Subject: Lifescope TIPs & QUIPs [15] "Identifying Your Goals"

Where do goals originate? They come from that part which is most personal
to you: your dreams, hopes, and most importantly, your values. When you
become able to articulate these things to yourself, that is when you'll
find the motivation to reach for their attainment. I hope you take a few
minutes to find the quiet place inside you where your answers reside, and
ask yourself the questions below. --Lee Lukehart

TIPs & QUIPs, the free occasional email of helpful hints and quotes (and
sometimes challenging suggestions) for getting the most from life.

In this issue:
     *** WiseWords
     *** This Issue's Theme
     *** Suggested Resources
     *** Thrive On! Recommended Site


*** WiseWords ***                                     [TOP]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If one advances confidently in the directions of his dreams, 
 and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, 
 he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
  --Henry David Thoreau

"One of the strongest characteristics of genius is the power 
 of lighting its own fire."
  --John Watson Foster


(For a collection of some of our favorite WiseWords, see our web page at
<http://www.lifescope.com/pages/WiseWords.html>.)


*** This issue's theme:  IDENTIFYING YOUR GOALS                     [TOP]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are seven goal-setting questions for you to ask and answer over and
over. I suggest that you take a pad of paper and write out your responses.
[Excerpted with permission from "Maximum Achievement" by Brian Tracy.]

* Question number one:
What are your five most important values in life?

     This question is intended to help you clarify what is really important
     to you, and by extension, what is less important, or unimportant.
     
     Once you have identified the five most important things in life to
     you, organize them in order of priority, from number one, the most
     important, through number five.
     
     Choosing and defining your values and their order of importance comes
     before setting your goals. Since you live from the inner to the outer,
     and your values are the core components of your personality, clarity
     concerning them makes it possible for you to select goals that are
     consistent with what is the very best for you.

* Question number two:
What are your three most important goals in life, right now?

     Write the answer to this question within thirty seconds. This is
     called the "quick list" method. When you only have thirty seconds to
     write down your three most important goals, your subconscious mind
     sorts out your many goals quickly. Your top three will just pop into
     your conscious mind. With only thirty seconds, you will be as accurate
     as if you had thirty minutes.

* Question number three:
What would you do, how would you spend your time, if you learned today that
you only had six months to live?

     This is another value question to help you clarify what is really
     important to you. When your time is limited, even if only in your
     imagination, you become very aware of who and what you really care
     about. As a doctor said recently, "I never met a businessman on his
     deathbed who said, 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office."'

     Someone once said that you are not ready to live until you know what
     you would do if you only had one hour left on earth. What would you do?

* Question number four:
What would you do if you won a million dollars cash, tax free, in the lottery tomorrow?

     How would you change your life? What would you buy? What would you
     start doing, or stop doing? Imagine that you only have two minutes to
     write your answers and you will only be able to do or acquire what you
     have written.
     
     This is really a question to help you decide what you'd do if you had
     all the time and money you need, if you had virtually no fear of
     failure at all. The most revealing answers to this question are made
     when you realize how many things you would do differently if you felt
     you had the ability to choose.

* Question number five:
What have you always wanted to do, but been afraid to attempt?

     This question helps you see more clearly where your fears could be
     blocking you from doing what you really want to do.

* Question number six:
What do you most enjoy doing? What gives you your greatest feeling of
self-esteem and personal satisfaction?

     This is another values question that may indicate where you should
     explore to find your "heart's desire." You will always be most happy
     doing what you most love to do, and what you most love to do is
     invariably the activity that makes you feel the most alive and
     fulfilled. The most successful men and women in America are invariably
     doing what they really enjoy, most of the time.

* Question number seven, and perhaps this is the most important:
What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew you could not fail?

     Imagine that a genie appears and grants you one wish. The genie
     guarantees that you will be absolutely, completely successful in any
     one thing that you attempt to do, big or small, short- or long-term.
     If you were absolutely guaranteed of success in any one thing, big or
     small, what one exciting goal would you set for yourself?
     
     Whatever you wrote as an answer to any of these questions, including
     the question, "What one great thing would you dare to dream if you
     knew you could not fail?" you can be, have, or do. The very fact that
     you could write it means that you can achieve it. Once you've
     identified what it is you want, the only question you have to answer
     is, "Do I want it badly enough, and am I willing to pay the price?"

Take a few minutes and write out your answers to each of these seven
questions. Once you have your answers on paper, go over them and select
just one as your major definite purpose in life right now.

By this simple act of deciding what you really want, and writing it down,
you will have moved yourself into the top 3 percent. You will have done
something that few people ever do. You will have established a written set
of goals for yourself. You are now ready to make a giant leap forward.


*** Suggested Resources ***                                       [TOP]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Search of Values
Do you know what really matters most to you? In this book, Dr. Sidney Simon
provides 31 playful yet practical exercises which are designed to help you
understand your personal value system. Developed over many years and proven
with literally tens of thousands of people, Dr. Simon's process will show you
that what you do is what you are... and how you act reflects what you value.
Forewarned is forearmed: the answers are always a surprise!
      (softcover book, 103pp) Item# E2118-BK
         SRP$8.99  (see link for special price)
   [update: Sorry, item out of print]


*** Thrive On! Recommended Site ***                              [TOP]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Writing Your Own Philosophy of Life, Chapter 3 from the on-line book
Psychological Self-help <http://www.cmhc.com/psyhelp/chap3/chap3k.htm>

To give you some structure for deciding on your guiding principles, here
are three lists of major goals pursued by others around the world. These
are some of the choices you have, i.e. philosophies, goals, principles, or
means to an end you might value and follow.
       
Table 3.1 lists 13 "ways of living" from many cultures. Table 3.2
lists 18 "ends" or objectives or outcomes to which you might devote your
life. Table 3.3 lists 18 "means," i.e. ways of being that are considered
most moral and most likely to yield the "ends" you seek.


DISCLAIMER
The contents herein are solely the opinions of Lifescope editors, and should 
not be considered as a form of therapy nor advice. There is no guarantee of 
validity or accuracy. Lifescope therefore assumes no responsibility for injury
and specifically disclaims any warranty, express or implied, of fitness or 
merchantability for a particular purpose. Besides, actual mileage may vary.

Copyright © 1998-2007 by Lifescope Inc. 
Permission is granted to reproduce or distribute this newsletter 
only in its entirety and provided copyright is acknowledged.

To subscribe or unsubscribe TIPs & QUIPs, please go to our Subscriptions Page
at <http://www.lifescope.com/pages/Subscriptions.html>

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
  Lifescope Inc. -- Bright Ideas for Better Living
           <http://www.lifescope.com/>
"YOUR IDEAL LIFE?  Discover It, Design It, and Do It!"