Lifestyle Mastery Boxed Set

by Scott Allan

  “By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands—your own.”

  — Mark Victor Hansen

  Now that we know what is possible, it’s time to begin the work that will establish your course of action with greater focus.

  It’s time to write down your goals. Once this step is done, you will be able to identify the work that needs to be completed so your future vision will be realized. To keep this simple, I have broken the process up to cover fourteen days.

  Yes, within fourteen days you will have completed a goal portfolio. Does this seem impossible or hard to believe? If so, it’s because this may be your first time trying this.

  Now, I recommend setting aside a minimum of thirty minutes a day until all the steps are completed. Follow the steps below to create your personal profile of custom goals designed to build success in the essential areas of your life.

  Day 1 / Create Goal Categories

  In Word, Google Docs or your notebook, use individual pages to write the following ten categories at the top of the page. If you need more categories that are more customized to your goals, feel free to add them. Goal categories:

  Career and Business

  Family/Child Development/Spousal Relationship

  Hobbies and Special Interests

  Education/Specialized Training

  Travel

  Financial/Savings/Investment/Retirement

  Volunteerism

  Personal Development

  Health, Fitness, and Lifestyle

  If there are any other categories you would like to add that are not already listed, you can do that now.

  Total Time: 20 minutes

  Days 2 and 3 / Mind-Mapping Your Ideas

  Under each heading, mind map as many goals as you can for each individual category. Spend 10 to 15 minutes on each category. Mind map all the ideas, hopes, and dreams you have ever had within each particular area of your life.

  For example, your Career and Business Goals may look like this:

  Get my business management degree.

  Quit my current job and take something better.

  Start my own internet business within five years.

  Write down as many ideas as you can. You will be working out the details later.

  Don’t worry about how or when you are going to do this just yet. The key is to get everything in your head down on paper so you can physically see it.

  Note: One or two of your categories will probably dominate the others, depending on the concentration of your interests. This is good. You don’t want to focus on everything, but just two to three areas will be your primary goals.

  Day 4 / Prioritizing

  Next, go back and read through the goals you have listed for each category. Number the goals from the most important (power goals) to the least important (important, but not urgent). Prioritizing what needs to be done first is a vital step to building momentum in your daily actions.

  For example, if your goal is to run a full marathon, you have to be able to run a half-marathon before you can do the full one. Your goals are achieved by “step building” or doing things in order by following a certain process. Your goal, depending on how many stages there are, may involve twenty individual actions. You have to identify which actions you need to take and when.

  Day 5 / Create a Power Goals List

  On a separate sheet of paper, write “My Power Goals” at the top of the page. This is for priority goals. These are the dominant objectives in each of your categories, since achieving a power goal would have a significant impact on your life. Take from each category one goal you listed as the most important and cluster them in this section.

  Then, tack this list up where you can see it. You want to have a constant reminder of what your power goals are so that you can stay focused on working towards them. You may decide to work on just one at a time, or work on two goals simultaneously. I recommend staying focused on your biggest impact goal as a priority and using other goals to support this.

  Day 6 / Set Out Power Goals

  Next, assign a separate sheet of paper to each of the power goals. Write the power goal at the top of the page. For example, if one power goal is “Travel across Europe,” this is what I will write at the top of the page.

  According to the nine categories above, if you had a power goal for each one, you would then need nine separate pages for each power goal. Later on, you will write down a list of actions under each power goal heading.

  Day 7 / Establish a Master Goal

  Select the goal that would have the greatest impact on your life from your list of power goals. This is a goal that could boost your quality of life, make a dramatic change, or raise the bar on everything you are involved in.

  This is your master goal, your center of concentration, and the foundation for everything else. In your notebook, write this master goal at the top of the page. Later, you will create a set of short- and long-term action steps to get you moving on this. Now select your master goal and write it down.

  Note: The master goal is what I consider the ultimate goal. If you accomplish it, it would have a major impact on your life. I call it the “Groundbreaker Goal,” and it represents the cornerstone of all your dreams.

  “All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.”

  — Orison Swett Marden

  Day 8 / Create a Compelling Reason for Each Goal

  Before you begin any new venture, you should first create a compelling reason for your actions. This simple task puts your goal in perspective. Answering and confirming the reasons why something is important gives the desire a life of its own.

  Why does this goal matter to you? How will accomplishing this goal have a positive impact on your life? What would happen if you did not accomplish it?

  Create compelling reasons for each of your goals. Write down your answers to these questions.

  Day 9 / The Action Plan

  What are the action steps you must take for each of your power goals? Remember that a goal is achieved through following a specific plan of action. Just saying that you want to do something is not enough—you must take the action necessary to build the momentum that gets things moving in the right direction.

  In this next step, for each of your power goals, I want you to write a bulleted list of the steps you can take to begin working on each goal. In some cases, it might be as simple as making a phone call to gather information, filling out an application, or applying for a loan at the bank. This is the development of your master plan for each power goal.

  Day 10 / Make a Deadline

  What is the deadline for your goals? I have goals that have taken five years to complete. Others took only a few weeks. Another power goal has taken over ten years and is still ongoing.

  Whatever it is you desire to achieve, set a specific completion date. Make sure the date is realistic and achievable. If it isn’t, you will find yourself resetting it, again and again, every time you miss the deadline.

  Once you have set your target date, set daily and weekly goals (your power steps) that move you closer to your target date. With each step completed, you will be moving closer to finishing it.

  For short-term goals, your deadline may be in a matter of weeks or months. If it is a long-term goal, you can set the year and the month. For example, “I will have achieved this goal by December of next year.”

  Day 11 / Review

  Now go back and read through each of your power goals. This step is meant to review what you have designed so far. I want you to choose the top three goals from your list of power goals and focus mainly on these. I am not suggesting ignoring the other goals.

  However, if you try to do too much you will end up with nothing. Decide which goals are most important and will contribute the most to designing your life the way you envisioned
it to be.

  Choose the top three and spend ten minutes a day visualizing the final outcome of these goals. Post these goals up where you can see them every morning when you wake up and again before you go to bed. Plan your action steps at the start of every week for each of your priority goals. Be consistent in taking your action steps.

  Day 12 / Building the Vision

  Visualization is a big part of making our dreams come true. For the next two days, I want you to think about your goals. Visualize yourself working toward them. See yourself overcoming the obstacles that block your success.

  Imagine what it will feel like when you have achieved your victory. Spend some time mentally conditioning yourself for success. Imagine your goals have already been achieved and piece together the visionary puzzle that will put you in the right frame of mind.

  Nothing happens without first imagining it as being so. Make it real in your mind and it will eventually become your reality. Now, write your vision down in as much detail as possible. This is to be a visual letter to yourself. Before you visualize each day, read over your visual letter at least twice.

  Day 13 / Identify Your Achilles’ Heel

  Everyone has weaknesses, or at least one potentially threatening weakness that stands out amongst the rest. It is this weakness that could be holding you back from achieving your maximum potential and fulfilling your goals. This could be a negative habit, or the lack of some specific knowledge or skill you have to acquire before any progress can be made.

  In most cases, failure to reach your goals is the result of an internal weakness that you have failed to address. Take a look at the goals you have written down. For each one, make a note of any obstacles or personal defects that need to be overcome in order for you to succeed.

  By identifying your “Achilles’ heel,” you will be able to transform your most prominent weakness into your greatest strength.

  What obstacles do you see holding you back? How can you work through this roadblock and succeed? Identify two people who can help you with this? Knowing where you are weakest is an attribute because you can mend what needs to be healed.

  Day 14 / Acquire the Necessary Skills, Connections, or Knowledge

  Goals don’t just happen by chance. The accomplishment of your life’s dream is the combination of many other steps in between. This includes acquiring new skills or techniques you need in order to move forward with your plan.

  If your goal is to take part in a triathlon, you might have to become a stronger swimmer, in which case swimming lessons could be necessary. If you have a great idea for a small business but you lack business knowledge and experience, you might consider taking a small business course, or interviewing people who are already running their own companies.

  Regardless of your lack of expertise, knowledge or experience, anything is possible if you are willing to put in the time and effort. Remember, no matter what you are trying to do, in most cases there is someone out there that can help you succeed. Try to make the right connections and relationships with the people who can give you the advice or know-how necessary to succeed.

  Now, for each of your goals, identify the skills or specialized knowledge you need to succeed. Is it a book you have to read to acquire knowledge? An interview with someone who has already succeeded in what you are trying to do? A course you have to take?

  Make a list of the necessary skills you need and the people you must connect with in order to bring you closer to meeting your goals.

  The Weekly Review

  The most important step for managing your goals is committing to a weekly review of your goals. By performing the review phase every week, you will be able to maintain a level of organized functionality as you identify the current actions being taken and those actions or steps that have to be taken next.

  Through the review phase, you will create a system of measurement with which you can keep track of what has been done, what hasn’t been done, what needs to be modified, and what needs to be done next.

  The review process puts everything in perspective. It allows you freedom and opportunity to analyze, interpret, and plan for the next course of action. Instead of just plunging ahead day by day, doing whatever comes to your mind in a haphazard order, the weekly review allows you to observe yourself as you work.

  This provides you with the opportunity to look for areas that need more attention. It keeps you focused on important matters so you don’t become distracted.

  I recommend setting aside a thirty-minute block of time each week, either at the beginning of the week or the end. In this session, do the following:

  Check off the sub-goals and actions completed this week.

  Make a note of those actions that were not completed and move them to next week.

  Confirm your goals and sub-goals for the week. Make a list of actions to be taken or tasks to be done and place it in a visible or easily accessible spot.

  Read over your mission statement or master goal.

  Put any important dates, appointments, or deadlines on your wall calendar.

  Take time to organize or clean up any loose ends that could become distracting. Stay organized.

  Review your goals from all categories. Even if most of these goals are things you want to do in the distant future, it is always a good idea to keep them fresh in your mind.

  Write out any additional ideas or thoughts you had during the week. Add any new goals to your list.

  Take 20 to 30 minutes at the end to visualize your outcome.

  Review your goal progress once a week and check off the completed tasks. Make it a habit to end each week with a review of your goals. This is a vital step for tracking your progress.

  How to Reverse Engineer the

  Next Ten Years

  “Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blue print and begin to build.”

  — Robert Collier

  Now that you have a list of goals, I want to introduce you to a fantastic way to set the rest of your life up for success. Many people either don’t have goals, or they work on their goals for a few months without much progress. It takes time to achieve big goals that could possibly change your life.

  One challenge people have is that they struggle to define how this goal will positively impact their lives. What started as something fun and exciting soon became a burden. To best maximize your success at finishing your goals, use the reverse engineering strategy. It is also referred to as the “beginning with the end in mind,” and Stephen Covey discusses this in his bestselling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

  This is how it works:

  Visualize your life in the next twenty years. Or if that is too far ahead, you can scale back to ten years. See yourself living your life the way you want. Block in twenty minutes a day for this exercise. You can use the Pomodoro timer app to stay focused.

  Now, consider these questions when practicing visualization:

  Where are you in ten years? Who are you with? How do you spend your days? Do you wake up each morning with a renewed enthusiasm for living, or are you dragging yourself out of bed every morning to go to a job you hate?

  Have you found someone to share the rest of your life with? Are you still struggling financially, or are you doing well because you have achieved your goals? Who have you helped along the way? What are people saying about you when you’re not around? How has your life developed in the past ten years because you set out to make things happen with hard work and commitment?

  This form of future visualizing is powerful. In my opinion, without this practice, you will get to the point where you feel stuck. You may lose confidence. Uncertainty might settle in. You start to question whether you’re doing the right thing or if you will ever succeed.

  I can tell you without a doubt that every successful person has moments of doubt, uncertainty, and fears. But we can transcend these fearful thoughts by projecting the way we want the story to end.

  It
can feel as if we’re moving through each day guessing how the end will turn out. Have you ever asked people whether they have a plan for the future, and they responded by saying, “I don’t know—I’ll just see how it works out”?

  Well, I can’t predict my future but I can visualize how I want it to turn out, and I can take the right actions today to get me to where I want to be in five, ten, twenty years from now. Can you take five minutes right now to put your imagination to work and throw your thoughts into the future?

  “The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.”

  ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

  Once you have a clear picture of yourself exactly where you want to be emotionally, mentally, and physically, happier than you’ve ever been, ask yourself this:

  What actions did I take to get there?

  A goal without massive action is called a dream, and a lofty dream at best. You want to do more than just dream about what life could be like. You want to experience it and be the person you always wanted to be. Or maybe this is the first time you’ve actually given it any thought. Well, start now.

  Work backward from the end and see yourself taking action every day.

  What habits did you develop? Did you make a daily task list and work from that? Who did you seek for guidance? What lessons did you learn along the way? How did you overcome fear and get through tough obstacles?

  By seeing yourself take action and visualizing the results, you will gain clarity on the necessary steps.

  For example, let’s say that one of your goals is to attain financial freedom. We know from experience that people who save cash and build a financial nest egg do so by planning ahead. Or they hired someone to do the planning for them.

  Either way, if I wanted to save $30,000 in the next ten years, I could break it down to a monthly goal. To save this much money, I’d need to put away $300 a month. To achieve that, I could save $10 a day. How would I save $10 a day?

  Now, this is where the action steps come into play. Not everyone has ten dollars a day to put away. But how much could you save by cutting back on expenses? Do you go to Starbucks every day? Do you spend more than twenty bucks a week on alcohol or smoking? You may have to cut back on your expenses.