Free Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement by Brian Tracy Page B

could clearly define, what one goal would you choose?
    If you could have any job, what would it be? If you could work for any kind of company, what kind of a company would you se-ccc_tracy_3_40-51.qxd 6/23/03 2:47 PM Page 45
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    lect? Where would it be, and what would it be doing? If your family life and your relationships could be perfect in every respect, what would they look like? Answer these questions clearly. Write them down.
    ■ START WORK ON YOUR FUTURE
    You begin the creation of your ideal future by making up your dream list.You write down everything that you would want to be, do and have, exactly as if you had no limitations at all. You make up your list as if you were absolutely guaranteed of success. Then you can begin refining your list, step by step to develop a detailed blueprint for your life.
    Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “Have you built your castles in the air? Good, that’s where they should be built. Now, go to work and build foundations under them.” Once you have broken free from your limited thinking, like a balloon casting loose its moorings and rising high into the sky, you can begin to turn your dreams and fantasies into concrete practical goals with specific plans of action.
    Your ability to set goals and to make plans for their accomplishment is the “master skill” of success. With this master skill, there are no limits on what you can accomplish. Putting your goals on paper is the next step in the process.
    ■ HOW TO ACHIEVE ANY GOAL
    There is a seven-step method for goal setting and achievement that you can use, over and over, in any situation, to accomplish anything you could ever want for yourself. These seven steps constitute a powerful, proven formula that you can use to change your life immediately.
    ■ STEP ONE: DECIDE EXACTLY
    WHAT YOU WANT
    A real goal is clear, specific, measurable, and time bounded. A non-goal—a wish or a hope—is fuzzy and unclear. It is a fantasy that floats in the air. People with clear, specific goals, who know exactly ccc_tracy_3_40-51.qxd 6/23/03 2:47 PM Page 46
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    what they want, are very different from people who are going through life hoping for the best.Your ability to decide exactly what it is you want in each area of your life is one of the most important responsibilities of adult life.
    People often approach me at my seminars and ask what their goals should be. I reply that only they can decide. It is amazing how many of them tell me how hard it is to set goals, and I agree with them. It is hard, but it is also essential. With clear goals, you can do almost anything. Without them, you can do virtually nothing.
    One of the major reasons that people fail in life is because they waste so much of their time doing things of low value or no value at all. And the reason they waste so much time is because they have no real idea of what they really want. Once you have clear goals, your ability to manage your time improves dramatically.
    ■ USE YOUR TIME WELL
    Here is a way to decide whether something is a good use of your time. Just ask, “Does this move me toward the achievement of one of my goals?” If the activity helps you to achieve a goal you have set for yourself, it is a good use of time. If it doesn’t, it is a poor use of time.
    When you get into the habit of only doing those things that move you toward your goals, your life will take off. Your results will improve. You will soon find yourself busy every hour of every day doing things that are helping you in some way.You will have no time left to spend on activities that aren’t helping you to achieve one of your goals.
    When you set clear goals for yourself, and you know exactly what you want, you will become increasingly impatient with activities that are not helping you in some way.You will watch less television. You will listen to less radio. You will read the newspapers quickly, if at all. You will become far