Setting up goals is one aspect of success that had been overlooked by many people most of the time. Usually, other aspects are played up and goal-setting simply become one of the many steps in achieving success.

Many self-help experts outline some of the keys that make goal-setting successful. The following are some of those key points:

Goal setting is a skill and a discipline

They don’t teach goal-setting in schools but it should have been done because it has to be mastered. You need to find out as much as possible about the techniques of goal-setting and master them.

Another important aspect is the need of discipline in the process. Working on goal-setting can transform your life.

Goals must be in writing

This has been repeated over and over again by experts and gurus. The reason is that commitment documented in writing becomes embedded in the subconscious mind. Keeping your written goals where you can see them every day is a great way to keep them in both your conscious and subconscious minds.

The act of writing it down brings a better chance of success because the subconscious is helping in the process, drawing you toward your goal.

Clarity

One of the many qualities found in successful people is the clarity of their desires and wants in life. From your end, you need to be clear as well in your commitments, in your wants and needs. It sometimes takes a re-assessment or inventory of your own goals to gain the necessary clarity to move forward.

It had been proven in the past that clarity does have a big influence on the realization of your wants.

Being specific

This key aspect is also very important. Next to being clear on what you need, you also have to be specific.

The anecdote involving the comic Jim Carrey comes to mind. When he was starting out and was living in his car (he was broke), Jim wrote a check to himself for $7 million dollars. Shortly thereafter, he bagged the lead role in the movie “Pet Detective” and was paid exactly $7 million dollars. This is a perfect example of manifesting a specific goal.

Overestimate/underestimate

Most people, when writing how much they would like to be earning usually overestimate what they might achieve in a year. On the other hand, they’re dramatic in their under-estimation of what they can earn in five or ten  years time with the right goal setting structure in place.

Being more realistic with your earning capability and your time estimates will result in achieving more consistent successes.

Why

In achieving your goals, it is far more important to have compelling reasons why you must achieve them than it is to know how you are going to do it.  If you focus on your why, much of the rest of the task will fall into place naturally.
How

Frankly, you need not know how. Many people put off starting their goals because they do not know how to achieve them from the start. The key is simply…get started!

The more momentum you can develop in setting off toward your goals, the faster the ” how” will be revealed to you. The key is to take action. NOW!

Using these critical goal-setting keys can help you focus on the goals that you want to achieve. You can test it yourself and see what happens in the next 90 days. The success of these goal-setting keys depends largely on you and the intensity of your commitment.

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If you’ve read any of the spiritual best sellers in print today, you’ll notice a familiar thread amongst them. They all ask us to look inside for our answers. This flies in the face of most organized religion which have exclusionary creeds and tenets which chastise us more than edify us.

Through introspection, so these books imply, we can find our purpose on the planet and begin to move toward creating a world where everyone knows and has their part and all take responsibility for it and themselves. A place where there is actually peace on earth and good will toward men. Is it a fantasy or is this not only possible but attainable in your lifetime?

The majority of people existing on this earth today, never begin to understand why they are here and what they should be doing with their lives. They continue to trade their time for money, and never receive anywhere near what their true worth is.

The answer lies in being able to determine or divine your true purpose in life. The key to finding your true purpose lies in your passions. By looking at the things in your life that you’re most passionate about, you can gain a good insight into what you life’s work might be.

Being successful is virtually guaranteed if you love what you’re doing. Long hours and grueling conditions seem to hold no significance to you if you’re completely focused on your goal and achieving it in the shortest time possible.

Look inside yourself  for your answers. You have all of the tools that you’ll ever need to be successful right within you. Take the time to get to know yourself better than you ever have and you’ll gain even more insight as to your life’s calling. Whether you love kids, teaching, fishing or collecting stamps; you can both earn money and enjoy what you’re doing at the same time.

People like Jack Canfield, Dr. Joe Rubino, Tony Robbins and many others can tell you the same thing. It’s as simple as making a choice and following through with it. When you condition yourself properly, you make winning and success a habit.

Once you realize the awesome rewards that come with successfully completing projects on time and under budget you’ll see that there’s no other way to do things and you fall into a winning, successful and profitable habit. These types of habits positively reinforce themselves thereby perpetuating the reward and gain from the effort put forth.

As the end of the year approaches, it invariably coaxes us into looking back on what we have and haven’t gotten done over the past 12 months.

Although some people make very public resolutions each January, the quiet reflection back on the dwindling year is done with either a solemn melancholy or a jaded smile. There is always so much more that we “wanted” to do.

Well, if you’re serious about moving forward into the new year and the beginning of the second decade of the new millennium, push your chair back, stand up, raise both hands in the air and shout,

“2010 IS GOING TO BE MY MOST SUCCESSFUL YEAR EVER!!”

…ok, you can sit back down now

Now, before you go making lists of resolutions about how you’re going to make your first million dollars this year, take a deep breath. Let’s look at this realistically.

Let’s say for a minute that you DO make a million bucks this year. Certain things MUST happen in order for you to see that become a reality.

Imagine, no…..BE that person that managed to make their first million in a year. How does it feel? No, really…how does it feel to have all of your bills paid?…how does it feel to be living in your dream home with NO mortgage?…how does the steering wheel of that new sports coupe feel in your hands?….how does it feel to run your business from anywhere in the world?

Once you’ve got the true sense of what that $1,000,000 would feel, smell, sound, taste and be like for you, take it to the next level. How many other people could you help with that kind of money (and more) in your accounts?

In order to get to that lifestyle that you so vehemently want and desire there are certain decisions that have to be made. There are also certain sacrifices that must take place. Are you willing to sacrifice now for the delayed gratification that seeing a successful project to fruition brings?

We’ve got to filter every decision that we make today, tomorrow and each and every day until that dream becomes reality, through our already successful mindset. Make the decisions each day that will make the difference in your tomorrows.

Please leave your own plans for the coming year in the comments section below. Share your dreams and you may find unexpected help.

Taking the time to really know yourself, to really trust what your attitudes, reactions and expectations will be in any given situation is one of the keys to being successful in anything that you do.

More and more business people are doing their own form of “restructuring”, except that it has nothing to do with the business that they’re in. Writers like Ekhart Tolle, Don Miguel Ruiz, Alberto Villoldo, Dan Millman and many others are influencing and changing the way that many business people view themselves and their lives.  Increased self knowledge will only help you make better business decisions.

Before you set out on the rising path toward success, you have to be sure that you know who you’re working with.

You are both your own best advocate and your own worst enemy. It all depends on your attitude and intent. If you allow yourself to fall into the corporate mentality that profit is the ONLY thing that you’re in business for you may be missing out on your true purpose and calling.

Just because you’ve always been an underachiever, doesn’t mean that you can’t turn those habits around and begin to trend toward choices that will provide more and better opportunities for you and your business. Begin right now to make the choices that will positively effect your tomorrows.

As they say, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow’s a mystery…today is a gift, that’s why they call it the “PRESENT”. Don’t miss the opportunities that arise each and every day. Don’t get caught up in the rhythms of the masses.

By the same token, just because you’ve always seemed to be in the right place at the right time for opportunities to “fall into your lap” doesn’t meant that the same will continually hold true. No matter what label you put on it, whether you call it karma, kismet, fate, destiny or luck, the fact is that what IS won’t necessarily always BE.

How secure can any of us feel in these trying times?

Millions of Americans are out of work right now. If you consider the scale and the value of the dollar, the chasm of this recession makes the great depression look like a golfer’s divot.

People want answers. They also want direction. Many have been in the same career positions for decades, only to find themselves now faced with a forced early retirement and a pension that won’t support them; if they were lucky enough to not lose that too.

Those same people are now having to look inside for the answers that they relied on their employers to provide. Simple questions that get taken for granted like; how will I pay for my groceries next week or how will I pay the mortgage?

What they’re discovering after looking within is that they have the strength and motivation to do whatever it takes to provide for themselves and their families.

As they re-evaluate and begin to re-structure their own lives many realize that there are things that they LOVE to do, but their corporate or factory job prevented them from ever enjoying them. That tinkering in the garage workshop or knitting afghans now becomes not only something that you love to do, but you begin to see it as a viable option for your future.

Therein lies one of the keys to success.

Make a living doing what you love and you’ll never WORK another day in your life.

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As we move into April, I’m taking the first turn in the subtle change of direction for The Rising Path Blog.

In this time of recession, more and more people have been faced with choices that they shouldn’t ever have to make. Choices that our grandparents had to make strengthened them and gave them the perseverance to see us through a Second World War. Many of us baby boomers still carry that same sense of resolve and determination with us today.

These tougher economic trends have forced people to re-evaluate what’s most important in their lives. Many are discovering that it’s not so much that shiny new BMW M3 that’s most important to them, but the freedom that being at home (or near it) affords them to be able to share and involve themselves in their family’s life.

The acronym SAHM is making a shift from “stay at home mom” to “stay at home millionaire”. Those SAHM’s and WAHM’s (work at home moms) were among the first to realize just how empowering owning your own business is and can be.

What started out as a hobby for a lot of these women very quickly became a source of extra income or “mad money”. With a bit of effort and some serendipitous meetings, many turned THAT into a viable business with tremendous profits and a duplicatable business plan.

Billionaires have been looking at many of the same businesses that the intrepid work-at-home entrepreneurs have. Warren Buffet was impressed enough with Pampered Chef that he purchased the company and it continues to be one of the top performers in the Direct Sales market.

What mom’s and entrepreneurs have known for a long time, Business Experts like Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki are beginning to see as a viable, profitable and essential part of helping to restore our economy; empowering individuals to own their own businesses in Network Marketing or Direct Sales.

It’s my sincere hope that as the changes take place here at The Rising Path, you will continue to be inspired by the writing and most especially the motivation and intent behind my writing. I truly and honestly want for each and every one of my readers to succeed on their chosen paths.

Keep an eye out for more helpful posts about how to successfully bring your own Network Marketing or Direct Sales business to the next level….and beyond.

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Well, it’s been a full year since The Rising Path first showed its face on the internet. The new year will bring some major changes in the blog too. I’ve gotten away from my initial intent and focus for this site and will be getting back on track in short order.

What you can expect is more content that speaks to success in life and business, the laws of attraction and abundance as well as other subject matter designed to help you develop yourself into all that you were meant to be.

This last day of 2008 is a good time for reflection and introspection. It is also a time to look forward to the new year.

In retrospect (remember, hindsight is always 20/20) I can see how and where I lost focus with this blog. The crashing economy had a bit to do with it. The necessity of providing overpowered the true intent and spirit of The Rising Path. The integrity of the vision for this site must take precedence over fear and worry. I apologize to all of my readers for ever straying in the first place.

In January you will see the transformation of this site into something that resembles the original vision. There is a forum that never got off the ground, it will be active in January. It will be free for at least the first 3 months of the year, at which point we’ll look at making it a membership forum.

The focus of the forum will be the principles put forth by Napoleon Hill and Wallace Wattles and some of the other pioneers of the Law Of Attraction. It will also be a venue for aspiring Internet Marketers to learn how to apply those success principles to their own businesses.

Joint Venture partners are welcomed to contact me at john{@}therisingpath.com

Product ideas and offerings are welcome.

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On behalf of the staff of The Rising Path and all of our families we would like to extend to you the warmest of Holiday Wishes.

However you may choose to celebrate this season, our wish is that you are surrounded by friends, family and those that know and love you the most. Celebrate joyfully and with an attitude of gratitude.

Success means many different things to different people.  Ultimately, success means being satisfied with your result.  Using this attitude and breaking your task down into smaller tasks can make a large job seem so much easier to handle, and assure your own sense of success.

The secret really is, to begin with your goal in mind and think backwards from there.  As an example, if my goal is to earn $250,000 this year, it may seem daunting at first, but once you break it down into bite sized little chunks it’s actually quite digestible.  In order to earn $250,000 a year, I’ll need to earn just under $21,000 per month which again breaks down to about $5,200 per week.  If we break that down even further, and base it on a 40 hour work week we need to charge an hourly rate of $130 to reach our goal of $250,000 this year.

If we translate this idea from a monetary one to one of gaining subscribers perhaps, just decide how many subscribers you would like to have on your list this year, break that goal down, backwards into bite size chunks as well.  Once you have a traffic system in place that will guarantee you visitors you can grow a list of 100,000 subscribers by breaking them down into only about 12 subscribers per hour for the whole year.  While 100,000 subscribers seems like an unreachable goal, if you look at it as trying to get to the point of 10 to 12 subscribers per hour it doesn’t seem quite so impossible does it?

While many equate success with owning the large home and the boat and the second home and a large SUVs, they have found very little fulfillment in those objects and until they can find personal success, they will never feel truly successful.  Take the time to work yourself, being a well-balanced individual, physically ,mentally and spiritually, and you will find your path to success in business much easier to handle.

Every aspect of our business should be a reflection of ourselves.  If you can take pride in who you are and the way you represent yourself to the world you can also take pride in your business and the way it represents itself to the world.

It is inevitable that you will be faced with failures along your rising path toward success. The way that you choose to deal with those challenges and circumstances defines who you really are. Napoleon Hill once said, “Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.” Be sure you’re prepared to take that step.

Okay, so you’ve been giving it your all.  Well, maybe not your *all*, but a good portion of your all.  And you’re not seeing any progress.  So now what?  Are you doomed to failure and never to succeed?  No!  Keep reading.

One thing that you need to understand is that failure is an event, not a person.  It doesn’t define you as a “loser” for the rest of your life—unless you let it.  Failure happens to you—it isn’t who you are.  You’re not a victim, but it also doesn’t define you.  So when it happens (notice I didn’t say “if”), pick yourself up and get ready for the next event in your life.

You must adjust your attitude as you recuperate from a failure.  You will rise to your own expectations.  Psychologists call this a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” and we are suckers to believe our own words.  So adjust your attitude to the positive side of things.

Remember the guy who came up with the brilliant idea to change Coke?  Back in the 80s (for those of you who were mere babes during that decade), someone had a stroke of genius—or so he thought.  The Coca Cola company decided to compete more with Pepsi, and changed the formulation of their signature product—Coke.

 They called it “The New Coke.”  It bombed.  No one enjoyed the new taste and the calls were immediate to bring back “the old Coke.”  After a few months of hemming and hawing, Coca Cola executives brought back the original formula of Coke and ditched the new stuff—and its creator. 

So what happened to the guy whose idea this was?  He left Coca Cola and began to look for new work.  The trouble was, his name was well known in the business community and everyone connected him to the failure that New Coke was.  He finally landed an interview in which he got a fair shake:  the interviewer asked what he had learned through the problems the New Coke had created. 

Naturally, he indicated that he had many lessons learned from the fiasco.  He didn’t let failure define him, and he ended up landing the job for which he was interviewing.  Good for him, right?  But good for the company that hired him, too.  They were willing to take a chance on a creative risk-taker who had a very public failure on his record. 

Many of those who are considered to be “successful” have had failures dot their lives.  Rush Limbaugh, the king of daytime talk radio, was fired multiple times from different radio jobs.  He also filed for bankruptcy—twice.  So you can see how Limbaugh didn’t permit failure to define him.  Those failures were events from which he recovered and moved on.  And you should take the same tact when confronted with something that didn’t turn out like you hoped it would.

Thomas Edison failed more than 10,000 times before finally succeeding with his light bulb. Where would we be today, if it wasn’t for his persistence. The point is, we learn from our mistakes and improve upon our failures. Those that are willing to stick to their dream and see it through are the ones that will be ultimately successful. Stay on task, see your dream through and you may discover your true purpose.

When pondering the topics that surround success principles, attitude and motivation are of paramount importance. BUT, the most zealous and outwardly positive salesperson will in all likelyhood, never reach their goal without the proper success skillset and product knowledge.

It’s not necessary to have a PhD to be successful, in fact you don’t need a degree at all! I can think of at least one person with an advanced degree that has gone to waste. Education is worthless without the attitude and aptitude to do something with what we’ve learned.

Whether your choice is to be the Dean of a University or Mr. Greatwrench, there are specific educational criteria necessary in order to do that job well. That advanced degree is worthless without the desire and ability to inform, encourage and educate others. That six foot tall, stacked toolbox, full of the latest techno-gadgets is nothing but a half ton paperweight without the knowledge of how to apply the tools to the needed repairs. Without the proper education it is impossible to reach your fullest potential and be truly successful in your field.

Some career choices don’t necessarily require any form of formal education at all. Professional sports for example gives young, gifted athletes with miraculous aptitude the opportunity to forgo their education and begin a very lucrative career, sometimes right out of high school. These youngsters are loosely encouraged to get an education to fall back on, but most are blinded by the lure of dollar signs and bright lights.

On the other hand, consider the young athlete who received a degree in business management while attending and playing through their college years. This athlete is in a much better position for a secure and successful future if fate or circumstance were to deal a career ending injury. Even without injury, and heading for retirement, the second athlete is better prepared for life outside of sports.

The thing that drives us to become educated in our skillset is motivation. In order to achieve success on your career path you must constantly be in pursuit of the education necessary to excel. When we stop learning, we start losing.

When the three traits of attitude, aptitude and motivation are combined with intent, there is nothing that can stand in the way of success. These are the basic tools of any success in business or in life. Apply these principles for yourself and watch your life change before your eyes.

Let’s say you’ve got your attitude correct, the right skill set honed, and the right philosophy. Great! You’re on your way – somewhere. If you don’t have the right direction planned out, you’ll simply wander aimlessly.

You don’t attempt even the smallest of construction jobs without a plan, and yet many people work in a field they just happened to “fall in to” because someone suggested it, or a friend was doing it, or even worse—they didn’t have anything else to do.

Wandering through your career can be just as deadly as wandering through a desert without a compass and canteen—in both places, you can die a slow death of thirst and exhaustion.

You must know where you want to go in order to set a direction for your life and career. You’ve probably heard the adage, “No one plans to fail, but they do fail to plan.” So determine where it is that you want to go (i.e., what you want to do) and set a course for it.

I recommend doing something you love. Not something that you can tolerate or achieve a reasonable pension from after 30 years of work (do pensions even exist anymore?), but something you are truly passionate about.

If it’s music, think about how you are gifted in that area. Do you sing? Would your singing chip paint off a house? Do you have an ear for pitch and tune? Do you play an instrument? Consider the field of professional golf for a moment. Do you love to golf? Would you be willing to commit days, weeks, months, and years to bettering your game to the point when you could hit the pro-circuit?

Do you have a means to support yourself (and your family) while you work on your dream job? Would you be happy and content doing whatever you chose—for the rest of your days, if need be? These are all questions you should ask yourself as you try to set the direction for your life, and ultimately, for your success.

Now that you know where you want to go, you must plan and prepare for your destination. As you plan and prepare, it’s fair to expect that you will achieve that goal—expectations play a large role in success, no matter what the field. If you plan well and are committed to the work involved, then and only then, can you expect to achieve the desired results in your life.

Once you’ve learned the formula for success, it’s time to consider different avenues in which that formula should be put in to action. The main one you’ll find in every area of your life is relationships.

Why relationships? Because we are human beings, designed to interact with other human beings. This, by default, entails relationships. And also by default, if you don’t have appropriate skills to manage your relationships, you will fail miserably at whatever success you’re aiming for.

The first relationship you must consider is the one you have with yourself. If you don’t like yourself, chances are great you will project that dislike to others and your lack of self-appreciation will not propel you to success in any given field. The higher your integrity is, the more you will like yourself. The more you like yourself, the better your relationships will be with others—from the inside out.

Your family relationship is the next thing to examine. The most successful Harvard Business graduates (class of 1949, by percentages) had several things in common:

They had wives who supported their work and endeavors; women who were intelligent and able to share ideas and be a sounding board
They built their personal, family, and business lives on a foundation of integrity

Family relationships are extremely important as you consider your path to success. If you fail here, you will not succeed elsewhere—we’ve already covered that in depth.

Business relationships follow closely behind family relationships. They play a major role in the security and productivity of every individual involved in them, as well as the success and growth of the company.

You must also learn to manage your frustration as you deal with relationships. Because we are all human, we all have problem-areas and “sticking points” that will irritate and inflame others. If you can manage your frustration and turn a bad situation with an individual in to something you can learn from and make profitable, you will be that much farther ahead on your road to success.

Consider also, that the next person you meet is important. He or she might look like someone who cannot help you in your field, but then again, looks are deceiving. You never know when the person you assist might be able to assist you or report back to your boss what a great job you’re doing!

You should be able to see how healthy family relationships, a willingness to go above & beyond at work, and an ability to consider the next person as important can have a monumental effect on your path to success. We cannot do it alone, and that mere fact means we must deal appropriately with people and relationships!

Without character, the puzzle of achieving success falls apart. It is most important of all pieces to life’s puzzle. Without character, you can make money. But it will be worthless to you and to those around you. Look out in the world today: drug dealers and con artists have money—but they lack character.

If you go to all the work of achieving success, you don’t want to mar it with a lack of character that will make people pity you as you age and become less than you were intended to be.

Character equals integrity. Integrity is doing the right thing all the time, even when no one else is watching. You don’t have anything to fear when your integrity is intact, because you have nothing to hide. You experience no guilt and no fear. And without those two traveling companions, it’s much easier to climb higher and farther, faster!

What does this mean in a practical sense? It means that you will put the right philosophy (the golden rule) into practice in all that you do. You will not step on someone else to climb the corporate ladder; you will not stack bodies in order to reach the CEO position that you desire. You will treat people with respect, honesty, and trust. You will behave towards others how you want (and expect) them to behave towards you.

You will be the model of “doing the right thing” in your office, even if it isn’t appreciated or understood. Chances are very good that if you’re the only one doing the right thing, you won’t last where you are, but you will find something better where your integrity is appreciated and applauded.

Character realizes that the most important things in life are not office or work based. They are more likely family and a sense of responsibility to that family. Character will not sacrifice your family on the altar of “I’ve got to finish this project,” nor will it tell you children, “Maybe next time, hon,” when asked to play catch or drive to cheering practice.

Your character will shine through as you put your family before your work, as you purposefully schedule time with them (and then keep those appointments you put in your planner), as you “date” your spouse and remember why it is you got married in the first place, and as you set an example that your spouse and children can be proud of.

The most important thing to remember as you consider character is that your children will grow up to be just like you. John Maxwell once said, “We teach what we know; we reproduce who we are.” So as a person who is full of integrity and character, you will reproduce those same traits in your children as you climb towards success in your life. And isn’t that really what it’s all about, after all?

In his book The Winning Attitude, John C. Maxwell, noted author and speaker tells us that attitude is:

The “advance man” of our true selves
Has inward roots but outward fruits
Is our best friend or worst enemy
Is more honest and more consistent than our words
Is an outward look based on past experiences
Is a think which draws people to us or repels them
Is never content until it is expressed
Is the librarian of our past
Is the speaker of our present
Is the prophet of our future

Your attitude, or your willingness to think positively, affects many people—from your family to the stranger you smile at in the grocery store. An optimist will see opportunity in difficulties, while a pessimist will see difficulty in opportunities.

You must choose which you will focus on: if you choose poorly, you will doom yourself to never achieving your goals and being successful. Count on that.

So how do you begin to think positively if you’re a natural pessimist? I don’t really believe there ARE natural pessimists, just people who have been taught how to consider the darkest side of every cloud.

You cannot change the fact that a problem exists, but you can do a lot to determine what opportunity is within that problem. Begin to see that problems are a fact of life and that your job is to find a way over, around, under, or through them—as quickly as possible. When you’re upbeat and consider how quickly a problem will be behind you, it’s easy to be optimistic.

Cynicism is another killer when it comes to attitude. It’s a cousin of pessimism—it considers everything suspect and everyone as having an ulterior motive. It never looks at someone handing you a piece of candy just to be nice, it always considers that there is a reason you’re being handed the candy and the motivation of the person who’s giving it.

Cynicism comes from having unrealistic expectations. Many people expect great and wonderful things to happen to them with little-to-no work on their parts. They expect things to fall from the sky in to their laps. When it doesn’t happen as they expect, they become suspicious of others who have achieved success and ultimately, cynical.

You must harness the power of your thoughts and words when setting your course for success. Use positive affirmations daily: remind yourself that a stumbling block is temporary and that you will overcome it; admit to yourself that you are courageous and able to move on when others cannot; agree with your vision for your life and your goals.

As you discipline yourself to do this, you will find optimism and positive thinking chasing you down the street. And who couldn’t use these two friends when we’re aiming for success?