One of the things most critical to home business success is defining one’s goals. We are continually reminded to write them on paper, giving ourselves a deadline to meet them, so that we can remain focused on our ultimate dreams.

We need to keep them in front of us at all times in order to maintain the motivation often needed to get us over the rough spots in our businesses.

Wallace Wattles, in his 1910 classic, “The Science of Getting Rich,” states:

“You must form a clear and definite mental picture of what you want. You cannot transmit an idea unless you have it yourself….That clear mental picture you must have continually in mind….The more clear and definite you make your picture then, and the more you dwell upon it, bringing out all its delightful details, the stronger your desire will be.”

Does this mean that you must spend hours contemplating your ultimate goal? Of course not. It simply means that you need to know just exactly what it is that you want and want it so badly that it will stay in your thoughts.

I’ve personally taken this advice very much to heart. Regardless of what your goals are, it’s possible for you to use this same method to maintain your own focus.

Let me explain.

My ultimate goal is for my husband and I to be able to retire to the area in which I grew up, the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I have a very definite image of what life will be like for us there, and each day I set aside a few minutes to simply close my eyes and dwell on the mental picture of some of the things we’ll be able to enjoy –

walking along the beach at sunset, feeling the warmth of the sand on my bare feet (I can practically smell the salt air when I do this)

shopping in an unhurried atmosphere in the quaint downtown section of Ocean Springs, Mississippi – only a few minutes’ drive from the exciting casino action of the neighboring town of Biloxi

reconnecting with friends and family and being able to enjoy reunions that I often missed due to living a long distance away

dining at local restaurants that serve the delicious seafood the area is famous for

I could go on and on, but you get the (mental) picture!

Carrying this one step further, I’ve gathered together some pictures, postcards, and other memorabilia that reflect the overall atmosphere of the area. These items hang on my wall in my office, right in front of me, so that I can have a constant reminder of exactly what it is that I am working toward.

I’m amazed at the effectiveness of these simple techniques!

You can apply these same methods regardless of what your goals are. Even if what you’re working for can’t be quite so clearly defined in words and pictures, you can still benefit from these exercises.

During those few minutes each day that you set aside to form your mental “picture,” imagine the feelings that you will have when you have reached your own personal goals. Create an affirmation statement, using your computer and some attractive stationery to print it out. Frame this and place it in your own personal work area so that you will have a constant reminder of what exactly it is that you want to accomplish.

Focus, focus, focus….and your dreams WILL come true!

If you really want to be successful, you probably spend a lot of time reading motivational books and articles. You want to know what qualities are required for success.

When we read about the tools required to achieve success, very often we are told that if we really want to be successful, we must have persistence.

Persistence is the quality of never giving up when we encounter challenges. Of holding on to our dream. Of refusing to be discouraged no matter what the odds, no matter what happens.

And when you read the life stories of very successful people, they will often tell you about all the hardships they encountered along the way. They will tell you about the discouragement they occasionally felt when they encountered failure, and about all the people who laughed at them along the way.

And then they will often tell you that the reason they are successful today is because they were persistent. They perservered in chasing their dream, no matter what happened.

So if you have been facing a bit of discouragement while you pursue your dream, reading these success gurus can give you the boost you need to keep on doing what you’ve been doing. After all, persistence is the key to success.

Almost everyone says so.

And all those people who encourage you to be persistent are wrong!

Persistence can lead to certain failure if you do not apply persistence in the right way.

Let me explain what these people are leaving out when they tell you to be persistent.

Every day as I drive to work in the city where I live, I always see a middle-aged blonde woman who paces back and forth on the sidewalk in front of a big government building. She is always carrying a big protest sign. She smiles and waves at all the cars that pass.

I’m not sure exactly what her sign says because the words don’t really make any sense.

There seems to be something about an injustice that happened to her when her husband’s pension was divided up during their divorce. And there’s a few comments about a government conspiracy to cover up the injustice that was done to her. I guess what she’s trying to accomplish with her protest is she’s trying to get this divorce decision changed.

Every day, no matter what the weather, this woman comes out to walk back and forth for two hours in front of this government building and wave at all the people. Her smile never fails.

After the first two hours of protesting are up, she goes to another place downtown. She spends another two hours walking back and forth, smiling and waving, in front of a different building a few blocks away.

She has been doing this every day for at least seventeen years.

She is certainly persistent.

All that persistence and dedication for so many years does not seem to be having any effect, but she does not seem to notice.

If seventeen years of her walking back and forth carrying this sign hasn’t had any effect, I don’t think that one more day of walking with this sign is going to change the outcome of her divorce. But she is persistent in continuing her protest.

Probably every big city has a few people like this woman, people you can see standing on the sidewalk. People who spends years holding some sign that doesn’t make sense.

These people can teach us all about the real value of perserverence and persistence.

These people are certainly very persistent, but usually they are not successful.

When success gurus tell us that persistence is an important quality on the road to success, they are often leaving out something important.

When successful people tell you that they got to where they are today because they were persistent, they are actually leaving out part of the story. A very important part of the story.

And the part that they are leaving out is this: They forget to tell you that before they were persistent, they had a goal, and they had a plan on how to get there.

And all along the way, after every step they took, they stepped back to evaluate the results to see if the results they were getting were the results they wanted. And if they weren’t getting the results they wanted, then they would change the steps they took, and try something different, until they found a method that worked for them.

These successful people did have persistence, but they were only persistent about holding on to their vision.

They were never persistent about the method they took to get to their goal.

All along the way, they were prepared to be very flexible and experiment to see what techniques and strategies worked best to get where they wanted to go.

Why do so many successful people leave out this important detail when they tell us the secrets to their success? Why do they so often neglect to mention that if a strategy wasn’t working, they abandoned it quickly and moved on to another strategy?

I don’t think that successful people deliberately leave out this key information because they don’t want us to be successful.

I think that successful people often leave out this key detail because they assume it’s very obvious to everyone already. They assume that everyone already knows that you test each step of what you are doing to see whether it’s working or not. And if it’s not working, you change it. And you keep trying new approaches til you get something that works, something that gets you closer to the result you want.

People who admire persistence often use the example of Thomas Edison who kept trying to produce an electrical light bulb even after ten thousand failed attempts.

But people often forget that while Thomas Edison was persistent in believing in his goal, he was not persistent in the way he tried to achieve it. Thomas Edison did not repeat the same experiment over and over again ten thousand times.

Thomas Edison performed about ten thousand different experiments on his way to trying to find a practical electrical light bulb.

Every time he tried an experiment to produce an electric light bulb, he then stepped back and took some time to evaluate the results. He figured out what was working and what wasn’t working. Then he would try something different the next time. And he would keep track of the results.

So, remember this crucial difference the next time someone tries to tell you that persistence is the key to success.

Without taking some time to evaluate whether or not what you do is actually working, you can be persistent for years, and not achieve the goals you want.

So, if you want to be successful, be sure to hold on to your dream, but remember to check frequently whether the actions you are taking are getting you closer to your goals.

Turning the calendar over is an excuse to make personal resolutions for the coming year. It is also a way to bring about certain frustration for you if the goals that you set for yourself are unreachable, unattainable, or just something you have no interest in doing. Making resolutions can be done at any time of the year, but if you have been thinking about several new ones for the coming year, here are four tips to help you not only make resolutions, but to keep them.

1. I Resolve To… Okay, you have made your resolutions. Now, step back and take a look at each one. Are they resolutions you wanted to make or resolutions others have told you to make? Make certain that each resolution is something you definitely want to keep, not a half hearted attempt at reaching a goal that you really aren’t interested in reaching. If your resolution needs to be modified, do it at once.

2. My Goals Are… Are your resolutions reasonable or are they reaching well beyond what can normally be expected? Let’s say your goal is to lose 70 pounds in the coming year. While the weight loss resolution is admirable, do you have the time to exercise regularly? Change your eating habits? Change your lifestyle? Is the 70 pound weight loss goal too much, too soon? Would it be better for you to stretch the amount you want to lose beyond one calendar year? Consider your health: both physical and mental when evaluating your goals. Keep in mind how your resolution may impact friends and family members…you may be a “bear” to live with over the next twelve months!

3. I Have Fallen and I Cannot Get Up! Do you quit at the first sign of failure? If you splurge on food, do you consider your diet and resolution to be over? If so, why? Simply start again and continue. The road to any goal is paved with pitfalls and you are bound to backslide from time to time. Best advice: Find an accountability partner who knows [and understands] your resolution and can encourage you to keep it.

4. Reward Yourself. At the end of the year, reward yourself based on how well you kept your resolution. If you hit your weight loss goals, consider going on a cruise — don’t overeat! — as a reward for good behavior. If you miss your goals, keep the cruise idea open for when you do meet your goals. In other words, some resolutions are ongoing and shouldn’t be restricted by a 365 day calendar.

Remember this: resolutions are for your benefit, not your detriment. Your attitude toward a particular resolution will help you determine whether you should make that particular resolution or not. Any resolution made which doesn’t have your enthusiastic backing will certainly become a hindrance come February or March and forgotten altogether by April. Make resolutions that matter and be the better for it!

One of the tasks that come with being a leader is setting goals. Goals for ourselves, to be sure, but often we need set goals for our groups/teams or the larger organization. While we may instinctively know that we should include people in the creation of goals they will be working to achieve, too often the press of time and the lure of expediency leaves leaders setting the goals, and simply sharing them with those charged with achieving them.

The Four Reasons

There are four significant reasons why we need to get others involved in creating of the group’s goals. Any one of these are reason enough to create a conversation about the goals rather than creating a PowerPoint presentation with the goals already formulated.

To gain Agreement. There are actually two agreements you want to gain.

1. Agreement on what the goal actually is.

2. Agreement that the goal is worthwhile and beneficial.

Once you have these agreements you will increase the clarity of the goal for everyone. Goal clarity in itself has a very positive impact on ultimate goal achievement. With agreement you will increase focus on the goal as well. Take the time to create both of these agreements and you have a stronger chance of achieving the next item . . .

To create Engagement. Notice I said engagement not buy-in. I know we all talk about wanting people to “buy-in” to our ideas and plans. And, given the choice between having people who are “bought-in” vs. people who didn’t care or disagree, I choose the former. But engagement is more than “buy-in.” When people are engaged in an idea they are committed to it. They feel ownership for it. They have thrown more than their hat into the ring, they have thrown their heart in too. Once people are engaged in the goal you can capture what comes next . . .

To set Collective Consciousness. Have you ever noticed that after you buy a new car, you see “your” car everywhere? The reason this occurs isn’t because thousands of people followed your lead to buy the same car you did. It happens because of your Reticular Activating System. Our Reticular Activating System works as a filter helps us notice things we are focusing on or are interested in. Once people are fully engaged in a goal their subconscious mind goes to work and the Reticular Activating System helps. People will begin to see things that will be resources, methods or clues to achieving the goal. Sparks will fly between people on the team and progress may be achieved faster than could be logically expected.

To manifest Synergy. We have people work together because we know that together we can achieve more than we can separately. This is the definition of synergy. If you prepare your goals in a vacuum and present them to the group the chance for you to achieve team synergies is virtually nil. The whole point of a group working towards a goal together is to gain synergy. If you want it, you have to let people help create the specific goals they will be directly involved in achieving.

Getting others involved in the creation of the goals is more than just a good idea. It is more than just the right thing to do. It is the most important step you can take to improve the likelihood that a goal that is set, is reached.

So when you have a goal to be achieved with the help of others, keep these four reasons in mind and make the time to create the massive benefits described here.

That time and effort is the best insurance policy you can buy to improve the chance your goals will be achieved.