Why doesn't everyone set goals.

You might be thinking right now, " Well, this all sounds so inspirational, but surely just setting a goal doesn't make it happen." I couldn't agree with you more. All goal setting must be immediately followed by both the development of a plan, and massive and consistent action toward its fulfillment. You already have this power to act. If you haven't been able to summon it, it's merely because you have failed to set goals that inspire you.

What's holding you back? Surely you've been exposed to the power of goal setting before reading this book. But do you have a list of clearly defined goals for the results you will absolutely produce in your life mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially? What has stopped you? For many it's the unconscious fear of disappointment. Some people have set goals in the past and failed to achieve them and, as a result of their disappointment and their tear of future pain, they stop setting goals. They don't want to have any expectations that could be dashed. Other people set goals, but abuse themselves by tying their entire level of personal happiness to their ability to achieve goals that may be outside their control. Or they lack the flexibility to notice that as they move in the direction of their goals, there are better, more worthy goals all around them.

The process of setting goals works a lot like your eyesight. The closer you get to your destination, the greater clarity you gain, not only on the goal itself, but the details of everything around it. Who knows? You may decide that you like one of those other possibilities even better, that it inspires you even more, and go for that one instead! In fact, sometimes, as we'll talk about in more depth later, failing to achieve your goal actually draws you closer to your life's true purpose.

The drive to achieve and contribute comes in many forms. For some people it's spawned by disappointment or even tragedy. For others it's fueled simply by the stark[79] realization one day that life is passing them by, that the quality of their life is lessening with each passing moment. For some, inspiration is the source of their motivation. Seeing what's possible, anticipating the best possible scenario, or realizing that they're in fact making significant progress can help them to develop tremendous momentum to accomplish even more.

Often, we don't realize how far we've come because we're so caught up in the process of achieving. A good metaphor for this is when a friend tells you how much your son or daughter has grown, and you say with honest surprise, " Really? " It's been happening right under your nose, so you've failed to notice it. It's even tougher to see your own growth, so I'd like to share with you a simple process. Please take a moment to do it right now. It will assist you in tapping one or both of the above-described forces of motivation.

YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW

Sometimes it's easy to lose track of just how far you've already come—or just how far you still need to go in life. Use the following pages to make an accurate assessment of where you stood in these ten critical areas five years ago. Specifically, next to each of these categories, give yourself a score on a scale from 0 to 10, 0 meaning you had nothing in this area, and 10 meaning you were absolutely living your life's desire in that category.

The second step, after giving yourself a score, is to write a sentence next to each category to describe what you were like back then. For instance, five years ago, what were you like physically? You might write down, " I was a 7, " and then follow up with, " I was in fairly good shape, but definitely needed improvement. Five pounds overweight, was running twice a week, but still didn't eat healthfully. Mediocre levels of energy."

Take five to ten minutes and do this exercise now. You will find it quite enlightening!