Maximum Achievement

by Brian Tracy

  A TRUE STORY

  Here is an example of how effective this goal-achieving system can be. I was giving a lecture on the importance of goal setting to a public audience of about eight hundred people when a man I recognized from a previous seminar came up out of the audience and asked if he could have the microphone. He said he had a story to tell about what had happened to him after he began implementing this system in his life.

  He told the audience that he had attended our seminar about six weeks before with his girlfriend. He was an insurance executive, and he explained that he had been through many personal and professional development seminars in his fourteen years in the insurance industry. He and his girlfriend had planned to come for the first morning of the two-day seminar and then leave and go shopping. He was convinced that there was nothing new for him to learn after all the courses he had already attended.

  He said that they ended up staying for the entire two days. When they left, they were excited about what they had learned and eager to put it into practice, especially the system for goal setting. He went on to tell the audience that he had taken the following day off so that he and his girlfriend could spend the entire day planning the next few years of their lives with this goal-setting methodology. It took them ten full hours to complete their plan.

  They had been dating for two years and had discussed marriage, but had made no decisions or commitments. They decided that one of their goals was to get married, and in accordance with what they had learned, they wrote it down and set a specific deadline for the wedding to take place.

  They then set three subgoals associated with their wedding. The first goal was that they would buy and pay for their dream house before they got married. This was the end of October and they had been through the seminar in the middle of September. The wedding date was set for February fourth of the coming year. That date therefore became their deadline for their house, as well.

  Their second goal was to be married by Dr. Robert Schuller in the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.

  Their third goal was to hold their wedding reception aboard the “Love Boat” in Long Beach, California.

  After writing out these goals in detail, they immediately took action. They went out for the next few evenings looking at houses and finally found exactly the one they wanted. The asking price was $220,000, but they learned that they could get it for $180,000 if they could come up with the money. The problem was that they had almost no savings at all. They needed to find or earn the entire amount, so they set a new goal, to earn $180,000 within ninety days.

  They phoned Dr. Schuller’s office at the Crystal Cathedral to arrange for their wedding on February fourth. They were told, however, that Dr. Schuller no longer did weddings. It was impossible, out of the question. But they were persistent. They asked if there was any way that he would change his mind. The secretary explained that he was far too busy and there was nothing that could be done.

  Again, they persisted. Was there any way that they could appeal to him personally? Finally, the secretary, to conclude the conversation, told them that they could write to him personally, but that they shouldn’t hold out much hope.

  They immediately sat down and wrote Dr. Schuller a letter. They explained how much they believed in “possibility thinking,” how important being married by him was to them, and how much difference it would make in their lives. They sent off the letter and went on to their second goal, the Love Boat and their reception.

  Again, they ran into an obstacle. When they phoned the booking agent for the Love Boat, they were told that the ship would be at sea that day, arriving back at 4:00 P.M. and departing at 8:00 P.M. It would not be possible for them to have their reception on the ship that day.

  But they were determined and incredibly optimistic. They had the attitude that they had nothing to lose. They called a friend in the travel business and asked her if she could pull a few strings. She got the same answer back through her channels. It wouldn’t be possible.

  Their experience wasn’t unusual. They had set three big goals for themselves and had run into roadblocks on every one. So will you. Remember, if there are no obstacles, it’s probably not a goal at all; it’s just a task.

  Whenever you set any goal for yourself that is above and beyond anything you’ve ever done before, you will immediately meet with frustrations and difficulties you had never anticipated. Especially, you will hear a thousand variations on the word “no.”

  But again, don’t worry and don’t be disheartened. The negatives you experience are part of the “persistence test.” They go with the territory. They will determine how badly you really want it, whatever it is. And if it’s not worth fighting for, it’s probably not worth having in the first place.

  This couple was not about to be stopped. They sat down and wrote another letter, this time to the shipping agent for the Love Boat. They explained their situation and repeated their request to book a stateroom for their reception on the afternoon of February fourth.

  Their biggest single obstacle was getting enough money to buy their dream house before it was sold to someone else. But, acting in faith, they put down a one-thousand-dollar deposit with a closing date two months away.

  Then, amazing things started to happen. A large corporate insurance policy he had been working on for six months, involving health, pensions, life and property covering every aspect of the company, finally came through. The president of the company called him and told him it had been approved by the board and they wanted to get it all set up and paid for by the end of the year. When the transaction was complete, his commission on the multiyear policy was just over $90,000, the largest commission he had ever made.

  But it didn’t end there. A week later, the president of the client company called him and told him that he had been describing his insurance coverage to a friend of his who owned a similarly sized company. His friend was interested in installing the same policy in his own organization. Could he help?

  Could he help? You bet he could! Within two weeks, he had put together an almost identical package for the new client. When the sale day closed, his commission on the second policy was another $90,000!

  That was just the beginning. A few days later, they got a phone call from Dr. Schuller’s office, from the same secretary they had spoken to two weeks before.

  “I don’t know what you said in your letter,” she said, “but Dr. Schuller came out of his office a few minutes ago with your letter in his hand and said, ’I’m going to do this wedding.’ If you can be here on February fourth, he can marry you at 2:00 P.M.”

  Then, if that wasn’t enough, a week later they got a call from the shipping company. They had just worked out the sailing schedule for the Love Boat for the new year. The ship would be docking at noon rather than 4:00 P.M. on February fourth and departing at 8:00 P.M. If they still wanted to have their reception aboard the ship, it would be available for them from 4:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.

  He concluded this story from the stage with these words: “I feel I’ve accomplished more in the past six weeks using these ideas than I have in the last five years. I thought I understood goal setting before, but I had no idea how powerful it could be until I actually sat down and approached it in an organized fashion.”

  THE TWELVE STEPS REVISITED

  Notice the incredible power these two people put behind their goals by following the twelve steps. They activated all the mental laws and got them working in harmony behind a major definite purpose.

  Step one: Desire. They knew exactly what they wanted. It was intensely personal. They felt very strongly about it.

  Step two: Belief. They were absolutely convinced that they could have their wedding exactly as they dreamed it could be. They remained confident and optimistic in the face of adversity. They had complete faith that everything would work out for them.

  Perhaps most important, they demonstrated their faith by taking specific actions to achieve their goals, even when they had been
told that nothing could be done.

  Step three: Write it down. They crystallized their hopes and dreams on paper, thereby committing themselves to them. And by writing them out in detail, they reinforced their desires and deepened their beliefs in their ultimate ability to attain them.

  Step four: Determine how you will benefit from achieving your goal. They were very clear how every part of their planned wedding, and their dream home, would contribute to laying the foundation for their happiness in the years ahead.

  Step five: Analyze your starting point. They sat down and took a serious look at their lives. They assessed where they were relative to where they really wanted to be. Then they made some clear decisions. Everything followed from that.

  Step six: Set a deadline. They picked a specific date for their wedding and then worked back from that. When they ran into difficulties, they refused to change the date. They dug in, as soldiers do when they come under fire. They refused to be put off by the initial resistance they encountered.

  Step seven: Identify the obstacles that stand in your way. They first determined that they wanted to buy a home in which to start their married life. Their main obstacle was that they did not have the money to purchase it. They began with that. The money for the home was their “rock,” their limiting step.

  Step eight: Identify the additional knowledge or information you will require. They got busy and began finding out what they needed to know. They asked questions. They wrote letters. They took action.

  Step nine: Identify the people whose cooperation you will require. They made a list of all the people they would need to work with to achieve their goals on the schedule they had set. He went to work with his prospective clients and they jointly went to work on the details of the wedding.

  Step ten: Make a plan. Once they had worked through the first nine steps, they had all the ingredients of the plan worked out, like the ingredients in a recipe. It was then a relatively simple matter to put the plan together. With a complete list to work from, they had a unifying force for the next four months that brought them together and brought their goals to fruition.

  Step eleven: Visualization. They got a clear mental picture of what they wanted. They walked through every room of their dream house. They got brochures with pictures of the Crystal Cathedral. They watched services conducted there on Sunday television. They looked at photos of the Love Boat and saw it on television as well. Throughout the day, and whenever they were together, they imagined and fantasized about their perfect wedding and their ideal home.

  Step twelve: Persistence. They never considered the possibility of failure. They held to their dreams. They looked for ways over or around their obstacles. If one thing didn’t work, they tried something else. They persevered until they finally succeeded.

  And then, when all was done, everyone stood around and told them how lucky they were! *

  GOING FOR THE GOLD

  There are very few limitations on what you can accomplish. Most of them are self-imposed. They are the result of fears and doubts that stop you from trying. And you can overcome these self-limiting beliefs by taking actions consistent with your major purpose. The success and happiness you dream of begins with this system of goal setting, with you deciding exactly what you want and then doing what it takes to accomplish it.

  The process and the system described in this chapter are far more than simply a mechanical means to make achievement more organized. They contain within them the combination to open the lock of your unlimited potential. These steps not only activate your positive mind and release your creativity, but they also cause all the mental laws to converge harmoniously toward the achievement of your dominant goals.

  Most important, practicing these principles and rules for goal attainment unlocks the powers of your superconscious mind. This methodology makes available to you resources that you can use to change your life in ways you cannot yet imagine.

  The proper activation and use of your superconscious mind is the most important discovery you can ever make. It is the key to happiness, health, prosperity and complete self-expression. The superconscious mind is the foundation of all personal greatness and high achievement, as you’ll see in the next chapter.

  CHAPTER 6

  The Master Power

  There is a story told by the ancient Greeks about when the world was young. The gods on Mount Olympus, having created the earth and man, the birds and animals, the creatures of the sea, the plants and flowers, and all living things, had one thing left to do, and that was to hide the secret of life where it would not be found until man had grown and evolved in consciousness to the point where he was ready for it.

  The gods argued back and forth over where the secret of life should be hidden. One said, “Let us hide it on the highest mountain. Man will never find it there.” But another god replied, “We have created man with insatiable curiosity and ambition, and he will eventually climb even the highest mountain.”

  Then one suggested they should hide the secret of life at the bottom of the deepest ocean. To this, another replied, “We have created man with boundless imagination and a burning desire to explore his world. Sooner or later, man will reach even the greatest ocean depths.”

  Finally, one of the gods came up with a solution. “Let us hide the secret of life in the last place that man will ever look, a place that he will only come to when he has exhausted all other possibilities and is finally ready.”

  “And where is that?” asked the other gods. To which the first god replied, “We will hide it deep in the human heart.” And so they did.

  For five thousand years of recorded history, some of the wisest men and women of each civilization have occupied themselves searching for the secret of the ages, the key that would enable them to unlock the vast treasure trove of potential that lies deep within each person. They have established brotherhoods and sisterhoods, secret societies and private communities dedicated to exploring the last frontier, and the first: the inner powers of the human mind.

  Many men and women spent their entire lives in religious communities, monasteries and secret orders proceeding through elaborate rituals and initiations, during which glimpses of this great secret would be revealed to them.

  THE MARCH OF PROGRESS

  More progress has been made in finding this secret in the last one hundred years than in all the previous centuries that man has been on the earth. The secret of the ages, the key to health, happiness and prosperity for you and me, has been found in what is called the superconsciotis mind.

  When you use your superconscious mind correctly, you will be able to solve any problem, overcome any obstacle and achieve any goal you sincerely desire. All personal greatness and individual achievement is based on it. In fact, everything we have discussed up to this point has been preparing you to use the powers of your superconscious mind to transform the quality of your life.

  Many of the greatest thinkers who have ever lived have stood in awe before this power and have written about it, calling it many different names. Madame Blavatsky, the Russian theosophist, called it “the secret doctrine.” Poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson called it “the oversoul,” and he said, “We lie in the lap of an immense intelligence that responds to our every need.” Emerson compared this intelligence to an ocean and said that when we receive insights from it, we recognize them as coming from far beyond ourselves and our own limited minds.

  Napoleon Hill referred to this power as “infinite intelligence,” calling it the universal storehouse of knowledge and the source of all imagination and creativity. He claimed that the ability to access this intelligence was a central part of the great success enjoyed by the hundreds of wealthy men and women he interviewed over the years.

  Carl Jung, the Swiss psychoanalyst, called it the “supra-conscious mind,” and said that it contained within it all the wisdom of the human race, past, present and future. It has also been called the “universal subconscious mind,” the “collective unconscious�
�� and the “universal mind,” and many people refer to it as the “God-mind,” or the “creative subconscious.”

  Whatever you choose to call it, there is almost no limit to what you can accomplish when you tap it, use it and let it use you on a regular basis.

  It would be very difficult to explain to you how your superconscious mind works if you were not already familiar with it. Throughout your life, you have used it in a random and haphazard fashion many times. In fact, much of what you have already accomplished can be attributed to your accidental use of this power. My purpose in this chapter is to show you how to use it in a systematic way so you can dramatically increase the amount of health, happiness and prosperity that is possible for you.

  THE SOURCE OF CREATIVITY

  The superconscious mind is the source of all pure creativity. All truly classical art, music and literature come from the superconscious mind. Emerson confessed that his essays seemed to “write themselves.” He would sit down at his desk and the words would simply pour through him and onto the paper. His essays remain as some of the most beautiful and inspiring writing in the English language.

  Mozart was composing music at a young age. He could actually see and hear the music in his mind and was able to write it down, note perfect, the first time he put pen to paper. So clear were his music manuscripts that in the movie Amadeus, the court composer Salieri says of Mozart, “He writes the most beautiful music in the world as though he were taking dictation.”

  Beethoven, Bach, Brahms and Stravinsky all accessed this mind when composing their greatest pieces of music. Whenever you hear a piece of music, or see a work of art or read a piece of writing that seems timeless and which somehow touches something deep inside you, you are experiencing a superconscious creation.