Your resolve

• Your goals are like the rudder on a small rowboat. They set the direction and determine where you go. 
• If you commit to one goal, then the rudder stays put and you continue moving forward. 
• If you flip-flop between goals, then the rudder moves all around and it is easy to find yourself rowing in circles.
• If the rudder is your goal, then the oars are your process for achieving it. While the rudder determines your direction, it is the oars that determine your progress.

Example: If you’re a writer, your goal is to write a book. Your system is the writing schedule that you follow each week.

1. Ruthlessly Eliminate Your Goals. Consistently prune and trim down your goals. If you can muster the courage to prune away a few of your goals, then you create the space you need for the remaining goals to fully blossom.
2. Stack Your Goals. Make a specific plan for when, where and how you will perform this."Networking: After I return from my lunch break, I will send one email to someone I want to meet."
3. Set an Upper Bound. Don't focus on the minimum threshold. Instead of saying,  “I want to make at least 10 sales calls today.” rather say, “I want to make at least 10 sales calls today, but not more than 20.”

• Evaluate and reflect. Regularly write down where you are right now, and if you are happy with your current level of satisfaction.
• Define your dreams and goals. What do you want? Schedule some quiet “dream time” and think about what really thrills you. Then prioritise those dreams.
• Make your goals S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-sensitive)
• Have accountability. Find someone to hold you accountable to your goals.

1. Clarity: clear goals help with understanding the task at hand.
2. Challenge: the goal should be challenging enough to prove motivating, but not impossible to achieve. 
3. Commitment: involve your team in the goal-setting process.
4. Feedback: measure your progress and seek advice.
5. Task complexity: be careful in adding too much complexity to your goals as it can impact morale, productivity, and motivation.

• Objectives – This is what you hope to accomplish. Objectives usually take the form of broad goals that are not measurable (that’s what the Key Results section is for).
• Key Results – Based on objectives, the key results are almost always defined with a specific number.

• Step #1: Take Your Emotional Temperature, around the most important areas of your life.
• Step #2: The Neurology of Ownership: When we take ownership of something–an item, an idea or a goal–we are more committed to it.
• Step #3: Outcome + Process: Most people set an intention or an ideal outcome and try working toward it, but that gets you only halfway there. You have to pick an outcome and a process.
• Step #4: Identify Blockers: When we first set our goals we are super optimistic and filled with hope–and that’s great. One thing that happens, however, is we fail to identify possible blockers.

Rate these areas of your life on a scale from 1 to 5 and plot it on your Goal Wheel. (1 being extremely dissatisfied, 5 being extremely satisfied)

• Business: How do you feel about your work, career or business effectiveness and success?
• Friends: How is your social life? Your friendships and support system?
• Family: How are your personal relationships? Your partner or spouse?
• Personal Passions: Do you have personal passion projects, hobbies, or fun activities that fulfil you?
• Spiritual: You can interpret this one any way you like. It could be your faith, mental health, personal journeys or mindset.
• Health: Are you happy with your physical health and wellness?

We make excuses and push aside our dreams. There’s just not enough time, money, etc.) And we start to hide behind those excuses. They’re safe. By becoming more cognizant of your brain’s tendency for using excuses, the better you will become at dismissing them.

Start by taking a bird’s eye view of your life and slowly nail down more specific goals.

Identify your big goal. Then get more granular and identify specific goals along the way.

Each goal you set should be S.M.A.R.T. — Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

• Specific: The more specific your goals are, the better chance you have of achieving them.
• Measurable: Can you identify milestones to hit along your way to success?
• Attainable: Are you willing and able to make the necessary sacrifices to achieve your goal?
• Relevant: A goal that you care about.
• Timely: Make sure every goal you set is time-bound.

• Put aside your feelings so that you can concentrate only on the other person’s perspective.
• Use open ended questions that can help you draw out the interests and motivation that the person may not be verbalizing.
• Be clear about your own position and the weaknesses it has.
• Remove any personal intentions you may have, so as not to project them on to the other person.
• Using what you know about the person, their background, their mood, their intentions and expectations,  imagine how they are seeing the current situation.
• Validate their position by paraphrasing back to them what you think their position is.

When you break it down, almost every aspect of business involves an element of negotiation. 

By honing your perspective taking skills, you are much more likely to come up with solutions that are acceptable to all parties.

Hold the idea of wealth and success in your mind long enough and hard enough, until you draw into your life the resources you need to accomplish it.

Your main focus is to keep your mind fixed on improving your personal finances and achieving financial independence.

Keep your vision in mind, but start wherever you are.

Work back from the future to the present. Make a list of the logical steps, in order, that you need to take to get from where you are to where you want to be. Then figure out what big or small action you can take today.

• Create a schedule for your day and stick to it!
  
• Chunk: Group like tasks together into blocks of time, then focus on those specifics. 
  
• RPM: Short for Results-oriented/Purpose-driven/Massive Action Plan: a system to uncover what you want and then reap the rewards. 
  
• Harness the power of habit and productivity will become second nature. 
  

Being busy and always moving through tasks is not the same as being productive.

Productivity is getting the results you aim for with less time and effort. When you are productive, you won't be chasing deadlines or running behind schedule to get done. You'll probably be ahead of schedule.

Start with a clear destination to determine your steps. Identify your values and live by them.

• Visualize in detail your own funeral. What are they saying about how you lived your life, and your relationships? What do you want them to say? Change your priorities accordingly.
• Break down different roles in your life - whether professional, personal or in a community. List 3-5 goals you want to achieve for each. 
• Define what scares you and write down exactly how you'll handle it.

Prioritize your day-to-day actions based on what is most important, not what is most urgent.

Be disciplined to follow these actions regardless of how you feel at any given moment. Maintain a primary focus on relationships and results, and a secondary focus on time.