 1 and Spanish 2 at the local community college by December 31, 2008.” You’ll still be working toward your long-term goal of being fluent by allowing yourself to get started. Overly lofty goals will have you giving up at the starting line. Ambitious goals will give you a challenge but allow you to get going right away.

5. Put your goals in writing.

Have you written down your goals for the New Year? If you haven’t, you're not alone. Research shows that in the U.S. fewer than 1% of people write down their goals. Why is this important? A noted 1953 study at Harvard University evaluated how many graduates had clear, specific goals in writing and supported with an action plan. Although the classmates being assessed were obviously bright, very few of them set goals. In fact, only 3% of graduates put their goals in writing.

What happened to this 3%? When questioned 20 years later, it turned out that this small group had had greater success than the rest. Those 3% of graduates who had put their goals in writing had built greater fortunes than the entire remaining 97% of alumni.

Taking a moment to put your goals in writing is worth it. Try it yourself. Put pen to paper (or fingers to key pad). The act of writing will cement your goals in your mind. It can also help you clarify your goals, think about them in a new light and direct your energy toward ways to make them happen. Display your written goals somewhere visible and review them daily. Post them on the corner of your computer desktop and put them on your refrigerator. Keep them alive and create a plan around each one.

6. Create a plan.

You know what your goals are. They’re clearly written with deadlines. Now go beyond wishes and hope to put meat on each of your goals with a solid plan. Your plan answers the question: "How will I make this happen?" For example, if your goal is to save $10,000 by October 31, 2008, set a plan for saving $1,000 per month. What systems will you put in place to achieve this? Will you have the money automatically deducted from your paycheck and deposited into your retirement account? Will you cut back on buying clothing or eating out to reserve cash for savings?

Create milestones for each month. What’s the main thing you want to accomplish toward your goal in January? in February? in March? Then break each month down further. Underneath those milestones define specific actions needed to achieve them. Map out exact steps that are time-bound within the month. Put them in your schedule.

Celebrate small achievements along the way. If you've saved $2,000 by February (and have never saved money before), bravo! Take time to toast your progress. Let yourself know that you’re on track and let that progress motivate you to keep going. Getting even one dollar closer to your goal is better than adding one more dollar to your debt.

7. Take action… right away.

The most important thing is to begin. Never leave a planning or goal-setting session without taking at least one tangible action. Without action, your goals can’t take flight.

You’ve selected your top one to three goals for the year. You know why they are important in your heart of hearts. You've committed them to writing, and you have a plan. Way to go! Now keep going. Take that final step—action.

Start right away with at least one action you can take toward your goal today. Consider the goal "to lose 20 pounds by May 30, 2008." What small step can you take today toward that goal? For example, you schedule your first appointment with a trainer. Or you go to the gym for 30 minutes. Or you take a brisk 20-minute walk. Pick something so easy it would be almost impossible to fail. Stand up and take that single action.

Use your plan to plug action into your yearly, monthly, weekly and daily schedule. Look for consistent blocks of time when you can work toward your goal. It takes discipline. Life will get in the way. But staying the course will let you reap the rewards. Successful people know this. That’s why they make it a priority to focus and act on their goals regularly. You can do it too. When you arrive at your destination you’ll feel a great sense of satisfaction in your focused effort to make your goal happen.

James Boehm Every Month A Million and the Daily Dose Of Good.

How To Believe In Yourself

If you have been beat down long enough, believing in yourself can seem impossible. When you have had people in your life who do not lift you up, you pretty much take over for them when they are not there. You proceed to discount your skills and abilities based on what other people have said. You are doing a great disservice to yourself and giving your power to someone else. To reach your goals in this life, believing in yourself is extremely important if you want to get anywhere. Those assumptions about who you are become a way of life. You will stay stuck in these patterns until you change the way you think.

Here are some simple ways to start learning how to believe in you:

1) Try Even When You Still Think You Can't Do It

Because you have pattern of not believing in yourself, this will take a little work. Make a vow to yourself today that you will try your best at any opportunity that comes your way. It does not matter if you have fallen on your face before or whether you think it's even possible. The important thing is to pledge to yourself that you will try no matter what the outcome may be. The worst thing to do to yourself is to assume you can't do it before even trying. Tell yourself right now that any effort to do better is not a waste of your precious time.

2) Establish Evidence For The Assumptions

Get some paper and start a list. List every one of those things you really believe about yourself and your abilities or the lack of them. List them whether they are large or small. Once you have that list go through each assumption and examine it. Ask yourself, "Is this true? What is the proof?" Then go and do whatever it is you feel you cannot. It does not matter if you do it better than anyone else. It only matters that you DO.

3) Recognize The Possibilities

A constant onslaught of self-defeating assumptions obviously puts you in the place of believing you cannot succeed. This goes back to the people in your life who have impressed their own beliefs on you. A silly bunch of girls in high school told you that you were fat and no one would ever want you. Guess what you have been doing since? Saying that same self-defeating comment to yourself. It is time to push beyond what you believe are your capabilities. This is a scary thought. It also will be a step in the direction of finding the belief in you. The assumptions you have about yourself may not be true. You have simply accepted these assumptions as truth without proof. Consider all the possibilities of each situation. Challenge the assumptions and have an open mind to the possibility that you could be wrong!

With every success, whether large or small, the belief in yourself will grow. That will be the push you need to keep stepping outside your comfort zone and attain the accomplishments you truly deserve.

Every Month A Million and the Daily Dose Of Good.

Take Action To Achieve Your Dreams

You have a dream. Maybe you want to climb Mt Everest, move to another country to earn money for your future, start your own business or even go back into the working world after spending a few years taking care of the kids.

Why aren’t you doing it? What’s holding you back?

Listen, a dream is a vision in our mind. Creative dreaming without action is a far-fetched realization to goal attainment.

Typical examples are the great wonders of the world, those landmarks that typify or define the greatness of nations. Landmarks like the Statue of Liberty of the United States of America, the Big Ben of England, the Taj Mahal of India, the Great Wall of China, and numerous more. Imagine if these great ideas, these dreams were not acted upon, will we ever have them to be enjoyed by people from every nation on earth? What kind of achievement will each nation have if great thinkers just sit on their ideas and never acted on it. Absolutely nothing. We would probably be facing each other blankly wondering why and what went wrong?

Probably you’d say: “Oh? well? we still have the natural wonders like Niagara Falls, Mt. Fuji, beautiful coral reefs everywhere on earth.” Yes? but these are God’s creations. God did not create man in His own image if He thinks we won’t be using our creativity and put it into action. He might as well take it away from us. He expects us to act on it.

So what’s keeping us from acting on our ideas? We can name a few. Fear of failure is our biggest deterrent. Fear of being ridiculed, fear of sinking further to a depressed state than we presently are, fear of totally losing all we’ve got if we don’t achieve our personal goals, fear of taking risks.

We all have to take risk at one time or another. Risk may come to us in a variety of reasons, big or small. There are risks we can do without, but there are risks that leave us no option but to take and act on it.

As you can see, risks come in many forms. For comparison purposes, let us consider two: risk similar to winning or losing when we gamble and risk in pursuit of a goal.

The risk involved in gambling is for non-thinkers. This is tantamount to luck risk, not good judgment risk. Risk of this kind has no room in goal realization. It is like ignoring safety on the road, just for kicks, come what may, short-lived, to satisfy a craving.

However, risks taken to achieve goal has a definite lasting purpose, a purpose that will bring untold benefits once you achieve your goals. It is a risk worth taking for thinkers, not for happy-go-lucky non-thinkers. Risk in pursuit of a goal will bring stability and security in life, ultimately leading to happiness.
Whenever fear grips us, think positively. Look at it this way. Will we ever get anywhere if we don’t take the risk to act on our dreams? Will we be satisfied with our inaction, five, ten, or twenty years from now?

If you notice, there is one common denominator that is holding us back from acting on our dreams, that thing called fear. Fear is the biggest stumbling block to acting on a creative dream that it practically holds everything still. So it is imperative that we eliminate fear in our feelings to clear the way to our goal.

To overcome this fear, we have to face fear on the face, eye to eye, mano y mano. Let us take a typical example, say you have a fear of speaking in public. I guess a majority of us do. Worst scenario that could happen is you will get tongue-tied and spoil your entire speech in spite of having committed the entire speech into memory. You become the laughing stock of the audience. Don’t let it prevent you from speaking in public the next time around because if you do, fear has won over you and you will be cowering in this kind of fear for the rest of your life. To win over fear, draw lessons from your failure and capitalize on it the next time around. Don’t stop till you have successfully made a good speech. Once you do, you have actually turned the table around. This time, it is fear that fears you.

Another example with a somewhat different twist, say you are a lifeguard and you failed to save a drowning person who apparently should have been saved. Now this is a big failure because a life was at stake here. In spite of this, don’t give up being a lifeguard just because of one mistake. Think about the other lives you have saved before and will be saving if you continue to do so. Say you were able to save a person in an otherwise hopeless situation, doesn’t this offset or overcome the previous failure that happened?

The idea here is to give your best. Once you give your best, it just doesn’t get any better because it is already the best.

When you act on your dreams, think of your actions in a positive way. What you think is what will happen. What the mind can conceive, the body can achieve. Believe that the likely outcome of a thing that we do depends mostly on how we set our mind on it. Our actions originate from our thoughts and the ultimate result is dictated by our mind as well. If we think it will fail, it will. If we think it will succeed, it will. Mental thinking or attitude is the master of the actions we undertake.

Where your mental attitude is directed for a longer period of time, the more difficult it is to change to the opposite direction. If your mind is set on negative thoughts, the more difficult it will be to change to positive thoughts if you do not act on it immediately. However, if your mind is already set on positive thoughts for a long time, it will remain firm on this attitude as time goes by.

Defeat is imminent if your thoughts are in this direction. You may say: “I told you so” that an action has failed because you think it will, just to satisfy yourself when in fact, you are just looking for an excuse or easy way out. The end result is still a failure and what does that make you, a failure. You are just fooling yourself.

On the other hand, success is imminent when your thoughts say it will. Even if it fails the first time, you will learn from your failure and when you try again, you will ultimately succeed as you gain more experience. Keep on trying and persevering. There should be no let up and when success is at hand, you would have defeated defeat.

Here’s another nugget of thought. If you go all out and risk everything, there is nothing left to risk. When that happens, the only possible outcome is success.

Don’t give up your dreams without even fighting for them just because the risks are too great.

The greater the risk, the bigger the reward and success is sweeter. Either way, whether you achieve your dream or not, you will come out of it a better person.

Every Month A Million and the Daily Dose Of Good

Wanting to Become Rich is not Enough

Our nature makes us want respect, fame, and success. Perhaps evolution caused that, because back in our primitive days if every member of the pack competed for the alpha spot then the strongest would usually become the leader, which was in the interest of the pack as a whole. As a result, we all want success. In modern capitalism, being successful often means being rich. Most people want to be rich.

Of course, most people do not just want to be rich and successful. Most people also believe that they will be rich and successful one day. This starts from childhood, in that even as kids we all think we will be the next big pop singer, sports star, or other celebrity.

Unfortunately, most people never become very rich or successful. The reason is not necessarily that they could not become rich or successful. The reason is that they never actually put in the work and effort required to become rich or successful.

As ridiculous as it sounds, these people seem to think that simply wanting to be successful and believing that they will be successful is enough. Obviously, it is not enough. Wanting success will not make a person successful. Believing that one day you will become rich will not make it happen. Thinking that you deserve to be rich or successful will not make you rich or successful.

Sadly, many people live a whole life actually believing that one day they will magically become rich and successful. Even worse, they sometimes even live their lives aimlessly and do not make the most with what they do have, because they see their regular lives as nothing but a setup for some fantastical future of fame and wealth.

Ironically, if most people actually tried, they could become very successful. Success does not have to mean money, but to those to whom it does mean money, they could become rich.

To become rich, a person actually has to try, though. A person cannot do it by partying all the time. A person cannot do it by wasting time in front of the TV or by wasting money at the movie theater. A person cannot become rich by going in debt to buy a fancy car or overpriced clothes. A person cannot become rich by taking unhelpful risks such as driving without insurance or having unprotected sex. Think about it, how much money could a person make while getting drunk at a nightclub and accidentally having children with random strangers after some fun one-night-stands?

In contrast, a person can become rich or successful if they actually choose to put in the work and effort. A person becomes rich by splitting their waking hours between studying hard and working hard. A person becomes rich by saving and investing their money, and limiting their personal expenses to just their basic needs. A person becomes rich by choosing to use their time and money to work towards long-term goals rather than shortsightedly spending them on immediate pleasures.

Most people have the choice to become successful. Of course, success does not always mean money. Instead of putting 80 hours a week in at the office and becoming financially rich, a person might choose to raise a family and spend time with their spouse and kids. To that person, success might mean being part of a happy family. Whatever success means to you, you can probably achieve it if you truly put your mind to it and really try for it.

To becoming financially successful Every Month A Million is the choice I have made. There you get the best of everything not only do you become Financially Rich but you also get Inspired, Motivated, and Educated in every aspect of your life. It also is so fun and rewarding helping others to reach there goals and dreams.

Whatever you do, good luck and have fun!

Dreams and Goals – Is There A Difference?

This is another powerful lession I learned from Lori Duff one of my mentors here at Every Month A Million with our Daily Dose Of Good, and I am sure you will find it helpful also.

Many people have goals and dreams. Very often you will hear people use these terms interchangeably as if they were the same thing. I’m sure you’ve been asked, “So what are your goals in life?” or “What is your dream?” They are not the same. Clear understanding of what your dreams verses goals are is key to manifesting the fulfillment in your life.

We all have dreams…we are born dreamers. You have heard the old saying that young men have visions, but old men dream dreams. This great proverb defines “old men” having dreams because old men speak of the wisdom, skill, and mastery of one’s innate ability to manifest their dreams into reality.

Dream On, Dream On, Dream Until The Dream Comes True

Dreams are divine inspirations birthed in the secret place of imagination that give cause to recover that which has always been! You were born to bring into existence from your secret place of imagination, the dreams conceived, nourished, and believed. Dreams are the co-creation of your own ingenuity. Dreams, when defined and clarified provide you the foresight to deliberately create your desired manifestation. This is the Divine expression of Life.

You are a Dream-Maker to manifest and live the life you deserve. Now a dream conceived but never believed is just a fleeting fantasy. The Unlimited Life of who we are reveals dreams to us all the time. We only need to embrace and appreciate the magnificence of personal Being in defining one’s dreams. What happens when inspiring dreams are revealed to you even in a split second? We automatically determined impossibilities because we limit ourselves and therefore indulged in fleeting fantasy.

Your dreams represent your inner desired outcome, manifesting into your reality. James Allen said it perfectly, “Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.” No matter how lofty your dreams or desired end product is, all things are possible!

Put full-undivided attention upon your dreams because you become what you behold, and sooner or later begin to display unto the world your self-fulfilling prophecy. Develop within you a convincing Proceeding Power of Prediction in your live. You hold within an Ability to create and predict your future by realizing and nourishing your dreams today! So, Dream big!

The millions dollar question is this: How do we transform dreams into reality?

Dreams speak of your desired destination, which by the way, really have no finalization because you shall always remain in a state of Constant Unlimited Expansion. The steps, directions, and chosen strategies that develop the manifestation of your dreams are called GOALS.

A great thing happens when you focus your center of attention on your dream destination, you begin to locate and find solutions for the journey along the way. GOALS are the means along the way to fully manifesting your dreams.

Dreams = Desired end product while Goals = Means to achieve dreams.

The fulfillment of the goals along the way to your dream destination provides you great encouragement, momentum, and feedback of your internal focus. Dreams represent what you want and “why,” while goals represent your plan to get you there.

Here is an example. This individual was 40 years of age, overweight by 45 lbs, and had a dream to live a long, healthy life. The dream here was not the reduction of body weight, but achieving his ideal weight, while feeling energetic and perfectly healthy at the age of 45, 50, 60, 75, and beyond. It is dream destination that really has no finalization…it is ever expanding.

Now, this individual experienced repeated perceived failure and un-fulfillment, as a result of focusing on short-term goals rather than his dream destination. If you focus so much on the steps (goals), you run the risk of losing sight of your destination, and the reason why you are pursuing these goals in the first place.
Specific short-term goals are not motivating by themselves; their power comes from their connection to an inspiring dream. In the long run, when I shifted my client’s internal focus and techniques, he not only manifested his dream, but also continues to expand his dream.

As we have discussed, GOALS are the steps along the way in fulfilling your dream destination. The key is to FOCUS and center your attention on your dreams, creating solutions (target GOALS) for unending expansion. So, make sure your focus on the END rather than the means.

Here are some suggestions for identifying the difference between your Dreams and Goals:

1. Define your internal Dream: Develop a crystal-clear picture or your dream destination. Write it down in your dream journal.

2. Set specific times of centering and focusing upon your Dream Destination in your thoughts and imagination. Carry in your Mind the picture of not only reaching your Dream Destination, but also expanding your Dreams.Again, do not be concerned with the methodology! To be preoccupied with the “how to” and not the “why,” nurtures doubt, lowers aspirations, and sabotages your vision of manifesting your Dream Destination.

3. Set specific times of focus, read your dream aloud to yourself. Make sure it is stated in the affirmative as if you have already manifested your dream.

4. See yourself maximizing your ability to manifest your dreams. Keep this visual image in your mind for 15-20 minutes, three times a day! Hold it there! Imagine yourself accomplishing ultimate success – how it feels, sounds, tastes, looks, and smells.

As you do this, write the short-term GOALS that are revealed to you. Steps of action are being identified! Writing down your goals gives them power, and makes them real. They transform that which we have been dreaming of into a workable solution.

Practice this over and over until it becomes Life unto you. Remember, focuses on your Dreams, dream lofty dreams for nothing is impossible to him who knows his dream to be true.

I hope this has been enlightening and inspiring to you.
If you like this article please share it with friends or social networks.

Goal Setting: A Surefire Way To Achieve Your Goals.

Some people seem to be able to naturally achieve their important goals. They make it look easy -- like they were born to do it.

They wake up excited about the day ahead and can’t wait to get started. They work because they want to, not because they have to. They care deeply about what they are doing and how it affects other people, and they have a deep sense of fulfillment that is very energizing and inspiring.

I bet that goals don’t seem quite as simple or natural to you... at least not yet.

Here’s the first secret you need to learn about achieving your goals:

NATURAL GOAL ACHIEVERS ARE MADE... NOT BORN!

Natural goal achievers -- those people who know how to use goals to get what they want -- are NOT better than you. They’ve just mastered certain things that most other people never learn and they do certain things that most other people never do. Every natural goal achiever had to figure out the secrets of setting and achieving goals successfully.

Natural goal achievers discovered this important life skill themselves through years of trial and error, or they learned it from a great mentor who took them under their wing and showed them the ropes. They’ve just been doing it for so long that it’s become second nature to them... that’s why it seems like a talent they were born with.

This is great news because it means that YOU CAN DO IT TOO. Anyone can learn how to set and achieve inspiring, meaningful, life-changing goals if they really want to.

I will have much more on the secrets of setting and achieving your goals in future post,
but first the basics.....

Here is the SMART way to set and achieve your goals.

I encourage you to pick up a pen and a piece of paper and jot down the goals you want to reach. Look at each goal and evaluate it. Make any changes necessary to ensure it meets the criteria for SMART goals:

S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely

Specific

Goals should be straight forward and emphasize what you want to happen. Specifics help us to focus our efforts and clearly define what we are going to do.

Specific is the What, Why, and How of the SMART model.

WHAT are you going to do? Use action words such as direct, organize, coordinate, lead, develop, plan, build etc.

WHY is this important to do at this time? What do you want to ultimately accomplish?

HOW are you going to do it? (By...)

Ensure the goals you set is very specific, clear and easy. Instead of setting a goal to lose weight or be healthier, set a specific goal to lose 2cm off your waistline or to walk 5 miles at an aerobically challenging pace.

Measurable

If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. In the broadest sense, the whole goal statement is a measure for the project; if the goal is accomplished, there is a success. However, there are usually several short-term or small measurements that can be built into the goal.

Choose a goal with measurable progress, so you can see the change occur. How will you see when you reach your goal? Be specific! "I want to read 3 chapter books of 100 pages on my own before my birthday" shows the specific target to be measure. "I want to be a good reader" is not as measurable.

Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goals.

Attainable

When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop that attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. Your begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.

Goals you set which are too far out of your reach, you probably won't commit to doing. Although you may start with the best of intentions, the knowledge that it's too much for you means your subconscious will keep reminding you of this fact and will stop you from even giving it your best.

A goal needs to stretch you slightly so you feel you can do it and it will need a real commitment from you. For instance, if you aim to lose 20lbs in one week, we all know that isn't achievable. But setting a goal to loose 1lb and when you've achieved that, aiming to lose a further 1lb, will keep it achievable for you.

The feeling of success which this brings helps you to remain motivated.

Realistic

This is not a synonym for "easy." Realistic, in this case, means "do-able." It means that the learning curve is not a vertical slope; that the skills needed to do the work are available; that the project fits with the overall strategy and goals of the organization. A realistic project may push the skills and knowledge of the people working on it but it shouldn't break them.

Devise a plan or a way of getting there which makes the goal realistic. The goal needs to be realistic for you and where you are at the moment. A goal of never again eating sweets, cakes, crisps and chocolate may not be realistic for someone who really enjoys these foods.

For instance, it may be more realistic to set a goal of eating a piece of fruit each day instead of one sweet item. You can then choose to work towards reducing the amount of sweet products gradually as and when this feels realistic for you.
Be sure to set goals that you can attain with some effort! Too difficult and you set the stage for failure, but too low sends the message that you aren't very capable. Set the bar high enough for a satisfying achievement!

Timely

Set a time frame for the goal: for next week, in three months, by fifth grade. Putting an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards.
If you don't set a time, the commitment is too vague. It tends not to happen because you feel you can start at any time. Without a time limit, there's no urgency to start taking action now.

Time must be measurable, attainable and realistic.

Everyone will benefit from goals and objectives if they are SMART. SMART, is the instrument to apply in setting your goals and objectives.

Every Month A Million

Have Faith in Yourself

How many times have you heard successful people say that one of the most important lessons they learned on their journey to success was having faith in themselves?

Now for many this is not only a tall order it's what blocks them from ever succeeding.

What does it mean to have faith in one's self?

Well basically it means the ability to recognize the value of what it is that you came here to contribute to this planet.

Now many might say that they don't even know what it is that they came here to contribute. If that is you, you are allowing yourself to fall into a state of self doubt that is undermining your connection to your inner wisdom and therefore the awareness of that purpose. You see everyone has a purpose in being here and you simply need to reconnect to it. More on that in another article.

Suppose that you do know what you came here to contribute but are struggling with the value of that contribution here is what you can do.

See yourself making that contribution in some way and then notice what you feel inside yourself and where you feel it.

If you feel any of the following there:

A feeling of lightness, joy, contentment, sense of peace, relief, expansive, open, clear, buoyant, present, energized, radiant, uplifted, inspiration etc.

Then ask yourself whether you like that feeling.

If you do then simply admit that to yourself.

Then notice how you feel.

You should feel even more anchored in the positive experience you were having before.

Let me explain what has just happened.

In this exercise you have reconnected to your inner wisdom and allowed it to verify for you the importance and value of your contribution here.

The value was communicated to you in the feelings you had when you went through the exercise itself. It is in that feeling that lays the desire and inspiration to propel you forward in achieving your goals and your dreams.

Now that you feel it remembers it and revisit it often. It will sustain you. In fact it is the source of all your passion for contribution and for life itself.

Allowing yourself to do this is what I mean by having faith in yourself.

Have Faith and Believe in Yourself

Lack of belief in oneself is a killer. It doesn’t help you at all. And you need no one else but yourself to turn things around. Here are a few encouraging words to help you put a little faith into yourself.

Think of your dream and imagine yourself reaching that. Always thinking that you’re capable of succeeding can help the thought sink into your subconscious. Remember, failure begins with disbelief.

Stop thinking of what you can’t do but begin to be think of the things that you can do. Be a “yes” type of person. At least to yourself.

When grabbing opportunities, place your heart into it. Again, believe that you’ll make things happen this time around.

Think BIG, believe BIG. As that realistic proverb says, “Aim for the roof, you fall on the floor. Aim for the sky and you fall on the roof.” But just concentrate on soaring upwards. At Every Month A Million we will get you there.

As you can see, it’s all in the mind. Start with positive thoughts and the rest will follow.

The Importance of Leadership With a Vision

In today's lesson you will learn the importance of Leadership with a Vision.
This was taught to me by one of my mentors Lori Duff here at
Every Month A Million with our Daily Dose Of Good

I dug a bit deeper and added more that I have been learning here.....

In the Book of Proverbs it is said, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." This is as true in business as it is in life. Organizations whose leaders have no vision are doomed to work under the burden of mere tradition. They cannot prosper and grow because they are reduced to keeping things the way they have always been; they are guided by the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

True leaders see things differently. They are guided by another belief more in keeping with the competitive world in which we live. They believe, "If it ain't broke, you're not looking hard enough." Realizing that there is always room for improvement, they believe that no one has ever done anything so well that it cannot be done better.

For leaders, a vision is not a dream; it is a reality that has yet to come into existence. Vision is palpable to leaders; their confidence in and dedication to vision are so strong they can devote long hours over many years to bring it into being. In this way, a vision acts as a force within, compelling a leader to action. It gives a leader purpose, and the power of the vision and the leader's devotion to it work to inspire others-- who, sensing purpose and commitment, respond.

While leaders come in every size, shape, and disposition--short, tall, neat, sloppy, young, old, male, and female---every leader I talked with shared at least one characteristic: a concern with a guiding purpose, an overarching vision. They were more than goal-directed.


To be a leader you have to lead people to a goal worth having--something that's really good and really there". That essential "something" is the vision.

A Definition


What is vision? Because it operates on many levels, vision is difficult to define simply. When we say that a leader has vision, we refer to the ability to see the present as it is and formulate a future that grows out of and improves upon the present. A leader with vision is able to see into the future without being far-sighted and remain rooted in the present without being near-sighted. We also speak of having a vision for an organization, which looks at it from a slightly different perspective. A vision is an idea of the future; it is an image, a strongly felt wish.

Vision is a tremendously powerful force in any walk of life, but in business it is essential. A vision is a target toward which a leader aims her energy and resources. The constant presence of the vision keeps a leader moving despite various forces of resistance: fear of failure; emotional hardships, such as negative responses from superiors, peers, or employees; or 'real' hardships, such as practical difficulties or problems in the industry.


Equally important, a vision, when shared by employees, can keep an entire company moving forward in the face of difficulties, enabling and inspiring leaders and employees alike. Moving toward the same goal, individuals work together rather than as disconnected people brought together because of having been hired coincidentally by the same organization. It can turn the stereotypical corporate hierarchy into a well-organized and harmonious matrix working together toward a common goal.

Vision refers to the force within a leader that spreads like wildfire when properly communicated to others. Vision refers to an image of the future that can be discussed and perfected by those who have invested in it. Vision is also the glue that binds individuals into a group with a common goal. This multiplicity of meanings does not weaken or obscure the concept; rather, it demonstrates how essential vision is to the success of a leader and to an organization.


Vision Adds Meaning to Corporate Life

When employees understand a leader's vision, they understand what the organization is trying to accomplish and what it stands for. Each employee can see what the future holds as a rational extension of the present. In addition, meaning is conveyed to each department, reaffirming that what individual departments contribute is crucial to organizational success. The vision must be logical, deductive, and plausible; at the same time it must be mind-stretching, creative, and able to capture the imaginations of individual contributors.

The role of a leader is not just to explain and clarify. Leaders "create meaning for people" by amassing large amounts of information, making sense of it, integrating it into a meaningful vision of the future, and communicating that vision so people want to participate in its realization. In this sense, visions have the power to lift employees out of the monotony of the daily work world and put them into a new world full of opportunity and challenge.


Visions excite people by appealing to their emotions. A vision is "something to rally around, a glue pulling the organization together". Because to some employees visions might seem almost impossible to meet, it is the leader's responsibility to bolster their courage with understanding. Experienced leaders do this so naturally that people do not even realize how courageous they are; their only concern is to do whatever is needed in pursuit of the vision. This is why leaders are so critical to the success of an organization. They have the ability to see through all the confusion in the workplace and focus on what matters. A vision helps leaders keep the frustrations of the workplace in perspective, enabling them to live with uncertainty in the short term because they can visualize accomplishment in the long term. They can then extend this ability throughout the organization.

Although vision guides a company in a particular direction, leaders do not typically produce specific "plans" for making a vision reality. They usually leave the more detailed planning to managers. However, "unless the leader has a sense of where the whole enterprise is going and must go, it is not possible to delegate... the other functions". It is as dangerous to leave others adrift by being too general as it is to cage them in by being too precise.

"Typically, a vision is specific enough to provide real guidance to people, yet vague enough to encourage initiative and to remain relevant under a variety of conditions".


Employee Buy-in and Commitment

To be effective, leaders cannot force their vision upon the organization. Imposing it will, in all likelihood, elicit rejection temporarily and, as a result, waste time and money. Additionally, this approach leads to frustration and anger, which can easily result in unnecessary failure. Under an autocratic leader, imposing a vision on the organization results in compliance rather than commitment, which is required for the long-term success of a vision. Ideally, a leader shares that vision with people in the organization. As employees come to comprehend the vision, they offer their commitment.


Having committed to a vision, organizational members begin to participate in shaping it, fashioning it to reflect their own personal visions-- pictures or images they have in their hearts and minds about their futures and their contributions to the organization. At this point, the leader's vision becomes a shared one, after which people in the organization become even more committed. Shared vision creates a commonality of interests that enables people to see meaning and coherence in the diverse activities of the typical workday. Furthermore, a shared vision causes people to focus on the future and what it holds-- not simply because they must, but because they want to.

The realization of a shared vision results in the "alignment of the individual energies" of all who take part. Realizing what an organization can achieve can generate a "unique rash of power," a level of energy high above what is considered normal that can be sustained for a relatively long period.
Possibly the most important variables contributing to a leader's success in implementing a vision is his level of commitment to it and the level of commitment it can inspire in employees. A leader who is wholly committed to a vision will find it much easier to motivate people and direct their energy toward making that vision reality.


Fear of Failure

Fear of failure prevents many otherwise capable people from pursuing their visions. Leaders must overcome their reluctance to risk falling on their face if they hope to succeed. Fear of failure is natural. True leaders, however, do not allow it to paralyze them and prevent them from pursuing their vision.

It does not matter not how many times you try and fail. Everybody fails. What matters is your ability to try again. A leader simply must expect and deal with failure because it is such a fundamental part of the learning process. Everybody fails while learning to master something. It is an unavoidable and essential part of a process that leads to success.

Consider this example: major league baseball. In the major leagues, if a player hits .300 he is a very good hitter. If he hits around .320 or .330, he is among the best in the league. A player who has a. 350 batting average is considered excellent. What this average actually means is that 65 percent of the time he either did not reach base, or he reached base as a result of an error. In major league baseball, a player who fails to get a hit 65 percent of the time is heading for the Hall of Fame. Interestingly, Babe Ruth is known as a great home run hitter. He was also a leader in strikeouts. Leaders must learn to deal with failure; they must master this experience. If they cannot cope with failure, they cannot lead.


Albert Einstein, who had great vision, was a leader in the scientific community. His theories changed the way we see the universe. But when once asked how many ideas he had in his lifetime, his answer was two. (Einstein considered ideas to be only those thoughts nobody had ever thought of before.)

A person can have an abundance of ideas, but success depends on what she does with these ideas, not on merely having them. Chances are that an idea believed to be original has already been conceived by somebody who has failed to do anything with it. It only takes one good idea to be a stunning success. Einstein is proof of this. The secret is to build on that idea. The fear of failure prevents many talented people from mentioning their ideas to others or from following through completely on them. What a shame! Because of the fear of failure, we deprive ourselves and others of so many benefits.


Nevertheless, many people believe that the key to success is to avoid failure. They stay with things they know, seldom trying anything new. These people fail because the surest way to fail in the long term is to continue doing what you did yesterday, to mindlessly follow proven tradition. Things are changing, and times are changing. If we do not change along with them, we will not succeed.

The willingness to confront and deal with failure is an important attribute of a leader. How many times should a leader try and fail before deciding it is time to quit. One? Two? Three? When Thomas Edison was working on the electric light bulb, he had to deal with much failure. He tried thousands of filaments before he found the one that worked. He did not quit after the first, 500th, or 1,000th try. He believed in his vision, and he wanted to succeed more than anything else. He dealt with his own daily failures and kept his eye on the long-term success. Today we all benefit because Thomas Edison did not choose to give up.


Challenging the Status Quo

Leaders must make certain their people do not give up, that they continue to strive for success. It is natural for people to quit; organizational pressures keep many people from trying out new ideas. John D. Rockefeller III wrote in The Second American Revolution, "An organization is a system, with a logic of its own, and all the weight of tradition and inertia. The deck is stacked in favor of the tried and proven way of doing things and against taking risks and striking out in new directions." How true!


The natural state of an organization is conservative, to maintain the status quo. Many people in firms that have been around a long time believe their primary responsibility is to protect the status quo. Leaders must learn to deal with these obstacles in the path of success and to protect those who question the way things are done. I believe that "divine discontent with the status quo" is an essential quality of a leader. People who have leadership talent have "a real fire in their belly... a fire that has to do with having an effect on the world." You can tell when leaders have been in a firm because they leave their mark and, as a result, affect the destinies of many others.

Ridicule: A Technique Used to Make Leaders Quit

When employees in most organizations encounter a person with a vision that is significantly different from the status quo, it is common for them to resist the suggested changes and to put obstacles in the way of success. Their rationale is easily understood. Change means work and exertion for them. By preventing change, they save time and energy in the short term. But in the long run, their strategy is dangerous.


If the leader refuses to quit, employees turn to ridicule in hopes that the pressure will be sufficient to prevent the leader from moving forward. Leaders must learn to deal with this. They must understand that great leaders before them faced ridicule and prevailed over it. Marconi probably encountered a tremendous amount of ridicule as he sought support for the wireless radio. Imagine him trying to sell his idea to a group of would-be investors. Marconi had to convince a room full of bankers that his invention was capable of capturing "little waves" out of the air that could not be seen and converting them to sound that would come from a little box. A fair number of them must have thought he was crazy.

It is natural for some people to exhibit disbelief when unusual ideas are presented to them. It is also natural for them to ridicule the people who present those ideas.


When You Succeed, They Say You Are Lucky

Suppose a leader develops a vision to which she is committed, shares it with people, accepts failure, deals with ridicule, and after working tirelessly for many years actually turns that vision into a reality. It is now time to reap the rewards and hear praise for an amazing accomplishment, right? Wrong. In all likelihood, what she will hear is, "Oh, you were just lucky"--meaning, of course, "If it wasn't just plain dumb luck, I would have done it myself." In this situation, a leader should find comfort in the words of Emerson: "Shallow men believe in luck, wise and strong men in cause and effect."

Luck cannot explain accomplishment. Winning the state lottery may seem like a matter of luck, but you have to buy a lottery ticket to win. Ara Parseghian, football coach at Notre Dame several years ago, led his team to beat the University of Alabama for the national championship two years in a row. Alabama was favored to win both times. Both years, Alabama took an early lead and held it until the end of the game. Both years, Notre Dame came back in the closing seconds of the game and won. When a reporter asked Parseghian after the second victory about "the luck of the Irish," he is reported to have said, "If by luck you mean the place where preparation meets opportunity, then we were lucky."


In this world, there is an abundance of opportunity for everyone. Parseghian knew that the Alabama football team was not infallible and that it would give his team opportunities to win. If his team prepared well and was ready for the game, it could take advantage of those opportunities. It took hard work and practice to be able to see and take advantage of the openings provided.
Preparation met opportunity.


Communicating Vision

A leader must communicate his vision to others for it to become a shared vision. To accomplish this, leaders should act in a manner consistent with the vision in everything they do. They must set a personal example; they cannot afford to send mixed signals by saying one thing and doing another.


The first step in communicating a vision to a group is to stress its importance so that people will take an interest in it. If they believe the vision is important and worthwhile, many of them will want be involved with it, even if they do not understand all the details. Most people will cooperate and follow the leader with only a vague idea of what their participation, contribution, and reward might be, if the leader's vision excites them.

Communication that motivates people to act tends to focus on the core values and beliefs that support the vision. Accurately communicating these values and beliefs simplifies implementation because it conveys simple images or words that make the vision easier to remember. In addition, repeating simple words and symbols communicates the message without clogging already overused communication channels. Written communication can be used in a similar manner to reinforce the vision by reporting progress for everyone to see, and progress toward achieving goals keeps peoples' spirits up and helps convince them they can do it.


Going From Communication to Commitment

After a vision has been explained simply and directly, people must decide whether they want to be a part of it. If they don't, they cannot be forced to produce quality results at competitive prices over the long term. They can be forced to do things in the short term, but they will abandon them as quickly as they figure out how to come out from under the strong arm of a leader who has not earned their commitment.


The day has almost passed when autocratic leaders can succeed over the long term. Strong-armed leaders typically do not last long; the cost of using this approach is too high in terms of the inferior quality output resulting from poor quality effort, lost employee loyalty and support, and money. Moreover, forcing people to do things they do not want to do requires a great deal of energy over the long term--more energy than most people can expend on a sustained basis.

Over the long term, most people are not motivated by being pushed. They are motivated by the desire to satisfy their own very basic human needs: those for achievement, belonging, recognition, self-esteem, control over their lives, and the sense of having lived up to their ideals. To be successful, leaders must connect with these human needs and let their people become excited about a vision. Further, they must involve people in deciding how to achieve the vision, or at least to achieve the part of it that is most relevant to them. Their involvement must be real, and the rewards and recognition they receive must be real as well.


To win continued support from a group, leaders must be willing to share their personal views, and to listen carefully to the group's ideas. Ultimately, leaders must be willing to assume a vulnerable position and ask a difficult question:
"Will you follow me?" In reality, they are asking another question: "Is this vision worthy of your commitment?" Being vulnerable in this manner is difficult for many people who have grown up during a time when employees were expected to comply with the leader's orders and not ask too many questions.

Although a leader is responsible for introducing the vision to the group, people want and need to become personally involved with the vision. As we have said before, they cannot do this unless it reflects, to some extent, their own personal visions. It is critical for leaders to keep their minds open to suggestions and ideas that can improve the vision. Too often leaders present their visions to employees as cast in concrete, sending the subtle (or not so subtle) message that there is no room for compromise. As a result, the employees either reject the vision or simply go through the motions of supporting it. In either case, it is doubtful the vision will ever become reality.

Introducing the word "compromise" may surprise many people because they have been led to believe that once the leader is committed to the vision, she cannot afford to be flexible. Although it is true that the leader's commitment to the vision must be strong and unwavering, it is also true that she is incapable of predicting in advance precisely what the future holds. As the leader and the group move together toward making the vision a reality, they both learn more about their vision, and they have opportunities to improve upon it. Compromise as the vision unfolds should not be interpreted negatively. The leader's willingness to accept suggestions that result in some change in the vision will benefit the leader and improve both the quality of the vision and the intensity of the employees' commitment to it.


Stated another way, the development of a vision is an evolutionary process. At any one point there will be a particular image of the future that is predominant, but that image will evolve. A vision should be constantly examined and modified to reflect important changes in the environment and ensure continued support and enthusiasm from everyone involved.

As people's commitment to the vision grows, it becomes more real to them; they will find it easier to dedicate the time and energy necessary to make the vision a reality. Those who have expertise in a particular field should be encouraged to use their knowledge to improve parts of the vision that are related to their specialty. The details, missing steps, and concerns that confront the leader's visionary goals. When leaders solicit input, they discover the knowledge, interest, and evident parameters of support they can expect from others." A leader should expect that although parts of the vision may undergo alteration, its essence will remain intact.


If a leader cannot see the value in compromises and is too inflexible to accept them, the vision will never achieve its full potential. When more people come to share a vision, the vision becomes more real in the sense of a mental reality that people can truly imagine achieving. They [the leaders] now have partners, co-creators; the vision no longer rests on their shoulders alone."

Empowering People to Do Their Jobs


Communicating the vision accurately and fully has the added advantage of creating the conditions under which employees can be empowered to do their jobs. The term "empowered" is used frequently today; unfortunately, many people using the term do not really understand what it means. Some who are familiar with management literature interpret empowerment to mean delegation of authority. The strict literalists will be quick to point out that a manager can delegate authority, but not responsibility. To them, empowerment is a formal (almost legalistic) passing down of a task from one level in the organization to another. Delegation is not empowerment, but empowerment does require good delegation.

Empowerment means giving employees jobs to do and the freedom they need to be creative while doing them. It means allowing employees to try new ideas, even ones that have never been considered or that have been previously rejected. It means allowing them to experiment and fail on occasion without fear of punishment.

Having said this, we must point out that leaders should avoid taking big risks without carefully considering the consequences. They must exercise judgment; as a general rule, they should establish an understanding with employees about the risks they are willing to take in the experimentation process. As we said earlier, experimentation is essential, so leaders must not be so restrictive that their employees fail to try new ideas. Empowerment means giving employees more than just the authority to do the job.


Leaders are not magicians, and they do not simply predict future events. They are strategic thinkers who are willing to take risks. Their actions, together with the actions of those who follow them, determine what the future will be. The point is, leaders do not create something out of nothing. They look at what they know to exist and search for relationships, the way things are meant to fit together. Once they find the connections, they share them with other people and work with them to bring about desired changes.

Leaders must maintain a balance between a clear understanding of the present and a clear focus on the future. Senge calls this balance "creative tension" and maintains that "an accurate picture of current reality is just as important as a compelling picture of a desired future."

How to Guarantee Your Success In Network Marketing

I'm going to start today with a quote......

"Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek."

All our lives, we have been taught by our parents, friends, and the media the same thing. Go to school. Get good grades so that you can get into the best colleges or universities around. If you follow that then you can get a ‘good’ job.

You will be set for life.

Not really true….

With Job cuts, corporate restructuring, and layoffs still being reported in the news almost every single day, it is not surprising that this concept of life isn't really true any more.

A lot of people are now looking to start their own business so that they can have more financial security, more freedom, more choices, and more time to be with their family. Every Month A Million gives you all that and a whole lot more.

As the economy continues to plummet and layoffs and bankruptcies fill the news, isn't it your time to take the bull by the horns and secure your and your family's financial future? Every Month A Million is your answer.

Here are 6 steps that you need to follow in order for you to be a successful network marketer:

1. You got to have patience. They don’t say 2-5 years for nothing. Many new people who do get involved in network marketing think that they will make a nice comfortable full time income in just a few months. Very few do that, but it will take you some time. So make sure that you give your business at least 2 years to succeed. If you don't, you are on the right track to FAILURE.

2. They have the persistence of a bulldog. The lack of persistence and consistency is one of the major causes of failure. Many people are good "starters" but very poor "finishers" of everything they start. They tend to give up at the first sign of defeat. Successful network marketers know that it is important to be persistent and consistent even though they work hard and don’t see any results for a while.

3. They set goals. Athletes, successful business-people, lawyers, doctors, and great achievers in all fields use goal setting. Statistics show people who write down their goals have over an 80% higher success rate of achieving them.

4. They set short-term goals. Short-term goals are usually simpler and easier than long-term goals. Why? Well, writing them can help you have more frequent victories, and building momentum with each one you complete. If you do that, you can have more excitement and more motivation as you reach those goals on time. When you do reach you short-term goals, don't forget to reward yourself and celebrate.

5. They write down their WHY. Why did they really get into network marketing for? What made them start their own business? Is it because they wanted to be their own boss? Is it because they wanted more freedom and time to spend with their family? More money? What ever their WHY is, they always know it so that it keeps them going when things are not going well for them.

6. They replace their negative self-talk. They know that they are the creator of their thoughts and beliefs. Successful network marketers know how to replace negative self-talk and change it to positive self-talk. People, especially friends and family, try to brain wash them along the way. They tell them that they will not succeed. They laugh at them. They tease them that it won't work. But they don’t listen. They work their business and make it work. At the end they become so successful that family and friend eventually join them too.

Here are some more insider secrets to how the average person like you and me make it big in network marketing:

*They market daily. In other words, they contact more people and they advertise more on a daily basis. They don't do this once a week or once a month. They work their business everyday.

*They believe that they will succeed, without a shadow of a doubt.

*They read motivational books on a daily basis.

*They train their first level downline members to duplicate their efforts. They show them how to use the products. They show them how to advertise. They show them what books to read and what tapes to listen to.

*They listen and learn from others, especially from their upline.

* They follow up on their leads at least six times. Don’t forget, the fortune is in the follow up.

*They are willing to step out of their comfort zone. Many people don’t like to step out of their comfort zone and that is why they never succeed in network marketing.

*A successful network marketer is no MLM junkie. An MLM junkie is someone who jumps from one network marketing company to another. These people never make it in network marketing.

The clock is ticking. Get into network marketing now and stick with it no matter what so that your future and the future of those you love is more secured.

Network marketing and the Internet were made for each other. Record-breaking growth has driven us to the top of Internet marketing businesses. You can build a profitable home-based business working part-time from your home computer! Training, support, Websites, and products all provided! Right here at Every Month A Million.

Get Your Life "UNSTUCK"

Are there things you would love to do but when you
start thinking about how you could move toward them,
you get stuck? If so then you are not alone. It’s so easy
to get bogged down with the many reasons why it just
isn’t a realistic aspiration or goal; why ‘now’ is not the
best time and why it’s much easier to just do nothing.

I doubt there is a person on this planet who hasn’t
dreamt about doing something which seemed, at the
time, so much bigger than them and for which they
could rattle off many reason’s “why not”. The difference
between those who go on to make their dreams a reality
is not that they are just very lucky, that they are born
with a silver spoon in their mouth or with an immunity
to fear. Nope. The difference is that the doer’s
move forward despite their fears and objections.
Unfortunately you can’t make fear go away by
wishing it away. The only way to get rid of the
fear of doing something is to go out and do it.

What holds us back in life most often is our own
limiting beliefs. Our imagination has a field day,
fueled by self-doubt, of all the dreadful things that might
happen if we fail to achieve our goals and how
humiliating it would be but how often have you seen
someone ridiculed and shamed for doing their best?
More likely you admire their tenacity and courage for
giving it a go.

Of course we can always choose to stay inside our
comfort zone because in there, we don’t have limiting
beliefs about failing or looking stupid or
risking our social status. Comfort zones are… surprise,
surprise… comfortable!

“What’s so wrong with comfortable?” I hear you mutter.
Well as comfortable as you might like to be, we humans
are born to grow, develop and learn. As kids we were
constantly trying things we hadn’t tried before and in the
process we learned more about ourselves, our abilities
and the world. We developed new skills we didn’t think
we could (when my son was five years old he was
adamant he would “never ever ever“ master the art of
tying his shoe laces!) and as we did, we grew more
capable and confident.

I’ve met very few people who relish failure and yet it is
from making mistakes and failing that we learn. Think
back to a time when you failed and ask yourself what
you gained from the experience and if you think you
didn’t gain anything, think again! We learn far more
from our failures than from our successes. The lessons
our failures teach us equip us to deal with the challenges
of the future; they strengthen our muscles for life. The
hurdles you come to in your life are for jumping and your
doubts about your own limitations are your biggest
hurdle of all!

“Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible
objections must first be removed” Samuel Johnson

My point is that when we don’t continually seek to grow
in new ways and develop ourselves we are, in essence,
selling ourselves short. We stagnate – those ‘life muscles’
wither - and so depriving ourselves and the world of our
full potential.

So, what is it that might inspire you to embrace a sense
of adventure in your life? Are you up for even just taking
another look at those aspirations you have floating
around in your head or perhaps those really big dreams
hidden deep under your bed?

Of course just dreaming big doesn’t change anything. For
things to change action is required and that’s where we
so often get stuck. Those who are most successful at
living their dreams master the art of shifting their
sights from the big canvas to the immediate
actions they need to take to get there. They don’t
wait for opportunity to knock, the go and find it. They
don’t just dream - they ‘do!’

So now you may be thinking, “Okay, so I have this idea
about something I’ve always wanted to do (or be) but it
does seem like a bloody big leap from where I am now.
Where do I begin? How do I begin?”

Following is a summary of the steps you should take
when working on clarifying and then moving
forward to accomplish your goals and dreams.

1. Write It Down & Share It!

“Everything that is was once imagined” Ted Joans

Firstly I suggest that you get out a piece of paper and just
write down what it is that has captured your imagination.

As Stephen Covey, author of the best-selling “7 Habits of
Highly Effective People” said, “Begin with the end in mind”.

Not everyone dreams of flying to the moon or ending
apartheid. What inspires and excites you? Perhaps you
dream of changing career, running a little B&B in the
country somewhere, running a marathon or maybe just
learning the guitar. Whatever it is, I’ll bet it’s something
you would be good at if you focused your energy on it.

So write it down in as much detail as you can. Imagine
what it would feel like to accomplish this goal or live
this dream – what would that be like for you? And then,
scary as it can be, share it with someone. The very act
of sharing it gives it more substance, deepens your
commitment to it and helps to bring it more into
reality in your mind’s eye.

2. Identify The First Few Steps

Next start writing an action plan for what steps need to
be taken to start you moving in the direction of its
creation. What needs to be done first? What can you
read? Who can you email, speak or write to? Perhaps
you need to do some ‘homework’ to find out what those
steps will be. Don’t wait for the time to be free - set the
time aside and do it.

3. Take A Step Forward – However Small!

As Martin Luther King Jr. suggested, “Take the first step
in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just
take the first step”. The very process of taking some
action, however small, creates a forward momentum.
Great things don’t happen from wishful thinking but
from action – so get moving!

4. Get A Support System Around You

As you step closer the mountain it can look even more
overwhelming than it did before, but don’t let all those
reasons “why not” stop you. I highly recommend that
you get a support structure around you that will help you
move forward when you get stuck.

And as you can see you have to look no more. We here at
Every Month a Million with our Daily Dose of Good
are your support structure.

Ask friends for their support (particularly during those
times you have setbacks – which you will – and those
voices of doom and gloom in your head get on the
loudspeaker!), read books that inspire you, find a
mentor that’s already walked the path ahead of you, join
an association of like minded people who are doing
similar stuff, get a coach, (me) and very important, tune
out to those people in your life who do not encourage
and support you (they’d rather you remain stuck to
justify where they are!).

That is exactly what we are here at Every Month a Million

Ultimately you really can’t go wrong by “giving it a go”.
Those who you regard as the greatest of people have but
remember that nothing great would have ever been
achieved if it had first required a guarantee of
success.

YOUR WORLD IS AS BIG (OR AS SMALL) AS
YOU MAKE IT!

Imagine your life fifty or so years from now and how you
might feel looking back on how you lived those years –
who you were as a person and what you did (or didn’t
do!). What would bring you the greatest sense of
fulfillment and joy? So invest in yourself some time to
think about what it is that you would love to do, small or
big, how you would feel to have at least given it a go!

Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid of standing still.

How to Stop Negative Thoughts to Attain Your Goals

Are you struggling to achieve a certain goal in your life? At work, in your own business, in your relationships or health? Have you been working on that particular goal for a long while now without making any significant or tangible progress or improvement?

Only quite recently I made a profound discovery. A discovery that literally made me sit up and think differently every waking moment, a discovery that made me realise why I haven't been able to achieve one of my goals in spite of my working hard and meticulously towards it.

I understood it was present in all the other areas in my life, but not in this area, surely? Not in my financial area!

That discovery did not come about by chance. After struggling for ages, from working hard, to working smart, to being totally focused, to working meticulously for long hours towards my financial goal and not achieving it, I decided to ask myself, over and over again the question, What do I have to do to achieve my financial goal?

I suppose through the process described as the Law of Attraction, I come across the word 'financial blueprint' in a book I was reading, and those two words stuck out like a sore thumb and for some reason I was unable to get them out of my mind.

A short time later, I picked up a book about millionaire minds and it was only then that I uncovered the truth.

For me to achieve my financial goal I needed to first identify my core beliefs about that goal; identify my thoughts and beliefs about money - find out which ones are in line with my goal and which ones aren't.

If my beliefs, or my financial blueprint are in alignment with my goal, my journey will be smooth and have much less resistance. However, if my beliefs are not in alignment with my goal, it is highly unlikely, even impossible for me to achieve it.

Those beliefs that are not in alignment are my limiting beliefs, my sabotaging beliefs. These negative thoughts that had become my beliefs or my financial blueprint will stop me cold. Dead. They will not allow me to achieve my goal no matter what.

Money and our relationship to it can be good or bad depending on our beliefs about money and wealth. What you believe about money will directly correlate to how much money you make, how you make money, and how you treat money.

Your beliefs can keep you in debt, struggling to make ends meet to support yourself and your family if you have one. (I firmly believe that all of us have a family to support, even if it's a family of one.)

Your beliefs about money can determine whether or not you can experience an infinite abundance. Your beliefs can also determine whether you create money through struggle or suffering. Your beliefs can keep you in a dead end job with no way to advance. Or you believe that the only way to make more money is by working harder longer, and have more jobs.

How do you feel about money? Do you relate money with wealth? Remember our thoughts control our lives, and our thoughts about money are just as controlling as our thoughts about our weight, our jobs, or our families.

The relationship with money will determine your financial comfort zone. This comfort zone feeling comes primarily from your subconscious, the part that is the deepest emotional realm. Your past experiences with money also determine your comfort zone. You will need to scrap all those beliefs right now in order for you to create whatever money amount you desire. You will need to give yourself permission to experience financial wealth.

During certain times while on the journey, I might think I am making some headway, but in the long run, I'm not progressing as much as I want to.

It was only after I challenged and eliminated the limiting beliefs, changed my financial blueprint, do I now have them working with me. I am now making great progress in that direction.

So what does this story of mine have anything to do with you?

If you are also struggling, not progressing or progressing at a pace that is not that you want, and are slowly gaining on living the life that you want, or to manifest the goal that you want, you must first identify what is holding you back, single out all your limiting beliefs in that particular area. Challenge them, eliminate them and instil new thoughts that will become your new beliefs.

How to stop negative thoughts?

Here's one way:

Say you want to ask for an increase in your wages, but as soon as you think about it, you become aware of your, "Yeah, but..." or "No way. You won't even knock her door" or "You'll stutter all the way through and she will definitely not give you the raise" or anything like that.

These are your negative thoughts, your limiting beliefs.

Changing limiting beliefs can be done and will change completely over time.
I found laughing off any limiting beliefs or negative thoughts to be very powerful and it works every time with me.

Any time a "Yeah but..." or "I can't do that" springs to mind I immediately laugh it off. I laugh loud and hard, to really send the message through. The message that this belief is rubbish. Spend a few minutes laughing it off.

If it creeps up again, it means the belief is deeper than you realised, so, laugh it off again. Soon enough it will disappear and you can say the positive belief that you want so as to replace that limiting one.

So, identify, tackle and eliminate any limiting beliefs, then replace them with powerful, positive self enhancing beliefs. That's how to stop negative thoughts from creeping up again. Any that come up. Zap. Have a belly laugh and make things happen.

Remember you deserve to be rich, and wealthy. You deserve all the money that you desire. Money was created for everyone's use equally. You don't need to work harder to obtain more money, you need to work smarter.

That also is one of the things we do here at Every Month a Million. We will show you the smarter way to obtain all the money you deserve.

Creating Positive Coincidences

It is an undisputed fact that the mind can influence the physical body but can the mind influence the world beyond your body?

In other words, can the mind create coincidences and influence reality? People all around the world have experienced this in their own lives and will say that the answer is yes – your world can be shaped by your thoughts and beliefs.

The following story describes one such incident – how one man discovered the power of his mind in creating coincidences. He went on to use this ability to become so successful that his work is almost a household name in America.

For the purpose of this story, let’s call this man Scott. His full name will not be revealed until the end to make this story more intriguing. This story was told in a book Scott wrote in 1998. In the early 1980s, Scott had heard of a process called affirmations from a friend. The process he learned was simple.
Visualize what you want and write it down fifteen times in a row, once a day, until you obtain it.

Scott was told that the process did not require any faith or positive thinking for it to work. Even more interesting was the suggestion that the technique would influence the environment directly and not just make you more focused on your goals. In other words, it would spawn amazing coincidences to move you toward your goals. The coincidences could be things that were seemingly unconnected to you and beyond your control.

Scott was very left-brained and logical in his thinking. He had his doubts about the process but figured that there was no harm in trying.
“Within a few weeks, coincidences started to happen to me.” wrote Scott.
“Amazing coincidences, strings of them. I won’t mention the specific goal I was working on, as it was a private matter, but within a few months the goal was accomplished exactly as I had written it.”

But Scott was not yet convinced that affirmations helped. Coincidences do happen on their own and Scott considered the test inconclusive.
So Scott picked another goal – to make some gains in the stock market. He wrote his affirmation down every day and waited for some inspiration. It came to him in a dream. He woke up one night with the words “Buy Chrysler” repeating in his head.
He bought shares in the inspired company during one of its most bleak periods yet it began to rise soon after and he made some good returns on it. He repeated the experiment again and managed to pick another successful company, with stock symbol “Ask”.

Armed with this confidence in the power of affirmations Scott decided to apply it to a more challenging goal – getting into the highly competitive University of California at Berkeley MBA program.
The problem was that he had already taken the entrance exam, the G.M.A.T, and only hit the 77th percentile score. He knew he needed to be above the 90th percentile to at least have a chance of being accepted.
Scott picked the outlandish target of 94 as his goal and again applied the affirmation technique.

Despite not being able to go much higher than the 77th percentile in the practice exams Scott was surprised to learn that he did indeed hit the 94th percentile for the G.M.A.T – just as he had written in his affirmations. He graduated with his Berkeley MBA in 1986.

A few years later he tried pursuing a more serious goal, that of being a syndicated cartoonist. He knew the odds of his cartoon submission being accepted by a major newspaper were roughly 1 in 10,000.
He beat those odds and his cartoon was accepted. He was soon earning a decent living with his cartoon strip but he wanted to achieve something bigger.
He decided he wanted the most successful comic strip on the planet. Scott felt that the best measure of “most successful”; would be number of books sold.
In June 1996 his book The Dilbert Principle hit the number-one spot on the hardcover nonfiction list of the New York Times. It stayed in the top three all summer. In November his second book, Dogbert’s Top Secret Management Handbook, also made the bestseller list, giving Scott the number-one and number-two positions simultaneously for one week. For that brief period of time, Scott indeed had the "most successful" comic strip on the planet.

As you may have guessed, the person I’m talking about is Scott Adams, the creator of the highly successful Dilbert comic strip. Scott writes about these experiences with affirmations in his book The Dilbert Future. He does not profess to know why it works but leaves the conclusion to the reader. When asked if I am surprised at the success of the Dilbert comic strip. I definitely would be so, if not for my bizarre experience with affirmations. As it was, I expected it.