Questions can be used in many ways to assist us in our personal development. Asking the right ones can help break down the emotional anchors of limiting beliefs. This is powerful because beliefs are not usually subject to logic, but questions can help break down that resistance.

Another important way that we can use questions for personal development has to do with how we focus. The mind loves to find answers to questions. Give your mind a question and it immediately goes to work trying to find you the answer. So, asking the right questions will encourage our mind to think in a positive direction. This means that our focus will also move in that same positive direction.

Personal development has everything to do with focus. We grow as a person in the same direction as our focus. If we focus on negative things, that will define our world. This is the opposite of personal development. But we cant focus in two directions at once. This means that carefully constructed questions actually harness our attention and move it along the path of our choice. The video below will show you how to do that. Its called

I hope you found this information helpful. With a little practice youll find that adding assumptions to your questions in this way will become almost second nature. Learning to make positive assumptions about the various situations in our life has a dramatic effect on our attitude, and our perception of life in general.

As we continually train our mind to focus in positive directions, the negative aspects of life fade into the background. Its the classic half-full half-empty syndrome. When we are focused on possibility and opportunity our world responds accordingly. New opportunities will arise, and we will see possibility everywhere we look. This is the power of using questions as personal development tools.

Do you have a favorite assumption that you like to use? Do you see the value of using questions this way? What role to questions play in your personal development? Share your thoughts on facebookor google+

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Use Questions as Personal Development Tools

The saying is ask the right questions and youll get the right answer.

We both know youll probably skim the questions below, thats okay, the ones that need to stand out to you, will show themselves!

1.If you woke up tomorrow with no fear, what would you do first?

2.What was your biggest worry five years ago, do you still feel the same about it at this minute?

3.What advice would you give the 5 year old you?

4.Can you picture the child you once were, what were they really good at?

5.Who did you last gossip about, how do you feel about it now?

6.What promises have you never carried through for yourself?

7.If you could change one law of your country, what would it be?

8.Have you ever expected love in return? Did you get it?

9.Do you play to work, or work to play?

10.When did you last laugh so much, it hurt?

11.Whats the most marvellous thing you have ever seen with your own eyes?

12.When did you last say thank you and sincerely mean it?

13. Whats your number one priority?

14.Who do you need to get in touch with because its been to long?

15.What relationships have ended? But you cant let go?

16.Who do you blame?

17.Are you a starter or a finisher?

18.When did you last do something for nothing in return?

19.When did your heart last skip a beat? Why?

20.Where would you take a road trip?

21.Who in your life do you wish youd met sooner?

22.Do you always want the answer to what are you thinking about?

23.How are things going for you, now?

24.When did you last talk yourself out of something when deep down you wanted to do it?

25.Do you live your life around days of the week?

26.How do Mondays feel for you?

27.If you could spend ten minutes with your hero alive or dead what would you ask them?

28.Is a year past more important than the next hour to come?

29.Do your practice self love or self loathing?

30.Whats your greatest achievement to date?

31.What scares you about your future? Does it matter if it isnt even here yet?

32.What must you do daily to keep yourself sane ?

33.How many hours a week do you spend watching tele and on the internet? How many hours do you spend alone with you?

34.If we all died at 35, what have you still to do? What did you miss?

35.If you had to move country tomorrow, where would you go?

36.Why does pizza come in a square box?

37.What answers are you seeking about your life?

38.Do you like the sound of your own voice? How does it sound when you are complaining?

39.When did you last listen to the sound of your own breathing?

40.What are you just not seeing?

41.Would you love to spend quality time with you?

42.What aspects of you, do you keep hidden from close friends but expose to loved ones?

43.When did you last judge someone who you didnt know?

44.What would you call your autobiography?

45.What do you need to learn but wont admit to?

46.Are you a goal setter or a whatever will be, will be person?

47.How would you hate to be described?

48.What genius would you be? Why?

49.When did you last make a mistake and be okay with it?

50.What would happen if you knew you could not fail?

51.How does it feel to be photographed?

52.Is trust more important than love, or is it the other way round?

53.What do you wish you had invented?

54.If you could erase an event from your mind, which one would you choose?

55.If you could dare yourself what would it be?

56.Are you living your life, or having a life?

57.What learning from today are you taking into tomorrow?

58.What makes you special, unique and talented?

59.What your perfect day look like?

60.What one thing do you need to do next?

61.What life legacy are you leaving?

62.Do you want your children (if you have any) to be just like you?

63.Are you playing games with yourself where the rules are preventing you from reaching your goals?

64.Who do you dispose your garbage on?

65.What negative experience keep happening time and time again for you? When are you going to learn from them?

66.What do you consistently attract in your life that is no longer good enough for you?

67.What have you given up but yet used to love?

68.Do you stand for what you believe in or are you pleasing others?

69.What does the life you want to live look like?

70.What questions here have you skipped over because they are too hard for you to handle?

71.Would you fall head over heels in love with you?

72.Are you making your difference in the world or stagnating?

73.What does praise and admiration sound like to you?

74.If you woke up tomorrow with a habit gone, what would it be?

75.How long are you going to be dead?

76.What risk do you need to take?

77.If money were no concern, what would you do for the rest of your life?

78.Whats your earliest memory of achievement?

79.What are you thankful for, this moment?

80.Where in your life do you give up accountability?

81.What does it feel like to change?

82.What (or whom) drains your energy, why do you let it happen?

83.Is tomorrow really another day?

84.Whos permission are you wanting on to achieve your goals? Will it actually come?

85.Do you need to see things before you believe them?

86.If your life were a TV programme, what would it be?

87.When did you last argue with yourself? Was it purposeful?

88.If you could talk to everyone in the world for 5 minutes, what would you say?

89.Would you defend a loved one, if you were breaking the law?

90.When did you last lie and regret it?

91.Would you risk making a mistake?

92.When did you last say something and automatically regret it?

93.When did you last speak well of you?

94.When is the right time to start a new goal?

95.Can you hear your enemies talk about you? What are they saying?

96.What in your life exhilarates you? Do you do enough of it?

97.Would you rather be poor and healthy or rich and ill?

98.If you could learn a new skill today, what would it be?

More here:
99 Personal Development Questions That Will Make You Think ...

TruNorth Global (TNG) and their TruNorth Training (TNT) division keep organizations ahead of the competition with the paradigm shifting TruClick (TC) platform and In- Context Training (ICT) system. In-Context Training provides training on demand at the speed of getting the job done with increased interactivity, accessibility and cooperation. ICT gives your enterprise the ability to []

According toKurt Steele, our National SAP Practice Manager, the days of managing inventory using Excel spreadsheets are history. Powerful sales and operations planning solutions are now using real-time analytics that take a unified data model of demand, supply chain, and financial data, analyze them at any level of granularity, and instantly provide responses. You can []

This blog post is so important I placed it in three of my categories. We will discuss today the subject of personal growth. As I have held the position of CEO at TruNorth global, I have learned that being open to coaching has truly been my pathway to success. I am always growing and constantly []

When we were children, we we were told to count to 10 before we respond to that friend who is picking on us. Pausing is a key to self control. Meditation leads to mindful pausing. Mindful meditation causes people to take a deep breath and think positive thoughts before reacting. In business, this can become []

Where is customer service? In a highly competitive world, few companies have laser focus on the chief source of revenue, THE CUSTOMER. This fact, in our modern business world, blows my mind. Stakes have never been higher. The customer has never matter as much as today, but still customer service has weakened. Companies that accomplish []

Have you ever evaluated how you do business? Do you enjoy each individual relationship? Do you soak in the little victories in the NOW? Or are you always striving instead of enjoying the moment? This hurried lifestyle is the very thing that is killing America, STRESS! Here some stats on stress: Percent of people who []

Dont give up, your break through is just around he corner. When I think of perseverance, I think of sports. What makes athletes a real hero? The key is a person who refuses to quit. A champion is a person or a team who pushes through pain and just does a little more effort. I []

Read this article:
Personal Development Coach

Life Changing Personal Development & Coaching

At some time in our lives we all turn to someone for advice, an honest answer or simply someone to listen and understand. But what I can provide as a Life Coach in Orange County, CA are two of the most important elements that any valuable friend could ever offer: Insight and the motivation to take positive action.

This is what true personal development is all about and what coaching is truly striving for: MEASURABLE RESULTS

I do not engage in psychotherapy or other outdated, unworkable methods. I am not about dwelling in the past looking for excuses on why you should continue to fail or struggle. Because of my training, background and access to powerful knowledge, we can work together to achieve and realize your most heart-felt goals. I am spiritually orientated and know that all of us possess a greater amount of ability than we grant ourselves to have. I want to help you to recognize your own power and put it to use.

As a woman, wife, mother of two and business owner, I know the challenges of making it all happen. I have developed a plan for success that I want to share with you. While I encounter the barriers like the rest of us, I have developed a powerful sense of self-confidence and an unfaltering purpose to help others in life.

Almost all of the greatest athletes and sharpest minds in our history turn to a coach, teacher, or mentor for personal development, spiritual growth and overall well-being.

As a specialist in personal development and coaching women, I will help you to assess the exact CAUSES to your problems or difficulties so that we can develop a plan that helps you to improve any non-ideal situation with your marriage, your family life, business or your own personal goals. Without insight to what we want and what is in our way, it is impossible to draw a map for our lives. And it is this very insight and map that I will provide you.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Eleanor Roosevelt

While others may try to give advice in the form of clichs or patterns not fit for everyone, I prefer to elevate your ability with knowledge, tools and life skills. Only with a higher understanding and unshakable certainty can you feel confident and successfully go in the direction of your dreams.

I am a certified spiritual counselor who has worked with business leaders, as well as those who are gripped by addiction to alcohol and medication. From the top down, to the bottom up, I have given guidance to people of all ages and professions to address whatever they found to be in the way and helped them to overcome it with understanding and a sense of partnership. Feel free to contact me for a free, informal consultation.

Find us on Google+ Local

See the original post here:
Personal Development and Coaching of Women in Orange County

Sandra Pawula says

January 3, 2014 at 4:18 am

Hi Brendan,

Thank you for compiling this list of top personal blogs once again! I know its quite a huge endeavor and I appreciate how you put your heart and your all into it.

Two of my favorite blogs are Zen Habits and Be More with Less. I appreciate the way they blend simplicity and focusing on the quality of your being at the same time.

Im so honored that my blog (Always Well Within) was included in this list! Thank you!

Wishing you the best and brightest year ever.

Jodi Chapman says

January 3, 2014 at 7:15 am

Thank you so much for putting this list together and for honoring these wonderful blogs in this way! Im honored to have made the list! Happy new year! Jodi

Vincent Nguyen says

January 3, 2014 at 11:14 am

Woohoo! Glad to be on the list! I started mine a month after your 2013 list was published so of course, I wasnt anywhere to be seen.

Happy New Year, Brendan.

Vidya Sury says

January 3, 2014 at 1:19 pm

Hey Brendan, a big hug to you for this amazing labor of love. Compilation is hard work and I appreciate you for putting this list together.

I am honored to be included in it. I know most of these bloggers and feel blessed to be at the receiving end of their wisdom. Very hard to pick favorites.

Thanks! And may all your dreams come true in 2014!

With love,

Vidya

Bobbi Emel says

January 3, 2014 at 2:01 pm

Always wonderful to make your list, Brendan! Thanks so much and Im looking forward to the Launch Your Life Academy!

Betsy/Zen Mama says

January 3, 2014 at 3:38 pm

Hi Brendan, This is an amazing list of blogs that youve put together. So proud to be part of such an amazing group. Wishing you a very happy 2014!! All the best, Betsy

Suzy says

January 3, 2014 at 4:40 pm

I know a few of the bloggers but will check out the others. Congrats everyone.

Carl says

January 3, 2014 at 6:12 pm

Great list Brendan!

Ill be shooting for this myself next year!

Im an avid reader of several of these sites and they continue to inspire me and give me much fuel.

wilson says

January 3, 2014 at 8:33 pm

Hi, I am in the self help niche and my blog site is http://www.abundancebrains.com

My Alexa Ranking is 288,956. Is it possible to include mine?

Thanks!

Jordan Michaels says

January 3, 2014 at 8:56 pm

Its interesting to see who rose and fell when looking at the list for 2013. Congrats to everyone on the list! They deserve it for providing such great information. Thanks to you too for sharing this. Found a couple new blogs to follow!

Jamie Alexander says

January 3, 2014 at 10:07 pm

Hey Brendan,

Great job compiling another massive resource full of very cool blogs. Thanks very much for including me also.

I love the direction your site is taking btw. I liked your old site, but this new version is much more professional than a simple blog.

Farnoosh says

January 4, 2014 at 1:23 am

Brendan, you are so kind, so generous, so considerate and so thoughtful to do this list, to put the work behind it and share it so openly and my gosh, SO SWEET to include my baby, especially after the huge makeover to Gensis/StudioPress. Thank you and I DREAM of spending NYE on the Sydney Harbor. Been there many times but never on Dec 31st. Happy new year and to a great year!

Bert Purdy says

January 4, 2014 at 2:36 am

This is such a wonderful list. It will cut down my research time dramatically. I read several of these blogs but cannot wait to dig into the others. A newer blog that I hope to see on here next year is http://happentoyourcareer.com

Stephen Guise says

January 4, 2014 at 4:44 am

Another year, and another excellent job Brendan! Im sure its tough to sort through the thousands of self improvement blogs out there and choose just 100 of them! Thank you for choosing Deep Existence. Ill start working right away to try to make the 2015 list!

Cheers, Stephen

Keri Kight says

January 4, 2014 at 5:05 am

Wow! What an amazing list. Im currently going through all of them now. Jodi Chapman posted on Facebook about this list, so of course I had to check it out.

Steve Pavlina is a huge influence in my life. I dont know him personally, but his blog is the reason I decided to take the plunge towards self employment. He certainly knows his stuff.

marquita herald says

January 4, 2014 at 10:58 am

Wow! Thank you SO much Brendan I am honored and humbled to have IGG included in this impressive list of personal growth blogs.

Sandi Amorim says

January 4, 2014 at 12:18 pm

Thanks Brendan for your commitment to this yearly resource, and for including me on the list. Its always a pleasure to be in such good company!

Tynan says

January 4, 2014 at 3:31 pm

Hey, thanks for the shout-out. Check out sebastianmarshall.com hes the only one missing that really deserves to be here.

Thea Westra says

January 4, 2014 at 3:36 pm

Thank you very much Brendan. A great list and I appreciate you including my Forward Steps blog in the line up. Cheers, Thea

Larry Hochman says

January 4, 2014 at 4:35 pm

You know whats great about this, Brendan? Id been blogging for years, and although I thought the content was great, it hadnt been getting much traction. When I saw the 2013 list about three months ago, it spurred me to get better at the things that attract a stronger readership.

So of course Im happy to have made this list, and thrilled with many of the connections Ive made, including you. Some great content from my colleagues in self-development.

Its also given me a specific outcome to strive for, which is the top 10 on the 2015 version of this list. Soaway I go!!!

Roman Soluk says

January 4, 2014 at 6:54 pm

Thanks a lot, Brendan! Im glad to be on your great list!

Dragos Roua says

January 4, 2014 at 6:57 pm

Hi Brendan,

Congrats for this list, great job. Also, Im puzzled to see my blog on the list, again. Honored and humbled

Thank you!

Romane Stewart says

January 4, 2014 at 7:00 pm

Great list Brendan i enjoyed last year list and this year as well and also the fact that my site (makingmotivation.com)is included in it .Self improvement sites exists for a reason so a big thank you to all who have decided to take a leadership in role in this step and to all visitors like myself who always have a reason to come back and visit such sites because of the uplifting messages it has to offer words are the most powerful drug use by mankind so its important that our message is positive and can have a profound effect on ones life.

One Love !

Ken Wert@MeanttobeHappy says

January 5, 2014 at 12:55 am

Great work Brendan! Thanks for putting this together. Its a great resource (and must have been a lot of work!). Also, congrats on your rise in the ranks! Ill definitely return to do some more reading.

Celestine Chua says

January 5, 2014 at 1:14 am

Awesome Brendan!! Thank you so much for having Personal Excellence on your list; will be sharing this as one of my points in my current blogging course too to my participants. Ill personally be referring to this list as a benchmark for my blogs growth this year too!

Celestine Chua says

January 5, 2014 at 1:16 am

Awesome Brendan!! Thank you so much for having Personal Excellence on your list; will be sharing this as one of my points in my current blogging course too to my participants. Ill personally be referring to this list as a benchmark for my blogs growth this year too!

Go here to read the rest:
top 100 personal development blogs - The Start of Happiness

Feedback Is Critical to Successful Performance. Tetra Images/Getty Images

Are you looking for the process that provides the heart of your performance management system? You've found it. The Performance Development Planning (PDP) process enables you and the people who report to you to identify their personal and business goals that are most significant to your organization's success.

The process enables each staff person to understand their true value-added to the organization.

They do so when they understand how their job and the requested outcomes from their contribution "fit" inside your department or work unit's overall goals.

In the process, staff members also set personal developmental goals that will increase their ability to contribute to the success of your organization. The accomplishment of these goals also provides a foundation for their career success whether in your organization or elsewhere, so they ought to be motivated and excited about achieving these goals.

Your system of Performance Management, with the PDP process for goal setting and communication, will ensure that you are developing a superior workforce. As one CEO remarks daily, "The only factor that constrains our growth is our ability to hire a superior workforce." Why not grow that talent from within your organization as well?

PDP meetings are held, at least, quarterly to review the staff person's progress on the overall goals and objectives. Your staff person's progress on the action plans, that result from the PDP goals, is reviewed at your weekly one-on-one meeting.

This weekly meeting allows you to offer assistance and to identify any help or tools the staff person needs to succeed.

Wonder what to do to make the Performance Development Planning (PDP) meeting successful? These recommendations tell you and your staff person what to do prior to the Performance Development Planning meeting.

So, while seemingly time consuming on the front end, the PDP process, with a formal, effective foundation of solid personal and business goals, is less time consuming as quarters pass.

The PDP continues to create business and employee success and value during its lifetime. With quarterly updates, the PDP process contributes into the future.

View post:
Performance Development Planning - Introduction

Here you will find a range of free personal development exercises to help you achieve personal change. If you have a coach or attended any personal development programmes you may have carried out various exercises to help you move forward. These could include exercises to assess your strengths and areas for development, clarify what is important to you, identify your priorities and set meaningful goals.

In this section I have put together some tried and tested exercises and templates you can carry out on your own which will get you thinking about some key areas to consider when making personal change. These you can then use as a starting point for your own personal development plan and, if you have a coach use them as a starting point for your discussions and to help you to maximise your sessions.

If you are a coach or trainer do feel free to use these personal development exercises but please do acknowledge their source.

Lifetime Goals Exercise

Return to Home Page from Free Personal Development Exercises

The rest is here:
Free Personal Development Exercises

My favorite positive affirmation is that there is NOTHING you cannot DO, or BE, or HAVE! I like to repeat that to myself daily. But one must do some dedicated goal-setting, and a lot of goal-getting to get there!

This was supposed to be a New Years post, but unanticipated changes due to my travel schedule forced me to postpone writing it. Thats okay though, travel will teach you a few valuable lessons about embracing change and rolling with the punches. The nice thing about resolutions is that New Years Eve isnt the only time you can make them!

In fact, you can set positive new resolutions for your life anytime you choose! New Years just gives us a great opportunity to reflect on our achievements in the past year and set some meaningful new goals for the year ahead. But you can do this anytime you chooseyou can make yearly goals on your birthday, or on tax day, or you can set resolutions every six months, every quarter, or you can even set monthly goals! You get the picture

The advent of a new year simply serves as a good reminder to reflect on all the progress youve made over the last 12 months and take what youve learned, and build a roadmap for the coming year and beyond.

Its actually better that there has been time for the hype of the New Year to pass by. A lot of people intentionally avoid setting new goals on January 1st because they see New Years resolutions as oh-so-cliche. Or perhaps you set a traditional resolution and already fell off the wagon. Revisiting what resolutions mean now might give you an opportunity to set more meaningful goals this year. So, stay with me here and embrace the change. Dont think of this as a New Years post. Instead, we are going to focus on goal-setting for this year.

Weve already seen how powerful it can be when you set goals for yourself. You wont succeed at every goal, but review your personal development progress at the end of each year to see how much you do accomplish! Simply setting the goals for yourself will greatly increase the likelihood that youll get much closer to your dream lifestyle in all these areas of your life.

So, as you can already see from my experience getting this post out much later than I intended, embracing change means that you dont always get to do things exactly when you planned. But thats okay, just because the timing changes doesnt mean you should throw away the whole plan! Just having made the plan in the first place makes you about sixty percent more likely to follow through on the action than if you hadnt made plans and set a time in your head in the first place. So the timing has changed. So what? You can still follow through. Thats what goal-setting is! Its setting a plannot a commandment set in stone. Dont give up on your goals if you miss your timeline.

Another thing about your goals is that they may change over time, or things may happen that prevent you from achieving them. Or you may simply not put in the effort to complete all of your goals by the end of the year. But what matters most is that you set them. The act of making meaningful, clearly-defined goals, and writing them down, will put you ahead of 95% of people out there, and it will certainly point you much closer in the right direction toward attaining the lifestyle that you desire in the year ahead. I guarantee that if you set ten goals for yourself in 2008, simply the act of setting goals for yourself will put you MUCH closer to achieving your dreams! As Abraham Lincoln said, A goal properly set is halfway reached. Get clear on what you want to accomplish in the next year, and focus your energy towards those ends, and youll likely achieve many of your goals.

Now it seems to be a popular thing to try to create 100 life goals or 100 goals for the new year. (Just do a Google search for 100 goals and youll see how many communities there are out there talking about the number 100!) Maybe its just that the number one-hundred has so much appeal Theres nothing wrong with wanting to go about it that way I suppose, but I think thats going about it backwards. Youve already started out by adding another goal to the top of your pile of things to do: To create 100 goals! But does having any particular number of goals really objectively have any value to you? No. In fact, the number is fairly meaningless, so dont start out with any particular number to reach.

Instead, try starting with the bigger picture in mind. As Stephen Covey said in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Begin with the end in mind. To do this, we will examine what roles we play, and what we want those areas of our life to look like in a year from now.

The necessary first step is to brainstorm your life roles, and other important personal areas of focus. Some goal-setting systems will tell you what categories to set goals for, but I believe you will come up with much more meaningful categories if you reflect personally about what roles you play and what areas of focus are most important to you. This is the system that Tony Robbins uses in his Personal Power seminars, and many other professional coaches (like my friend Tim Walther) use successfully in goal-setting workshops with thousands of people every year.

Think about your work, your family, your hobbies What roles do you play? For example, when I brainstormed, my roles included freelance web designer, business owner, professional networker, peer mentor, writer, traveler, and artist. But perhaps you are a mother, a CEO, an accountant, rock climber, church member, or amateur filmmaker. The roles that we play are different and unique for each individual. But what hats do you wear? What roles are important to you that you want to improve upon in the next year?

Roles tend to sound like titles or jobs, even if you dont get paid for them! They are how you relate to other people. But besides your roles, what other areas of focus are important to you personally? For most people this will include things like personal finances, health and recreation, social life, and so on. But maybe your areas of focus include nutrition, or spirituality, or professional development and training

Take some time to brainstorm and reflect on what roles and areas of focus are most important in your life, and once you have them all written down on a piece of paper, imagine one-by-one what each of those areas of your life could look like in a year. This is called visualization, and its an important tool in attaining your desires. Visualize how much progress you could make towards positive relationships with your family. Or how much you could improve upon your strengths at work. Imagine yourself in a new profession, being paid to do something you love. Or even picture yourself on vacation to some beautiful exotic location! But dont imagine these things passivelyvisualize yourself participating in making those changesin experiencing those improvements and accomplishments. Write down a sentence or short paragraph next to each role and each area of focus about what that picture looks like.

Now that you have your big picture and youve thought about where youre going with each of your personal roles, you finally have some direction. Visualizing what each of those areas of your life could look like one year from now should give you vivid images of what you want to DO, BE, and HAVE. So the final piece of the puzzle in making meaningful resolutions this year is to break those visualizations down into smaller steps you need to take to get there. What are the next actions that will get you closer to your desired outcomes? If you want to buy a new laptop, how much money should you set aside each month? If you want rock-hard abs, how many crunches are you going to do each day?

The best way to set goals that are longer-term than your weekly To Do list items is to start practicing SMART goals. SMART, in this case, is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. You can review these questions in your head as you set goals, or you may want to write them out for each major goal you set.

Specific Is it something concrete, that youll know when youve completed it? This is one big reason why resolutions fail. People often set ambiguous goals that are too broad to be actionable or too unclear to know when youve fulfilled the requirements. For instance, a popular New Years resolution is to get in shape. But how are you going to achieve that? That is only a very murky version of the visualization that weve already practiced above. Now make it specific!

Measurable How will you measure your progress at the end of the year, or how will you know when youve achieved your objective? Think about what specific criteria youll have to fulfill to reach the specific outcome you want. And a good way of measuring may be to keep a notebook of your progress toward the goal, or involving your friends in keeping you on track.

Attainable Is it realistic and possible for you to achieve this in the year ahead, or are you reaching too far? Do you have too much on your plate already? Set goals that will make you stretch, and learn, and grow. But dont set unrealistic, far-fetched goals that will only discourage you when you dont meet them.

Relevant This is actually my favorite of these questions to ask when youre doing these mental exercises, and it is the first one that I ask because it is the best filter because I think it is the most important. Put simply, is the goal important? Is it really going to get you closer to your dreams, and is it really worth investing your energy in? Or should you focus on other, more important goals?

Time-Bound When will you complete this goal? Specifically? By October? In Q1? On your birthday? Remember what I said about being flexible with changes in timing toward the beginning of this post, but attaching a time to your goals makes them immediate and important. Remind yourself regularly that you have a goal to meet. When do you plan to start, and what is your target date for completion?

You may come up with a hundred goals for 2008, or you may come up with just two or three really important goals for the year. I go through my list and eliminate all the non-SMART goals, and I try to focus on the attainability aspect of my goals and think about how much I can realistically accomplish in just one year, so I have about 3-4 top concrete goals for each of my 10 roles/areas of focus.

In my own brainstorming, I found that my most important Roles included Web Designer/Consultant, Entrepreneur, Blogger, Peer Mentor, Traveler, and Artist. And other Areas of Focus for me included things like Social & Relationship-oriented goals, Health & Recreation, and Financial goals. After I settled on these nine top areas of importance for my life, I visualized how Id ideally like to see each of those realms in a year from now What sort of progress would I like to make? What things would I like to learn? How successful can I be in a year? And I not only asked these questions, but I tried to actually put myself in that future realitywhat will it feel like? How will I get there? Is it truly important?

So, once I had the broader picture of where Id like to be in a year (yet still very specific mental images), I worked backwards to think what smaller steps Ill need to accomplish to get to that point. I tried to frame each of my goals into the three areas of things I want to BE, DO, or HAVE, and I tried to frame them in the affirmative, to reinforce to my own brain that I will accomplish these things this year! I also tried to phrase my goals positively, focusing on what I should do to get there, not what I want to do less of. Here are the 24 major goals Ive set for myself this year, broken down by my Roles and Areas of Focus:

I. My goals as a Web Designer & Consultant

II. My goals as an Entrepreneur

III. My goals as a Blogger

IV. Career Development and goals as a Peer Mentor

V. My goals as a Traveler

VI. My goals as an Artist

VII. My Social and Relationship-related goals

VIII. My Health and Recreational goals

IX. My Financial goals

Remember, the more specific you get, the more likely you are to actually achieve your goals! I went through all of my goals to see if they were each Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely, and if they werent, Id throw them out. I wont include each step for ALL of my 24 goals here because I dont want to bore you! But, Ill demonstrate with my first goal how I answered these questions in my head:

GOAL: I WILL HAVE a dedicated portfolio site for my web development work

Now that youve seen my own detailed example of brainstorming Roles & Areas of Focus, visualizing outcomes, and SMART goal-setting for 2008, what are your personal resolutions for the new year? What goals are important for you to achieve this year? If you havent already spent time thinking about meaningful resolutions for the year, brainstorm on this and let me know what you think of my process in the comments.

When setting your career and academic goals for your business advancement, consider one of these online degrees that will help you manage your time better.

Please hit that comment section below and share your thoughts Good luck goal-setting!

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Behavior (what we do or say) is extremely complex as it is a function of many factors. these include environment; perception; consequences of behavior; past experiences and learning; emotions; needs; and motivation. Our knowledge base, intelligence, values, and goals and expectations also contribute to our behavior. Biological and genetic factors, as well as unconscious processes, likewise play a significant role in the way we behave.

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2006 Behavioral Coaching Institute

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People and Personal Development Coaching

Our society has a serious fear of death, to the point where we do everything we can to avoid it. And then struggle to accept it once its taken hold.

But I wonder if we would be so afraid of it if we were all truly living our lives to the best of our potential.

Over the weekend, I had a conversation that revolved around when someone peaks in life when they hit the highest mark they ever will.

A lot of people choose to peak early they focus their life on partying and the next kegger they can throw. And the struggle to meet the demands of life.

Another big group peaks as they get to a point where they can handle all the responsibilities life throws their way. They get to a point where they will grow incrementally in their career, pay for the house and toys they want, and have some fun.

Thats great. They are happy where they are, and thats amazing.

My new friend is in this boat, and Im happy for him.

But when I shared that I dont believe Ive peaked yet, he was a bit confused.

I work incredibly hard, all the time. Im happy where Im figuratively at now, but I wont be happy to stay here forever.

I want to keep growing. To accomplish great things. To push the envelope of my potential, and see exactly how far I can go.

For me, thats the point of life.

I could never be satisfied to peak at 27, with at least 2/3 of my life left. What would be the point of all that time if I ceased to push myself?

Nor do I think Id be happy to peak at 40 or 50.

Every moment Im alive is a moment to expand and to grow. How do I possibly pick a point and say, nope, Im good here for the rest of my time.

I choose to keep growing and keep experiencing.

And I truly hope that I dont peak until Im well past old & gray.

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