The fact is, if you don’t take steps to control your life, surrounding happenstance will control it for you. Outside influences will dictate your life experience if you allow it.  Either you are in control or someone else is. Make no mistake, taking control of your life is not easy it involves work, sacrifice, investing, and  persistence in achieving desired results. Choose your avenue well for you will have to travel it for a lifetime. First and foremost, you can’t start laying out a plan until you know where it is that you want to go.

You are the artist of your own destiny. You decide where you are going and how you will get there. Look around, has anyone you know already done what you desire to do? If so, study them and use their experience as a pattern for your venture. Even though your venture is unique to you the basics can be seen in other’s actions. You must get started as quickly as possible and persist in doing. Don’t worrying what others might say or think about what you can or can’t do. They are not you, and judge from example of their own accomplishments. They don’t believe anyone can accomplish beyond themselves.

But you know better, you believe in yourself and your abilities. You have the self-confidence and are ready to challenge your current situation. This is your life not dictated by someone else, you forge ahead day by day and step by step. Take account of each day’s accomplishments and record your progress.

Write Your Goals Down  

Put your goals in writing. Solidify your intentions into must dos and have to dos. A sad fact is only three percent of people have taken the time to write their goals down and only one percent look at or review those written commitments daily. You must step up and be in that elite one percent. Another good way to realize your written goals is by visualizing the sweet taste of attaining your goals on a constant bases. Let’s face it, goals are simply aspirations with dates attached. Remember, you will only achieve become as great and as happy as the goals you choose.

Be Precise

A common denominator among successful people is that they are focused on the completion of specific objectives. They separate what is important from would be crises allowing time for both without becoming disoriented. They reduce large task into a series of small tasks and attack each with vigor. As you begin, don’t be too worried with how you will achieve your goals only that you are working on them. In time commitment, research and patience, will produce the means for accomplishment. The answers you seek will materialize when all the facts are in and evaluated.  

Goals evolve into Action

Your goals will become action-oriented objectives, which in turn become your day-to-day action plan.

Now it’s time to prioritize. What goal is the most important and will reflect on the other goals?  If you don’t prioritize your day’s activities, everything becomes equal and you will be confused as to there importance. Whether you accomplish one thing or not doesn’t matter it’s the focused direction that counts. You want your activities to be important, to have had a clearly defined purpose. Start each day with a to-do list and proceed as if on a mission. When you prioritize it, you are focusing on one of your daily objectives which becomes your challenge for achievement.

When the day winds down, you’ll be able to relax and bask in that wonderful feeling  that you accomplished what you set out to do.

Write a Personal Mission Statement

Create a statement of intent which is an official document outlining your purpose in life. The obvious question and one many can’t answer is who are you? What do you believe in? What are your values? How do you intend to make use of your time to make your life meaningful? Are you in control of your future? Don’t waist your time on listening to those who say you can’t  because you are too old, too young, too poor, too unattractive, too uneducated or the wrong color, gender or nationality. They are mislaid in their observations. They certainly are not speaking of you because you are engaged in following proven Principles of action. You are on a course of success.

Become Inspired  

When you see passages of inspiration, in books, magazines or newspapers, jot them down and put everything together in a folder or box.; this will be your success collection. They will serve as a motivational reserve for keeping you engaged and will also help you critique your personal mission statement. You don’t have to elaborate too much on your mission statement, it only has to be a few sentences or paragraphs. Hang your mission statement in a conspicuous place where you can refer to it often. Don’t be afraid to change it as your perceptions mature. A mission statement helps you establish a foundation upon which you can build your aspirations, dreams and goals. This statement is one in which your objectives and daily to-do list will flow.

Follow Through

Follow through to make sure that you’ve done the job right and offer new ideas. Follow through and ask for more challenges. You learn respect by facing the challenges, saying what you’re prepared to do and then doing exactly that. When you complete the task it proves that you are a person of your word and someone who cares. It also shows that you are ready to engage others in your quest, by keeping the lines of communication open. If you do make a mistake, following through gives you the opportunity to correct and to learn from those mistakes. Take daily checkups on yourself and reward yourself for your efforts.

Happy Trails