Getting tired of not achieving goals? Is it time to check in to see if your "certainty" tank is filled?

A lot of folks get caught up in the "actions" that are required to achieve a goal. But that's not where you should be initially focusing all of your energy.

The fuel that drives "right action" is our belief system. Wouldn't it make perfect sense to ensure that we have a full talk before we head out?

 Let's break it down.

If you're living your life on purpose, you have taken some serious time this past month to set business goals for 2017. You also know how to write a goal as if it were already achieved. Having done this, you have come up with a solid plan for how you will proceed to ensure that when the year comes to a close, you will have achieved these goals.

What happens in life and in business in particular is that we make a plan, work hard on our plan, get real busy and we.....don't come near achieving the BIG GOALS that we have set for ourselves.

I'm not here to talk about accountability, check ins, or whether you can manage time well. No, I want to talk about your belief system - that little seed that can make or break even the most thorough and well laid out plan.

BEING CERTAIN MATTERS

How certain were you when you put those goals down on paper that you could actually achieve them? Be honest with yourself.

Are you shaking your head right now because you hadn't really given it much thought before?  You're in good company. It's an area that often gets neglected.

Just as a car needs fuel to move forward - your plans and dreams also need fuel.

Belief is our fuel - certainty is high octane energy that fires us up and keeps us focused when the going gets tough. It makes perfect sense to glance at the "Certainty Gauge" before you set out on a new journey and at regular intervals along the way.

HOW DO YOU GAUGE YOUR CERTAINTY LEVEL?

I can gauge my "Certainty Level" by visioning. If I struggle to envision a day with the goal already achieved, it tells me that I am feeling a little uncertain in my belief about achieving that goal. If I can't write a page on what a day will look like with the goal already achieved, I know that my fuel is low and I need to do something about it.

Writing has always helped me to fill my tank. I meditate and sit quietly with "MY WHY" for setting that particular goal in the first place.

I don't believe in wasting time or spinning tires - it's important that I have the belief system primed (the fuel tanks filled) before I take action or spend money on my business.

With a full tank of certainty, the likelihood of achieving a goal is greatly increased.

After all, success hinges on our belief that we can make it happen - spend time checking on your certainty levels and elevating your beliefs in the early days and you won't regret it down the road.  

After all you can only achieve that which you believe you can.

I would love to hear about your strategies to elevating your certainty.

It isn't enough to dream of a better life, you have to believe it's going to happen. That's how you create a better life.

The title of this post is kind of telling - it isn't your ability to dream that helps you to create a better life. It's your ability to dream and expect the things that you desire. That's been my learning curve and the lesson that I needed so desperately to embrace. I had the dreaming down pat long before I learned to manage my expectations.

At the worse point in my life, someone spoke those words at a seminar - the life that you have is the life that you are expecting. To say I was pissed was an understatement. I was in the midst of one of the worse days of my life. My home that I cherished had been on the market 8 months - I was behind on payments and even though I had equity in the home, I had no way of accessing the equity because my income was too low. I was living on a fixed income disability pension. (Some might say I didn't know the right broker - topic for another day) :).

One day someone knocked at the door and when I answered the door - there was a gentleman standing there with registered mail. I had to sign for the dreaded letter - it was a notice from the lawyers informing me that they were going to foreclose on the mortgage. It was a soft landing - I hadn't run from my debt. I knew that this was the next step for me. Every day I hoped that the home would sell.

That same day, I got a call from the realtor that we had an offer on the house. Needless to say, we stalled the foreclosure and went ahead with the sale - I took a big hit on that sale because I was vulnerable and not making decisions from a position of strength. It would take a long time to realise the blessing hidden in this mess - many months later, I did eventually go bankrupt but there was no house included in the bankruptcy and for anyone who understands that industry, that makes a world of difference.

I landed in a pretty scary place - no home, no job and no prospects. I was literally dependent on someone's kind heart to help me out. It was a very low point in my life. At a seminar I was given tickets to, I heard this powerful message that really annoyed me at the time. The life you have is the one you believe you can have. Grrrrrrrrr - really?

It took me quite some time before I could appreciate this lesson. I've put enough distance between me and that terrible time to be able to reflect and I can see the wisdom in that statement now. I was struggling with high anxiety at the time - a real fear that I was going to be living in a cardboard box somewhere or dependent on others to get by in life. It was bad enough that I was visually impaired but I really didn't believe that I could create a better life. I was feeling about as low as I had ever been. Like they say - I had nowhere to go but up and I had tough lessons yet to learn.

I spent a lot of time working on the skills that it takes to unleash the creative powers that we all have. It's not an easy task - I took every course imaginable. If there was even a hint that I was creating this mess - someone please show me the way out. I begged the universe to show me how to become a believer when everything around me was not affirming the life I wanted.

The law of attraction depends on three things that have to be in alignment - our thoughts (dream a big dream) and our feelings (this is where belief comes in after all you're not getting fired up if you don't belief your dream can come true) and actions (in alignment with the dreams).

I had a vision board back then with some pretty impressive images on there but I didn't get excited when I looked at that board. Actually, more often than not, the thought that came up was "how do you go from here to there?" I wanted to know "how" but every book I read and every lesson I learned told me that I didn't need to know how. I just needed to get fired up about the good life.

Back them my EXPECTATIONS were low - I was stuck in this pity party but I kept going. If there was a lesson to learn I was going to learn it and I am so glad I did. Now I don't need to know how. I still have days where I stress but once we get rid of bad habits like complaining, it's hard to go back there for extended periods. I also have an accountability partner, a network of people who operate like I do, someone to kick me in the arse on the bad days - oh yes, there will be bad days.

What are you expecting in life? I don't mean what do you dream about - what are you expecting to happen? Really? Deep down? When you expect something to happen it gets you fired up with a knowing that it's coming toward you as quickly as you take action toward it. Don't lie to yourself if you're expectation is not there yet. Work on the skill of a disciplined mind - letting go of the how and working on the things that you need to work on to become the person who can sustain that dream.

It isn't enough to dream of a better life, you have to believe it will happen and only then take the right action.