Finally

How to GET THINGS DONE!

Have a DESTINATION
Develop a ROADMAP to GET THERE
Then, FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS!

I know you've tried it all before. In fact, you've tried it so often, and in so many ways, that you're tempted to not even go to the trouble this time. THAT, however, is the WORST thing you can do!

DON'T GIVE UP!

DO, on the other hand, keep looking for what WORKS!

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Here, I'm going to give you a few simple ideas that will help you set some reasonable, yet challenging goals that will allow you to make the kinds of changes you really need to make this year. The changes that will allow you to focus on creating real change in the things you truly value. We'll help you focus on what's truly important, and get out of the "tyranny of the urgent", more commonly known as the "rat race"!

So, take a peek at the few simple steps below, and when you have a few minutes, you can make a real DIFFERENCE this year. The kind of difference that LASTS!

1. First, it's about FOCUS. Instead of looking down at the details, "what do I need to do..." I'd like you to look up and out. Take a few minutes to put some thoughts on paper. Get several blank sheets available, and start like this:

a. - What are the valuables in your life? If everything and everyone in your life were on the bank of a river, and a raging fire were approaching the riverbank, and you only had one rowboat, and only time for one trip to save those things most important to you, and you could only save 6 people or things. What relationships or things would be most important to you?

Now, I'm not asking you to doom certain people in your life to death! Others will have the chance to be saved by other people. I'm asking you to prioritize some things. Your ability to look through the fog and determine where your priorities lie is key to your ability to focus your tasks this coming year. So, for now, where are your values? Who, what, is most valuable to you? Relationships, jobs, responsibilities, roles you fill, etc. Here is a sample list of things you might value:

wife
children (you can count this as one relationship - sneaky, eh?)
parents
job
volunteering at church
think of other important roles you fill, e.g. brother, mentor, provider, etc.

b. - OK, now, this may be difficult for you, but I'm going to ask you to prioritize that list. I'll make it somewhat less painful by telling you that the priority order will change on a daily basis, so the priority order you choose for now will not have to be true for evermore. But for now, at this moment, try to put your list in a 1,2 3, order.

c. - Ok, now here's what I'd like you to do. Beside each of these items, without any thought as to how you'll accomplish it, spend a minimum of 5 to 10 minutes dreaming big about the following:

How would I like things to be DIFFERENT than they are now at the END of this next year? With 365 days to invest in this relationship or role, what could I accomplish? What would I like to DO that I'm not doing? What would I like to HAVE that I do not have? What would I like to BECOME that I am not currently? If I could do ANYTHING IN THE WORLD, ANYTHING AT ALL, in this greatly valuable relationship or position of responsibility, what would I like to accomplish?

Now, focusing on these thoughts, WITHOUT CENSORING YOUR THOUGHTS AS TO "CAN I REALLY DO THAT?", just put down your hopes and dreams for the first of your values. After exhausting all of your ideas, give yourself a 5 minute break, and then come back and start working on the second value. Do this until you've done this for each of your areas of value.

Ok, now you're ready for part d. - Go back to a., and turn each of your thoughts you put on paper into a present tense statement, as if it were already true.

Example: If you put down - spend more fun/quality/relationship-building time with the kids, then write your statement like this:

"I spend quality time every week with each of my children, in fun ways, doing things we both enjoy, building relationships with them in such a way that we are able to communicate better than we ever have before. We enjoy this time, and let nothing keep us from it. On the rare occasion that our schedules prevent us from getting together on a week, we always make it up as soon as possible, because both the kids and myself so enjoy the time we are spending together. We all look forward to this time together. It is the first time in years that we have enjoyed spending this much time together, and has been one of the healthiest things I've ever done with my children."

You write the statement in a way that sounds as if it is already happening, as if it were already true. This takes advantage of the fact that your brain makes no distinction between what is true and what is vividly imagined. As you start to read and commit your statements to memory, your brain will actually begin to believe these statements you've written, even before you've accomplished them, due to the way you've written them, and go to work to assist you in making them come to pass.

Many times, we write goals in a "future" tense. "One of these days" I'm going to spend more time with my children. Your brain believes that, too! Although you wouldn't actually SAY "one of these days", when we put a future tense in our goals, our brain gives us an out, and we don't actually begin working on it. But when we write it in the present tense, our brain will actually believe it is true and start to create the situation we've described! I need you to try this. This is how your brain actually works. If you've ever written a goal in the future tense and never started to work on it, please try it this way this time!

“See things as you would have them be instead of as they are.” Robert Collier

OK, now we're ready for section e. - Above all else - This is the section of the document we're creating where we pull it all together. Have you heard the name Jack Canfield? Jack is the co-author of the "Chicken Soup" series of books you've seen everywhere. He says this section of what we're writing is somewhat like writing your own eulogy! This is where you think about how you'd like your life to be described by the people who know you best. If you only had one more year to live, and next year were that year, here's what I'd like you to think about.

What are the outstanding characteristics about your life they would talk about in your eulogy? Now here's the kicker... These ought to be things you haven't fully accomplished yet! These ought to be some things you are going to do this coming year! "Above all else, he was a person who..." "More than anything else, she was a person who..." The people who knew you best, how would they finish those statements if you had one more year to become the person you'd become if you could do ANYTHING YOU COULD DO? WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT YOURSELF TO CHANGE HOW THEY WOULD COMPLETE THOSE STATEMENTS?

The key here is not to write what you think they'd say about you as your life stands CURRENTLY, but what they'd say IF YOU COULD CHANGE SOME KEY CHARACTERISTICS about yourself. THEN, what would they say?

Now, what I want you to do is go ahead and write a few of those statements. You don't have to attribute them to anyone. Just write them. And write them IN THE PRESENT TENSE, AS IF THEY WERE ALREADY TRUE!

"Above all else, Keith Lowry is a person who loves his family, always puts other's first, uses his wonderful sense of humor to benefit other people, and finds a way to give back to the people around him. He always makes you laugh. Being around Keith is always fun! Everyone who knows him feels better about themselves after being around him. He is so good about making people feel like they can accomplish their dreams. One thing I can say about Keith is, he truly cares about people, and they know it. He really is a giver. I can truly say I would not have accomplished half of what I have today if I had not known Keith Lowry. He has been one of the best friends I've ever had, and he has taught me the true meaning of friendship. If we had more friends in this world like Keith, this world would truly be a better place. One more thing, I am so motivated to treat my wife better by watching how Keith treats his wife. He honors her in everything he does and says. I've never heard him say a bad thing about her. You can tell this man loves his wife, and I'm here to tell you, that makes a great impression."

Of course, use your own name! And dream big! Don't let anything hold you back! This is not something you're going to publish for everyone to see, this is your personal motivational tool you're going to use to push yourself to greater, higher, and bigger accomplishements than you've ever achieved before. So remember, if you aim low... So don't do that!

AIM HIGH!

Dream BIG! THINK BIG!

There's nothing here to hold you back but yourself!

Ok, now the last step is to know that you're never really finished! You can always adjust this thing. I always tell my students, especially when you've just finished one of these, you should immediately start reading and adjusting it until as you read through it, you feel two distinct things:

1. A sense of peace - this is a key, because you don't ever want to have written a destination statement for your year or your life that is at odds with your key values. If, as you read it, some of the things you've written sound good in and of themselves, but for some reason, don't really "feel" right, then you need to step back and think about making some adjustments.

Let me tell you a quick story.

In my seminar on this topic, I tell the true story about working with a young woman who was a single mother of three young children. She had a good clerical job, but even with her good job, as a clerical worker, she did not make enough money to take care of her family without having to resort to certain forms of government aid, which did not make her feel great about herself. Her self-esteem was suffering. She had written some goals, one of which was to go back to school to upgrade her skills in order to get a better paying job, so she could support her family fully and not have to be on government aid.

Now, that, in and of itself, is a reasonable and good goal, agreed?

However, the goal, while good in itself, was at odds with her core values. And that fact caused her to act in self-destructive ways as she worked on the goal. She had decided, due to her love of the field of medicine and science, and her aptitude in that area, to go back to school in order to get her certification as an Emergency Medical Technician. She loved the classes, and was doing fine, but as she neared the final semesters, her grades began to decline. Although she still knew the material, and professed to still want to be an EMT, she began to skip classes and tests that were required.

Finally, in desperation, she called me and I sat down with her to diagnose the problem. My process was to do with her exactly the process on this page. When we did step a., listing the most valuable things in her life, can you guess which came out as number one? Of course! Those precious little children! Her role of mother was the most important role in her life.

However, if she graduated and was certified as a new EMT, which shifts do you think a new EMT would be working? Well, obviously, nights and weekends! The only times she could possibly have been with her children, she would have to have been working! The problem, although she had not stopped to look at it, was that her goal, although it was, in itself, a GOOD GOAL, was that it was AT ODDS WITH HER CORE VALUES!

SO... what we did was to finish this process together. She then went ahead and completed her EMT Training. She was only about one semester away. (She did so with flying colors, by the way!) However, instead of immediately going to work as a certified EMT, she immediately re-enrolled in school and got her elementary teaching certificate. Today, she teaches elementary school at the school where her children attend school. Then, in the summers, she fills in for vacationing EMT's.

This way, she makes more money than she would have in either profession alone, and MUCH more than she was in her clerical job, AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, she is able to be true to her VALUES! She is with her kids, her self-esteem has risen dramatically, and SHE HAS TAKEN BACK CONTROL of her life!

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2. And the second thing you should feel as you read and adjust this is

a feeling of EXCITEMENT!

If, as you read what you've written on the page, you are not excited about it... trust me, you will not still be working on it by the end of the DAY, much less by the end of the YEAR! Your goals must create within you a burning desire, a passion, a craving, a hunger to create the new outcomes and the new results you've dreamed about that will not be denied!

If, as you read your own goals, you put yourself to sleep, you will not have the inner tools you need to overcome the obstacles that will present themselves ANYTIME we are working toward goals. Plus, I personally believe if this is how you feel as you read your goals, these are not your true goals. If you have found your REAL goals, driven by your own inner values, they will awaken your own inner passions and appetites, longings, and eagerness for change and hope that has often dwindled to a tiny spark within us, dampened by the cold wind of reality and harshness of the starvation diet we've put it on.

When, however, we start to feed it again, and allow ourselves to look at our dreams, and believe it is possible to reach for them again, we can fan that spark into a flame again and that inner furnace can create within us the heat we need to get off dead center and make some things happen!

SO, when you read your statements, make sure you feel that spark of excitement. "MAN! I'd really love it if that could happen! Oh man, that would be so cool!"

Now, when this starts to happen, especially, is an opportunity to make some adjustments, as that spark starts to come alive! You'll dream bigger, see some options you didn't see earlier. Write it down!

BIG HELP NOTE! - One of the great big helpful things you can do at this point is this:

Start to be as specific and colorful as possible at this point as to the BENEFITS you will receive as you ACHIEVE each of these goals. Think in PICTURES. SEE yourself actually RECEIVING the BENEFITS. Cut out pictures that represent what it would be like if you had actually achieved the goal, and you were now reaping the benefits of having done so!

Let me clarify with a couple of examples:

a - Goal: A gentleman in one of my seminars one day wrote a goal to put more money in savings so he could retire early. Ok, good goal. It was related to his VALUE of spending more time with his family. Good. He worked on it to make it a SMART Goal, etc. Everything was looking good. He got excited about it. Good. When I asked him to picture the benefits of having achieved this goal, to actually SEE A PICTURE of what it would look like if he achieved it, all he could actually SEE in his mind, was a picture of a stack of cash.

Well, you see, that's not actually the BENEFIT. That's the MEANS to the BENEFIT. Here's how you discover the benefit, if you're having a hard time seeing it. I asked him this. You want to have more money, but it's not actually the MONEY you want, is it? You can't EAT, it can you? You can't LIVE in it, can you? You said you wanted to RETIRE early, right? If you retire, you won't be at work. If you're not at work because you have the extra money in savings, WHERE WILL YOU BE, WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING? PICTURE THAT! So, immediately, here's what he said. "I've never taken my wife to the beach. I'd like to retire early enough to take my wife to the beach... while I can still 'catch' her on the beach... and 'want' to!" (his words!)

So the picture, which I asked him to actually draw for me, became this. He and his wife, seated in a motor home, pulling out of the driveway of his old office, as he waves bye-bye to his boss. And on the dashboard between them is a map, with a route marked out to the beach. And between the seats, they're holding hands. And they're smiling...

Now I have to tell you, most of us don't get excited about spending less money so we can put more money in savings! No siree! That sounds like a BUDGET! But this guy! THIS GUY GOT EXCITED about this! And he went home and shared this with his WIFE! And SHE got excited about it! And together, they BOTH started working on this, TOGETHER! And he stayed in touch with me for three years. And he retired 5 years early! And he took his wife to the beach!

All because he found a way to finally get excited about a simple BUDGET PLAN! That's really all it was! But instead of FOCUSING ON THE WORK... He FOCUSED on the REWARDS at the END!

Ok, how about you? In order to do something other than list some random "wishes" for next year, you must make an effort to do something different than you've ever done before.

It has been said that the definition of craziness is to continue to do what you've always done, while expecting different results! So don't be crazy! Instead, try this completely different approach to taking control of your life for this next year.

"If you want to be happy with the house you've built, you've got to be in charge during construction..." kl

Similarly, if you want to be happy with the YEAR you've built, you've got to be in charge during construction!

So... will you do something different? Have you already begun? Do you have some sheets of paper in front of you with notes already begun? "A job, once begun, is already half done." So my encouragement to you is to finish the job, and see what a difference you can make this year!

And as further encouragement to you, here are some additional helps to continue you on your pathway of success.

1. Call or email me anytime you get stuck. I give you my word, I'll do everything in my power to assist you. I will listen to you, look at your Destination Statement and try to help you sort it out, give you suggestions, encourage you... anything I can do, I'll do. (817) 467-7797 or keith@keithlowry.com

2. Try some of the incredible power tools at www.zigziglar.com . I just have to tell you, I have personally gotten more help from Zig than any one source than anyone else I know. I personally recommend the FREE "Self-Talk" card you can download directly from this site. Click on "FREE DOWNLOADS", and you'll find it. Further, look for the "encouraging script that Zig uses himself daily". Another free download. There are several free tools here. In addition, I highly recommend the audio CD's on GOALS. You'll not find a finer set of training CD's anywhere on how to utilize goals to your advantage. Much of what I've learned about goals, I've learned from this master teacher. You'll find SO MUCH worth your while here.

3. Try signing up for the motivational quote email services available at www.motivateus.com

Here are some recent examples, and why I visit this site regularly for motivation:

December 21, 2005
" When you feel you've pushed your life to the limit, and you can't go any further, give that obstacle one last push because that might be the one that gets you through that heavy door to success. If you don't try that one last time, you may never know. Go for it."
Copyright © 2005 Sarah Margaret Bradbury

December 21, 2005
" Challenges are supposed to be speed-boosters, not speed-breakers."
Written in 2005 by Ibrahim Hena --- Nigeria

December 21, 2005
" Never give up. No matter how many times you tried, or how many times you failed, always keep trying and always believe."
Copyright © 2005 Jacqui Reinhart

December 21, 2005
" Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude."
Ralph Marston

4. I've recently discovered the writing of Dr. Tom Heuerman, PhD. Tom is a great philosopher and teacher, and writes a series of pamphlets on various topics to which you can subscribe if you find them of interest. In addition, he has become a remarkable nature photographer, and you can find both his pamphlets and his photographer at www.amorenaturalway.com

I hope all of this has been helpful. My goal is to give you a way to focus on what is truly important, and not just urgent. The urgencies have a way of buzzing around in front of us, while those who are truly important often hover in the background, hoping we'll remember them, eventually. And then one day, they've turned 18 or 19 and they're out of the house and we missed all those years and where did it all go and I wish I could turn back the clock and I'd trade every one of those "urgent" meetings for just one unhurried afternoon with a 7 year old son or daughter and nowhere to go but to the park, but there's no 7 year old, and the park is just a memory they share with someone else because I was too busy dancing with all my urgencies...

Click here to listen to my story about the "Yellow Jackets..."

How about you? Where will you go? What will you do? This next year is your chance to become the you you have always hoped you could be. What are you waiting for?

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Keith Lowry, President

Keith Lowry Seminars, Inc.

Ph: (817) 467-7797

Cell: (817) 707-9115

keith@keithlowry.com

www.keithlowry.com

"Who Knew Learning Could Be This Much Fun?"

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