You may remember the titled song, “Win in the End”, featured at the end of one of the greatest 80′s movie’s of all time: Teen Wolf. More than just awesome childhood memories, going Beast Mode AND actually turning into a beast when you get angry has always greatly appealed to me. I could go on and on about the quotes, but this post isn’t a review on Teen Wolf.
With the new year approaching and the old one winding down, I thought it would be fitting to discuss goal accomplishment. What are you goals for 2012? Nearly all of us, myself included, right down short and long-term goals only to throw in a notebook and never think about again. It’s fun to think about them, jot them down, all that stuff. In the busyness of day-to-day life however, it is way to easy to lose sight of where we want to go. Here’s some insight in this post on what it takes to start your goals and powerful measures to keep them in your cross-hairs, making you a goal grinding machine!
First off, every great accomplishment begins with a thought. Begin by visualizing the WIN in the end or the ending outcome you would like to receive. Start with the end goal in mind and then execute violently. Every great accomplishment is begun this way. Every small accomplishment is as well (grocery lists), whether you realize it or not. When we begin with the end, we subconsciously give our minds the GPS coordinates to find. Because our brains are all wired for success, it’s the most natural way for goal accomplishment.
Second, write it down with some emotion! Most people when they write goals put the ending outcome and that’s it. ie Win National Volleyball title. To be thoroughly effective, when you write it, make it as descriptive as possible. Write your emotions on the page. How you feel while you’re performing the task (race, game, match, etc). Remember, your emotions are the fuel that drive the goal. Without emotion, all you have is an empty race car with no motor. Depending on how you leverage them, they determine how quickly (or not) you’ll actually achieve your goal. The more emotion, the better. Pour it on.
Third, protect your thoughts! Abraham Lincoln said something like, “If you think you can’t, then you won’t.” Remember how our minds are wired for success?? If you approach a task, a business meeting or whatever with the thought of “This is going to suck” or “No f’ing way” then guess what, your body will deliver. No matter how hard you try, you subconscious mind will find every way to sabotage you…all b/c it wants to succeed! Get it? It’s all a part of how we’re wired. In our mind, success is what you tell it. If you say, “I’m going to crush the MCAT!” then by god your whole being will do everything it can to succeed. If you were to say, “I don’t know, the MCAT’s are going to be really hard.” Poof, guess what, the MCAT’s are going to be hard and you’ll get the score you “knew” you would get; a mediocre performance at best.
Fourth, wash, rinse and repeat. One of the best tools I learned from Coach Todd Herman was to continue my writings on a daily basis, preferably before I went to bed so I could soak up all the goodness. This step is the glue or the magnifier of all the other steps. Writing your goals down everyday with emotion has an amazing effect of bringing them to the forefront of your mind. This practice is so huge and its importance is something I can’t stress enough. Even just a quick five sentence goal achieving outline with a little emotion seeps it deep into your bones. Before long, you’re a goal grinding machine. On to the next!
Lastly, I highly recommend hiring a coach, one who can help with goal setting, achievement, mental toughness, etc. It’s a must for any high performer on the field or in the office. Over the years, I have received and continue to receive excellent coaching in the realm of sports performance and mental training. These coaches have made a huge impact on my life.
One last tid bit of information. Tonight is December 25th and the 235th anniversary of George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware to attack a sleeping Hessian Army. This victory turned out to be a watershed moment of the Revolutionary War, effectively rallying other rebel fighters to join the Continental Army to fight the British. Remember, the British Empire was a seemingly insurmountable foe, had the world’s greatest army, largest navy and a winning record. No one every thought it possible that a bunch of “rabble rousers” could oust the greatest Empire in the world at the time. How do you think our Founding Fathers approached their mental game? Did they give their minds an “out” clause if things didn’t work? Thoughts of freedom and living a life free of oppression filled their minds, thoughts, writings, words day in and day out. By any means necessary would they forge their own country, founded upon ideals that had never been done before.
I hope this post finds you warm and cozy yet pondering the greatness of your mind and the possibilities that await in your future.
Never Let It Rest,
Brendon
