Like many people, i’ve invested years of my time into personal development and growth while looking for an edge and trying to uncover the secret to ultimate success and happiness. This journey has taught me allot about myself which has helped me grow and develop. One thing I did learn is that mindset is a key element of success and being able to control how you think is important, because it allows you to control your feelings while maintaining a positive and healthy attitude.
I first discovered the power of a good mindset while studying martial arts. Competing brings on nerves for most people, some feel it more before, while others feel it during the event. I learnt through training in the dojo under high pressure conditions how to deal with these emotions effectively and to give myself some control over them. Developing this skill dramatically improved my ability to perform under pressure. I was always the person very nervous before a match, but as soon as it started I went into a zone where I could focus and relax better than most other people, I had friends who would be relaxed and calm before, but as soon as the competition started they couldn’t perform to their full capabilities under the pressure.
This is where goal setting became such an important element of my life, I learnt through a combination of self development training and from my own experiences in martial arts that if we can set goals properly, and in a measurable way that makes us feel like we’re moving forward and inspired, there are less feelings of anxiety and stress, and more feelings of achievement.
The process I follow is based on reverse engineering, I first look at my overall vision, which is where I want to be in the future, say 20 years from now, and then I figure out what I have to do to make that a reality. This means I break up my goals on a time line, and if I happen to achieve a goal faster than planned then that’s a bonus.
So for example, if my vision includes owning and living on and island in 20 years from now, I have to plan big to make that a reality, the cost of buying, maintaining and running an island is expensive which means I have to achieve goals which will allow me to build an income that can support the cost of running it. There is going to be other things I will want in my life as part of that vision, and these must be planned for. I need to include fitness and health goals, relationship goals and any other parts of my life that have to be improved to create my vision will have to be included. The point here is that all goals come from your vision. It’s by breaking your vision down and reverse engineering it on a time line that allows you to set out the milestone you will need to hit on the way.
Often to achieve big goals we need to change the way we think and see the world. To overcome challenges we have to learn to make tough decisions and understand what the likely outcome of our decisions will be, this requires being realistic. If your experience tells you that decisions are easy to make, then you have probably never made tough decisions in the past. For example, choosing between a blue or red car is easy because little can go wrong. On the other hand if your making a decision to on if you should sell your company for 500k now or hold on to it for a few more years to sell it for 3 million this is a tougher decision, because on one hand you can take your money and walk now, on the other the market may change and in a few years your company may be worth nothing.
When you set goals, it gives direction and makes the decision making process easier. This way, you can make decisions based on a well thought out strategy and your values rather than on a feeling – this gives a better perspective to the situation and will inform you if your decision making process aligns with your vision and values.
I recommend you go to the drawing board and map out your vision for the future, you have to consider your values when you do this to ensure you start on the right track. I will be putting a course together shortly which will help you do this.
