Meditate on YOU today! It’s a new month; a new year; a new decade.  Are you on track to meet your personal goals in 2010?  You do realize one month is already gone…11 months to go!

What is it that you want for your life?  You know, that “later” goal.  Later on, I’m going to …. (such and such) If you could create your life, what would it look like?  I used to think my goal was to be a VP of Human Resources and to break $100,000 base salary.  A few things happened in my life and I now have a different view.  I had to do a bit of self-reflection to truly determine what I wanted for my life from the VP HR position and the $100,000.  Now I know that what I want for my life is to live comfortably, spend time with my family, to be healthy and able to take vacations. 

So, again I ask: What do you want for your life?  The key to answering this question is getting in touch with the ‘why’ and the benefits of each goal you set for yourself.  What is the benefit or outcome for achieving your goal?  No one really wants a job, but that’s probably what you have said.  “I want to be a Marketing Manager.” “I want to be a Doctor.” “I want to be an Engineer.” “I want to be a Social Worker.” “I want to be an Educator.” “I want to find a job in my career field.” Do you really?  A job is working 8:00am to 5:00pm, maybe evenings and weekends; other folks telling you what to do, and the government taking 20-30% of what you earned.  The government wasn’t even at work with you and they still get a part of your check.  Is that really what you want?  So what do you really mean?  What do you expect from that job in your career field?  Meditate on that for a moment.  Write your thoughts, your dreams, and your goals in your journal.

For tips on how to write your goals so that they are specific and detailed and to develop your overall plan for being successful, check out previous Coach Kelly Speaks blogs with 10 Tips for Getting THERE.  If you prefer a few quick tip video clips, check out YouTube.com/CoachKellyAMorgan .

Remember to allow yourself some time each day to meditate on you.  This will help to keep your thoughts and actions focused on completing your journey to your place called THERE!  Coach Kelly Speaks…

Journey THERE is a three-session webinar series presented by author and inspirational speaker Kelly A. Morgan. It’s designed to teach attendees life-long strategies for reaching their goals and experiencing the life they aspire to live!

REGISTER NOW!

Tip 10—Celebrate Your Success

We are finally at Tip 10 and it’s time to CELEBRATE!   With my 10 Tips for Getting THERE as your roadmap, you have put in the hard work and dedication as you traveled along the journey to your THERE.  You lived up to your detailed plan and overcame the barriers that tried to detour you off of your path.  So, for each milestone completed, and especially for each Destination THERE you reach, you must CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESS!  This is a major accomplishment! 

Isn’t it a wonderful feeling…to create a plan and to see it through?  Even better…remember how you visualized yourself in your THERE?  Now your dream has become your reality.  How does it feel?  Better than you expected?

It is important to pause for a moment, both once you have met a milestone as well as once you have accomplished your overall goal.  Why?  To acknowledge all that you have accomplished and to recognize yourself for what you have achieved.  You may have been afraid of the journey, unsure of what to expect.  You may have doubted your ability to actually reach this goal.  You may have started on this journey previously, but this is the time that you DID complete your journey!

Be proud and celebrate YOU!  You have taken another step towards creating and maintaining the balanced life you desire and deserve!  So the million dollar question…how will you celebrate?  Celebrations for accomplishing your goals can be as simple or as elaborate as you like.  You may decide to treat yourself to your favorite dessert, buy yourself something nice or have a fun night out with friends.  You decide how to celebrate!  When I moved into full-time entrepreneurship, I celebrated my coaching business by buying myself a bottle of Coach perfume.  After all, I am Coach Kelly!  Now, every time I spray my perfume, I am reminded of my accomplishment. 

I hope you have found these 10 Tips for Getting THERE to be beneficial.  If you have not done so already, I invite you to visit my YouTube Channel at CoachKellyAMorgan.  I have several videos uploaded as well as a quick tip video clip for each of the tips shared on my blog.  These tips are also discussed in my book, Journey to a Place Called THERE: A Navigation Guide for Creating a Balanced Life, which is available here on my CoachKellySpeaks.com website.  In the book, I provide Destination THERE Roadmaps which offer an outline as you prepare for your journey.

Of course, you will have more than one dream and goal to accomplish.  I encourage you to review these tips as you prepare for your next journey.  Let me know how things are going with you!  You can join my Journey THERE Community (on my website) and chat with me on Twitter @KellyInspires.

May the dreams of your life become the reality of your future!  Coach Kelly Speaks…

Tip Nine—Keep Focused

As you continue on your journey and especially as you move closer to accomplishing your goal, expect that more barriers will show up to detour you.  It is at these times that you must put your faith and confidence in knowing that you will be successful.  You must remain focused on your ultimate goal, reaching your Destination THERE!  

You have created a specific and detailed plan complete with a realistic timeline.  You have  identified your support system and potential barriers.  You have established milestones and visualized yourself THERE.  You ARE equipped to handle anything that comes your way!

Sometimes it seems much easier to just not try because the road ahead—the path to the life you deserve and desire—just seems so hard to obtain and so far from your reality.  Too often, we do not stretch ourselves to go after what we want out of life.  Don’t let that be you.  Keep focused on your goal!  I am living proof that you can have the life you deserve and desire.  It will take some work and dedication on your part, but it is achievable! 

When you hit these “potholes” of negativity and self-doubt, you must learn to roll passed them.  Instead of allowing yourself to be stuck where you are and before you choose not to move forward on your journey, revisit your detailed plan and ask yourself the following questions:

• What exactly is it that occurred which is affecting my journey?
• In which areas of my detailed plan should I re-focus my attention?
• What other avenues can I take to meet my next milestone?
• Is my timeline still realistic?  If not, what adjustments do I need to make?

Keep your focus on the ultimate goal, your overall Destination THERE.  Do not allow minor setbacks to consume your energy or discourage you.  Failure is guaranteed when you stop trying.  But, failure is not an option.  Remember?  You made a commitment to yourself.  You are on this journey with the expectation of achieving success! 

Continue to focus on and move towards your THERE expecting a SAGE outcome for your journey:  SAGE…Success Achieved, Goals Exceeded!  Coach Kelly Speaks…

Tip Eight—Foresee Potential Barriers

Since you are setting goals and working from the expectation of success, it is important to look at all of the “what if” scenarios that could affect you while you are Getting THERE.  It would be irresponsible to only look at how your goals will be accomplished without anticipating that there could be problems or surprises along the way.  Any time you make plans you want things to go as expected.  Realistically, the more in depth the plans are the more opportunities there are for something to go wrong.

At this point, you have documented and visualized reaching your goals.  Now, it is time to think through the process of what could go wrong or detour you.  The “what ifs” are called “barriers”.  You know those nagging, negative thoughts that pop into your mind and try to crush your excitement and motivation to succeed?  Well, those thoughts have a place in your overall plan.  Just as you created a detailed list for how you will accomplish your goals, you want to create a “barriers list” as well.  You will want to think through and identify any barriers that could hinder you from achieving your goal.  By foreseeing any obstacles and potential pitfalls, one of two things will happen:

1. You will prepare yourself to MOVE THROUGH the barrier without letting it rattle you or move you off your course.  (Visualize having an umbrella when threatening storm clouds pour down with torrential rain.)
2. You will learn to JUMP OVER the barrier and continue on your path.  (Visualize an Olympic track runner jumping over hurdles in a relay race.)

So, are you ready to make this more relevant for your actual situation?  (Assuming you said yes!) Take out your journal.  For each goal you have identified for yourself, create a barriers list.  No matter how far-fetched, write down anything or anyone that could get in your way of being able to accomplish your goals. 

As you are working on your barriers list, you can also think of barriers as speed bumps along your journey.  When you come to a speed bump in the road, what do you do?  You slow down, move over it and keep going.  The speed bump, the barrier, does not make you stop completely or cause you not to reach your destination.  By foreseeing the potential barriers, you will be better prepared to manage them when they arise. For the barriers you did not anticipate, they may shake you a bit, but they will not knock you off your journey.  Why?  Because you have a detailed plan and can already see your success!  Coach Kelly Speaks…

Tip Seven:  Learn to be Resilient

It hurts.  It’s not fun.  It can be discouraging. It can be depressing.  It can cause you to feel more timid.  It can make you mad.  It can make you doubt your own abilities.  It proves the naysayers right.  Failure.  It’s not a good feeling, but it happens.  When things in life don’t align as you planned, it affects how you feel, shapes your reaction and directs your next steps. 

Failure sounds so negative, but it doesn’t have to be.  When you learn to be resilient, you begin to use all situations as a learning opportunity that works in your favor.  It is crucial that you don’t allow minor (or major) set backs to stop you from continuing on your journey.  No matter what happens, you can re-group and move forward. When a situation does not go as planned instead of wallowing in discouragement and anger, revisit your plan to see where things went wrong.  To do so, ask yourself a few questions:

• What can be done better next time?
• Was there an external force, a barrier, which I did not anticipate?
• What did work well?
• What do I need to do to keep moving forward?

Sometimes we fail before we get started because we allow the fears, “what ifs” and doubt to paralyze our actions. We get ourselves so worked up about what could, possibly, maybe, potentially happen that we expect failure, instead of success.  Then when it happens, you almost feel good about being right since your expectation was met—failure.  Why not prepare for and expect success? When it comes you can feel good about being right since your expectations were met; then celebrate your success!  Now doesn’t that feel better to you?  So what can you do to prepare for a different outcome?  I’ve got a few tips:

• Adjust your mindset to a positive frequency
• Forget the naysayers; disregard their comments
• Surround yourself with a positive support system
• Move self-doubt out of your mind; keep pressing forward towards your goals
• Prepare in advance for success; be honest with yourself about actions you need to take
• Do everything in excellence—no-half steps
• Speak encouraging, winning, breakthrough, no-stopping-me-now thoughts into your life!
• Make a commitment to yourself that will allow you to feel the natural emotions when things don’t go as planned, BUT that you will not wallow and live in it.

You have the ability to design your future so you can have the life you desire and deserve.  Don’t let others foresee your future.  Prepare yourself today for success tomorrow.  So, now that you know, what will you do?  Coach Kelly Speaks…

Tip Six:  Visualize Your Success

In the previous Tips for Getting THERE, we talked about writing in your journal to document your goals. Today we are taking your documentation a step further:  Visualization!  Now we want to bring your words to life.  So, find a quiet place where you can sit undisturbed for at least 15 minutes.  Close your eyes.  See yourself being successful in everything you do. 

Picture yourself physically active in your goal or in the environment.  If your goal is to have your company recognized as Business of the Year, then visualize yourself on stage accepting your award at the annual awards dinner.  If your goal is to buy your first home, picture yourself at the closing meeting with the mortgage documents signed and house keys in your hands.  You may have written a goal of landing your perfect job, having a beach-ready body by the summer, finishing your degree, being featured in Oprah’s book club, retiring early, moving your kids out of your house or enjoying annual get-away weekends with your friends.  You are one person with many goals.  So, whatever it is that you want for your life, the key is to see yourself accomplishing your goals. See yourself already in your place called THERE and be all-inclusive with your thoughts. 

As you move along your various journeys and achieve successes, how will your life look?  What’s new?  What’s changed?  Where are you living?  What are you doing?  Who’s in your life?  Who was left behind? Dream big and broad!  Be creative with your visualization. 

Now that you have these thoughts in mind, let’s put more action into your creativity!  Find a piece of white paper, construction paper or a poster board.  Draw what you see in your mind of your goals being achieved and having the lifestyle success you deserve.  Create a vision board for yourself.  You can also use old magazines, newspapers or store catalogues to find and cut out words, phrases and pictures that depict the life you desire.  Don’t limit your imagination or your success!  There is no right or wrong way to display your vision board.  It’s all about YOU so create a collage that tells the story of your life.

Once completed, keep your vision board within daily view.  This becomes an excellent reminder with positive reinforcement for staying focused on your journey to your THERE!  You already know what you want to have in your life.  Visualize your future; vocalize your dream, so you can realize the success in life you deserve and desire.  Coach Kelly Speaks…

Anytime you are starting something new, working on a goal or even just going through the daily grind of life, it is best to have a positive support system surrounding you.  This is the next of our 10 Tips for Getting THERE.

Tip 5:  Identify Your Support System

Let’s jump right into this tip.  There are a few questions for you to consider.   Grab your journal and answer the following questions for yourself:

1. What kind of people do I associate with most often?
2. Who are the people in my life that are pouring into me positive energy and encouragement?
3. Who are the people that are consistently negative and (as demonstrated by their behavior) don’t believe in me?
4. Who do I know who is also on a personal or professional development journey?

The key to this tip is to keep yourself surrounded by positive and like-minded people.  If you’re launching a business…who is doing the same or may be a few steps ahead of you?  If you are starting a weight loss plan…who can be your workout buddy and accountability partner? 

Even those who are not working towards your same exact goal can be cheerleaders towards your success.  They can also help to be the voice of reason as you brainstorm ideas.  Sometimes another person’s opinion is helpful when you know they have your best interest in mind and would love to see you succeed.  These supporters may be family, friends, organizational members, church family, neighbors, co-workers, etc.  For established and emerging business owners, your support system also includes your team of advisors and consultants: Business Coach, Marketing Consultant, Accountant, Attorney, Banker, etc. 

You will find that those in your support system will also be the ones waiting for you at the finish line as you round the last curve of your journey.  They will be there as you accomplish each milestone to say, “Great job!  What’s next?”  If you start on a detour, those in your support system will raise the warning flag and help to guide you back on track. You may have different people for various goals of life.  That’s fine!  Some you will find will be there no matter what your goal. 

Yes, you will find there are some people who no longer need “a front row seat” in your life.  When this occurs, you will need to make some decisions about how and if you continue to interact with those individuals.  Be honest with yourself.  Make your needs and your desires your priority.  Now this subject of relationships can get rather deep.  This is a broader subject which I will speak on in a future blog.  In the meantime, you can check out my book, Journey to a Place Called THERE: A Navigation Guide for Creating a Balanced Life.  In Journey I write about creating a balance in life based on the four primary areas of life: Relationships, Health, Spirituality and Finances.

Jumping back to Tip 5 of Getting THERE, the most important learning from this tip is:  Know who is a part of your success team, your support system.  Consider that statement for yourself in addition to answering the questions posted above.  Enjoy the journey to your THERE!  Coach Kelly Speaks…

We are now at Tip 4 of our 10 Tips for Getting THERE!  My hope is that you are reading these tips, watching the quick tip video clips on my YouTube Channel (CoachKellyAMorgan) and incorporating the information I am sharing into your life.  I am sharing these tips in separate articles and video clips so you can easily review the tips of your choice at your leisure while you are Getting THERE!

Tip Four:  Establish Milestones

By now you have identified your goals, added a detailed plan and established realistic timelines.  The next step is to organize your plans by establishing milestones for each goal.  Milestones divide the overall goal into more manageable segments and help to mark your success along the journey to your THERE.  With each milestone, an arrival date is added to help keep you focused and on track to meet your overall goal.

For a business owner, one of your goals may be: Obtain minority business certification by June 1.  With that specific goal identified, your milestones may be as follows:

• January 15             Identified the appropriate federal and state agencies to certify my businesses
• February 1             Organized my business information requested on the certification application
• March 1                 Submitted completed application packet to federal and state agencies
• June 1                   Received confirmation of granted certification

Notice the large gap between submitting the application and the confirmation received.  The milestone arrival date reflects the 2-3 month agency processing time.  This is an important data point that would have been noted in the detailed plan (Tip 2) and reflected in the realistic timeline (Tip 3). 

Also, notice the first word of each milestone is a past-tense verb.  The milestones are arrival/completion dates, so the tasks needed to successfully reach each milestone must be completed.  These tasks will be noted in your detailed plan.  You may also choose to list them as bullet points for each milestone if it helps to keep you focused for each step.  (If you’re like me, I enjoy the satisfaction of checking to-do items off of my list once completed.  Do what works for you.)

The key for this tip is to identify the main actions of your goal that will move you towards completion…towards your arrival date.  So, your homework for this tip:

1. For each of your goals, organize your detailed plan into milestones.
2. Remember to include arrival/completion dates for each milestone. 
3. Remember to phrase your milestones beginning with past-tense verbs.
4. Review the YouTube quick tip video clips on CoachKellyAMorgan

Once you have completed Tips 1-4, you have established the foundation and are on the path to achieving success for your goals! CONGRATS!  This is Phase 1.  For the Tips in Phase 2, I will share the secrets of moving through to achieving your goals successfully.  I’m excited about the future and all that is to come!  I hope you are, too.  Coach Kelly Speaks!