Setting Goals

~*~Warning: Gratuitous Bragging Ahead~*~

Do you set goals? How do you acheive them? Do you set them, but then in the back of you mind tell yourself "Oh, that will be so awesome if I can make it?"

My husband is an amazing man. I recognized this from the first time I met him. He has so much ambition and so much drive. To be perfectly honest, I was quite intimidated by it when we first started dating. The man accomplishes everything he sets out to do. His dad took him to the local ski hills once as a child and by the time he was 13 he was a nationally ranked skier. He decided he wanted to learn how to fly airplanes when he was in middle school ~ he took his first solo flight before he could legally drive a car. He then decided flying is what he wanted to do for his career and he became a Captain at a major airline by the time he was 32 (second youngest in the company).

I mean seriously, how can you not be intimidated by someone like that? He's so humble about all of it though. Having lived with him for so long now, I can say that I've picked up a thing or two from him ~ like the secret to his success.

Have you heard of The Pacific Institute? The what? Yea, I hadn't either. The Pacific Institute is run by Lou & Diane Tice and let me tell you, it's changed my life. It's a three day seminar (or a book to be read at your leisure, but let me tell you the seminar is AMAZING!) about changing the way yout speak to yourself. Changing the pictures in your mind.

It's not just a warm fuzzy, prop you up, everybody sing Kumbaya type of seminar ~ those annoy me. It's about how we talk to ourselves. It's about the picture that we see in our mind. Our brains look at life through pictures ~ whether concsciously or not. The pictures may not match reality, but they will match what we think is reality. And our brains will do everything in their power to make reality match your pictures.

This is way over simplifiying it, but it boils down to "your mind leads you to what you think about." The self fulfilling prophecy. That wikipedia article gives an example of a woman causing the demise of her marriage because she is told (and subsequently believes) that her marriage is doomed to fail and she fears that failure. She creates the picture in her head of a failed marriage (and she gives credibility to this picture) and she then subconsciously sabatoges her marriage.

Not all self fulfilling prophecies are negative. And not all of the pictures in our mind are placed there by things we are told by other people. Who here hasn't said "I can't exercise because......" "I'll never be a runner because......." "I wish I could take off the weight but......."

Everytime we say those words ~ either to ourselves or to someone else ~ it just adds another detail to the pictures we already have in our minds. So, how do we change those pictures? Affirmations.

• I am a runner. Strong and fast.
• I am a healthy & fit woman. I set good nutrition examples for my children.
• I am able to complete all of my workouts because I manage my time well and I schedule in time for myself daily.

Those are just a few of my daily affirmations. Each time I say them I picture them in my mind as if they are reality. The stronger the picture in my head ~ the faster the goals will be met.

This is all fairly new stuff to me (in the last few years). My husband was raised this way. It's second nature to him. It's something I have to work at daily. But it works. It really really does work. Positive thinking is only part of the equation ~ we have to believe those thoughts. We have to see our new reality. We are the only ones that can change our pictures. Believe in yourself ~ You are worth it.

Recommended reading if you'd like to learn more about affirmations and goal setting:

• Smart Talk for Achieving Your Potential
• The Secret
• Livestrong Self Affirmations Article

Plus so many other great resources! Now, go write some affirmations!!