Dream makers vs. Dreams breakers: Focus

Ah the holidays are finally coming to an end. Don't get me wrong; I love this time of the year. Enjoying company of family and friends and the food... of course the food.

However, I found it to be the hardest time of the year to stay focused.

So this week I want to introduce what I personally call "Dream makers vs. Dreams breakers". I think the title is self-explanatory (at least in my mind). So what are they? My definition is whatever will either help you accomplish your dreams or take you far away from it.

So the first one I want to introduce is FOCUS or LACK OF FOCUS. Lets keep this short and simple: people who manage to accomplished anything worthwhile in their life had to learn how to focus all of their energies on that goal. The contrary is true; people who suffer from “lack of focus” have a really hard time accomplishing something. Two quick examples to illustrate:

Someone with focus: an athlete
I happen to be a huge sports fan. Last year I was watching the NHL finals (ok sorry to remind you guys that Sens lost); before one of the games, I heard that one of the Sens player's wife gave birth the night before. I said to myself “What a mess! I hope he won't start tonight… just when the team needed him”. Guess what! He was on the startup line. He played the whole game. And he played a GREAT game. Dude managed to score. I was speechless. For the first time I was watching the Senators play, I was watching someone else but Ray Emery. Yes unbelievable!
Why? Because it was for me the best lesson I could possibly had on what it means to focus on the task at hand. At the end of the game, I said to myself “If this guy, can forget about his newborn baby (I think it was his first baby) and focus on a hockey game… I will kick myself in the butt next time I claimed not being able to focus.”

Someone without focus: an ADD person (Attention Deficit Disorder)
Won’t elaborate much on it. Chances that you know someone who suffers from ADD. Think how hard it is or was for them to learn in school. Why? Simple. They cannot focus on a task for too long.

My question for you: are you able to focus on a task until it’s successfully completed or do you suffer from a lack of focus?
If you suffer from a lack of focus, it’s better to recognize it and seek the help necessary because your whole future depends on it. And yes it is possible, I know an ADD person who is a millionaire.

Wow let me stop right now… I’m starting to sound like Dr. Phil.

Wishing you a wonderful week!
Jephtée E.

Happy Holidays

Hi there,

I wish you all a very merry Christmas. I hope your day is fill with love, joy and lot of laughter.

Enjoy,
Jephtée

Life changing question

Hello everyone,

For those who are in Canada, aren't we bless this year with snow? 20-40 cm every other week. Yes! I had to comment on that because I am looking outside and it drives me nuts. To our Caribbean or European friends, an invitation would be very much appreciated.

So I was thinking of what to share with you guys this week, a lot of stuff came to mind however this one raised a red flag in my mind because if not addressed ASAP no need to keep on writing those articles. What is it you may wonder?

What would you answer, if I ask you what are your dreams?

Ok let me do better and actually ask you.

What are your dreams ___________________? (Put your name in the blank spot)

I am willing to bet 95% of you reading this article couldn't come up with an answer right away. You know its true. The funniest thing is I have known or spoke to many of you, at one point or another in the past few years… I cannot recall ever hearing you say: “this is one of my dreams or goals.”

Ok now if I know you guys as much as I think I do, you are probably thinking, I've never heard you say so either. True. I will be the first to admit that I did not had any dreams... yes I had things that I have wished for like everybody else but I did not had a clear vision of what I wanted. I've never stopped to think about it, just like 95% of the world population. I only started this process in the last 2 years.

Did you know that a study was conducted and they’ve found out that 5% of the world population holds 95% of the world wealth? Meaning that the other 95% are sharing between them 5% of the world wealth. You guys have probably figured that much out already but what most people have not figured out yet is the why. There are many theories out there but it really comes down to this one simple fact: these 5%have a crystal clear vision of what they want.

So to come back to our original question, which was, what is it you want in life, what are your dreams? If you answered:
- I want more money (come see me, I will give you some. Well if I give you 20$, wouldn't it be more then you have right now?)
- I want health (go to any hospital near you and ask a patient what he thinks of your health)
- I want to be happy (go see the parents of a serial killer and ask them about happiness)

I think by now you get my point. These are not dreams, they are not goals... they are things that everyone on this planet hope and wish for. Everyone wants more money, health and happiness. Now the ones who have achieved them are those who have taken these wishful thoughts and turn them into goals, into dreams.

Homework (yes you read right, its homework time): do not begin 2008 without an answer to this question, what is it you want in life?

To help you out, because it is not an easy task maybe the hardest homework you have ever done, I have posted a list of Dream Starters or Goal Triggers. Now let me warn you, I got that from a report I have received... I looked everywhere for a note about distribution rights or not... It was not mentioned so I decided to share it. If I get sued, you guys will receive your part of the bill :-)

Wow I thought this was going to be a short one. Its exercise time for me... I just received a new little gadget that I can't wait to try.

To a great week,
Jephtée

P.S.: don’t forget to leave your comments.

Dream Starters or Goal Triggers

- Are you pleased with your physical appearance?
- When is the last time you exercised? What did you do?
- What kinds of activities do you enjoy doing with family and friends?
- How do you spend your solitary time?
- When is the last time you had a physical?
- What is the name of the last book you read?
- How do you spend your Friday nights?
- What hobbies do you have? When is the last time you participated in any of them?
- Who are your five closest friends?
- When is the last time you spent time with them? What did you do?
- Where do you want to go that you haven’t gone?
- What do you want to see that you haven’t seen?
- What do you want to experience that you haven’t experienced?
- What do you want to do that you haven’t done?
- What do you want to try that you haven’t tried?
- How much time do you spend on/with the people in your organization?
- Are you more focused on results, people, or productivity?
- Do you enjoy your job?
- How well do you manage your time? At work? At home? Socially?
- Do you regularly take time off?
- When is the last time you had a vacation? Where did you go?
- How can you improve your communication skills? (Speaking, writing, and listening)
- How much time do you spend with your family?
- Do you really believe quality time is more important than quantity?
- How can you become more organized?
- When is the last time you made a new friend?
- Where did you meet him/her?
- What is the name of the last new restaurant you ate at?
- Have you traveled internationally?
- Where did you honeymoon?
- If you could have any occupation in the world, what would it be and why?
- What is the last musical or sporting event you attended?
- What is the name of the last class you took? When was that?
- How often have you changed jobs in the last 10 years?
- How much money do you have in savings/investments?
- How much do you weigh?
- What is the last new thing you learned?
- What is your household net worth?
- When is the last time you “played?”
- What trade publications do you subscribe to?
- What magazines or newspapers do you subscribe to? Do you read them?
- What organizations or clubs do you belong to? Why did you join?

This list was part of A Special Report from Inside the Champions Club. The title is “13 Secrets of World-Class Goal Achievers That Will Help You Achieve Nearly Any Goal You Will Ever Have”.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Hello everyone,

I am so excited to write this new article. The feedback I’ve received from you guys makes me want to write on this topic even more. I just wish you would leave your comments on the blog instead of calling or emailing me. :-)

Ok the topic I want to cover this week is "S.M.A.R.T. goals"

So what is a SMART goal? The acronym SMART stands for
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

Lets look at each component individually.

Specific
The more specific you are when setting a goal, the greater your chance of accomplishing it will be. For a goal to be specific, it needs to answer the 5 W questions. (Who, What, Where, When & Why).

Example
General goal: To loose weight.
Specific goal: I, Jephtée Elysée, will loose 50 lbs by December 2008 so that I can attain my ideal weight range.

Measurable
You should have concrete criteria for measuring your progress. If you can’t measure it, you will never know if you are on the right track or not.

Lets take the same example as before.
If you have set up the general goal and realize that you have been loosing an average of 2 lbs per month, wouldn’t you be happy? Well you definitely should because you goal was to lose weight and you are loosing some.

However, if you had a specific goal with a specific target of loosing 50lbs over a 12months period, you should be grateful for loosing 2 lbs per month but not satisfy. Why? Because 50 lbs over 12 months = 4.1 lbs per month. That specific measurement should tell you its time to double your effort.

Attainable
Ok that is a big one… this is THE reason why most people give up on their goals. Once you have identified goals that are important to you, you will start figuring ways of achieving them. However if a goal is so far out of your reach and your mind feels like no matter what it does, its still anywhere close to that goal… it will give up on it.

In our previous example: is 50 lbs over 12 months an attainable goal?

Realistic
A goal that is realistic to someone will not be to another. Only you can decide if your goal is realistic or not. An indication: if every time you think of your goal, you have that discomfort feeling… something might be wrong.

Timely
Set a timeframe for the achievement of your goal. In the example, the timeframe is 12months. Deadline is December 2008.

Remember: "Life is exactly what you make it, so dare to make yours even more magnificent!"

Wishing you a great week,
Jephtée E.

Goal setting 101

So what is goal setting and why is it so important?
The best way I can describe the importance of goal setting is by quoting Jim Rohn. Jim Rohn wrote: “If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan.”

Simply said, life is meant to be design and in order to design your life you need a plan. To create that plan, you need to know where you are right now and where you want to be. This is where goal setting becomes handy.

So what is goal setting?
Goal setting is an ongoing process where you stop and ask yourself: am I where I want to be (in a specific area of your life)? If the answer is no, you then ask yourself:
- Where exactly do I want to be?
- When do I want to get there?
- How will I get there?

The answer to those questions will give you a goal… a purpose.

Ready... Set... Goal...

To Your Success,
Jephtée E.

Thank you for stopping by

I am so happy that you’ve either accepted my invitation or a friend’s and came to read this blog. If you stumble into it while surfing the Internet, I believe that you are at the right place, at the right time.

So the idea to start this blog came after reviewing the goals I have set for 2007. I realized that I have accomplished 70% of the goals that I have set and trust me, for those who knows me or have worked with me in the past, you should know that I am extremely ambitious, thus my goals were extremely ambitious.

Statistics shows that 95% of people would not accomplish one single goal they have set up for the New Year. Most people don’t achieve their goals, and settle for whatever life throw at them, because they don’t know how.

I have taken the time to learn how to set up goals and better yet, how to ACHIEVE them. My goal here is to share the knowledge that I have accumulated so far on goal settings to help you achieve some of your goals in 2008 and make 2008 a great year. Whatever I wrote about are things that I’ve either read or experienced. I don’t claim to be an expert, just an ordinary woman who loves to read and research.

Each week, I’ll take the time to share with you on topics, such as:
- How to set up S.M.A.R.T. goals
- How to evaluate your goals
- How to track your progress
- What tools you can use to ensure and track your progress
- Perception
- Fear
- Determination
- Procrastination
- Legacy
- And much more

I created this blog instead of emailing you each article, so that it can be interactive. I encourage all of you to leave your comments and questions at the end of each post and even better to add your ideas and add value to this blog.

Jim Rohn says it best when he said: “If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan.”