TODAY

Ooooo! I am in such a good mood today. Not sure why but I am loving it. Maybe its because of the nice temperature, or the good meal that I just had, or the fact I spent some time with my little cousins yesterday at the fun fair or the fact that I have accomplished so much business wise this weekend and feel one step closer to accomplish one of my goals OR just a combination of it all.

Once, I read somewhere something that had stuck with me and I think since that day it has pretty much guided my way of thinking and living (without even realizing it). Wondering what was the magic words?

I will do today what others will not do, so I can do tomorrow what others cannot do.

Reading that one phrase my friends change my whole way of thinking and my way of doing things. Like most young people, I used to think that life is about “NOW”. I wanted to do as little work as possible and enjoy my youth. It’s a good thing that I read that because it opened my eyes and made me realized that people who are really enjoying their adult years are the ones who used their youth years to sow and now they can reap the results and enjoy every bit of it.

I decided to be in this category of people. You can make that same decision today and be one step closer to accomplish some of these goals that you have set up for yourself. I am NOT suggesting that you become a workaholic (all work and no play) but to find a good balance between work and play now, that will allow you to play a lot more later on.

“The common denominator of success—the secret of success of every person who has ever been successful— lies in the fact that “THEY FORMED THE HABIT OF DOING THINGS THAT FAILURES DON’T LIKE TO DO.”” The Common Denominator of Success, by Albert Gray

Keep it up!
Jephtée E.

P.S.: for people reading this and thinking: “well who knows if I will see tomorrow or a few years from now so why bother?” let me ask you this, “what if you do live to see tomorrow and a few more years? Can you imagine being where you are right now? If yes, well don’t budge… if not, move your behind TODAY”

Any day we wish

Today I want to share with you a few lines from Jim Rohn. I often go back to read it and this week as I read it… I realized that you might enjoy it.

"What we ponder and what we think about sets the course of our life.
Any day we wish; we can discipline ourselves to change it all.
Any day we wish, we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge.
Any day we wish, we can start a new activity.
Any day we wish, we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year.We can also do nothing.
We can pretend rather than perform.
And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are.
We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence.
The choices are ours to make.
But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause. As Shakespeare uniquely observed, "The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves."
We created our circumstances by our past choices.
We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today."

Cheers,
Jephtée E.

PS: If you want to learn more, click here and when at the website, you will see a list of Featured Authors on the right side, scroll down a little and you will see Jim Rohn. The part that I shared is from the 2001 Jim Rohn Weekend Event. Click here for website.

A SUCCESSFUL DAY

Today I will keep it short and sweet.
Often I finished my articles or an email by wishing you guys, a successful week.

Have you ever stopped to think what do you need to accomplish in order to make your week a successful one?

This is a very simple question but with tremendous value. I’ve come to realized that each time I’ve stopped and asked myself this question and write a few things down… I’ve always end up with a good week.

When you think about it, it’s a very simple process:
1) You asked yourself what you would like to see happen this week.
2) You write it down.
3) You do your best to make it happen during the week.

Give it a try and see the difference.

Let me share something that I’ve read… don’t ask me where because I don’t remember. It’s a good thing I wrote it down in my journal. Just enjoy it and don’t be picky. lol

A SUCCESSFUL DAY
To learn something new;
To laugh at least ten times;
To lift someone up;
To make progress on a worthy goal;
To practice peace and patience;
To do something nice for yourself and another;
To appreciate and be grateful for all your blessings.

You can add whatever you think is missing from that list and customize it to your taste.

To a successful week,
Jephtée E.

Evaluation follows up

Hopefully you have taken the time to do the evaluation exercise I have suggested in my last post. I cannot emphasize enough how important this simple exercise is to your success. You need to take the time to evaluate your progress, rethink, strategize and move forward.

For those who have done it, I congratulate you. For those who have not, I hope you will change your mind and decide to give it a shot.

This week, I’d like to comment on a few outcomes of this evaluation process.

I’ve personally done my evaluation 2 weeks ago and man, I was surprised. I was shocked to realize:

• how much I’ve accomplished in 3 months period;
• how much my priorities have changed and as a result, how many goals I don’t want to pursue anymore;
• how many goals I have identified as VERY important in December and have managed to slipped my mind, therefore I am way behind;
• how many new goals I have.

It was a really stimulating exercise for me because it helps me re-focus and reminded me what is important for ME.

However, a few people emailed me or call me and say they did not like this exercise at all. The 3 most common reasons I was given:

1. Discourage them to see how little they have accomplished;
2. Frustrate them to see that things are not moving regardless of their hard work;
3. Anger them to realize some of the goals they have set are not achievable.

After hearing them talk, my questions were as follow:

1. Would you rather not knowing how little you have accomplished?
2. Now that you know you are so far behind on your goals, what are you going to do about it?
3. If you are sincerely working hard on your goals and things are not moving, is it maybe time to come up with a new action plan?
4. Why isn’t your goal achievable? If you were to give yourself an extra year to work on it, will it be feasible then?

So yes, this exercise can create a lot of frustration, discouragement and anger but I am happy to report in 100% of the cases, when these emotions are turned into positive and optimist thoughts, people come to appreciate the process.

Many blessings,
Jephtee E.

Evaluation time

Today is an exciting day for me. Wondering why?
Because the exercise you are about to do is very stimulating.

Remember back in December, I gave you guys some homework… well its time to hand them in. :-)

We just ended the first trimester of 2008, now it is time to go back and look at the goals you have set for this year and see how they are coming along. So here is a simple process:

1. Pull out your goal folder or sheet (yes I know you wrote them down).
2. Read thru all the goals you have set up. While reading them, if there is a goal that you have already achieved, do a check mark.
3. Go thru the list a 2nd time, each goal that is still left in the list need to be evaluated. For the evaluation, you need to ask yourself:

a) Is this goal still relevant to me?
i. If no, delete it. (The answer can be no because as human our priorities change.)
ii. If yes, how much progress you have made toward achieving it. Write down, a percentage (20%, 25%, 30%... 90% etc...)

b) Is my timeline realistic?
i. If yes, (meaning you still believe that this goal can be achieved by that time) just leave it as is.
ii. If not, set up a new deadline.

c) For the goals that are remaining, what concrete actions you will take to advance them?

What are the new goals you want to set for this year? If there is any, and there should be a few if your priorities have changed at all, follow the process you’ve learned to set SMART goals.

As you reading this post, you will fall into one of the following categories:
1) Thumbs up: if you are in this category, you will say that is great. Thanks for reminding me Jephtee to do that follow up.
2) Crazy: in this category, you are thinking Jephtee really lost it if she really thinks that I have a sheet somewhere with some goals OR if only I could find where I wrote them in December.
3) Clueless: in this category, you probably thinking I have no clue what she is talking about. Two things can explain being in this category: you either new to this blog OR you were “sleep reading” my posts last December.

No matter which category you find yourself in (especially if its 2 or 3), I strongly encourage that you go back and read the archived posts. To make your life easier:
http://readysetgoal.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html See how nice I am. :-)

In my next post, I will explain the importance and the impact of such exercise. Till then, I WANT to hear your comments on this exercise. If not, I AM GOING ON WRITER STRIKE. lol

To more accomplishments,
Jephtée E.