You will always enjoy life's journey when you work actively towards your goals. Why is that? Because it is the journey towards the goal that brings Happiness. I thought it appropriate that this EReport is dedicated to goals because so many of us at the beginning of a New Year have New Year's Resolutions - but, what do we do with them? If they are not converted into goals then these resolutions often "wither on the vine" ! So we'll go through the process of setting, writing, and checking goals. The main example that will be considered is a goal for overcoming stress. For any other goal that you would like to formulate, you can use a similar procedure.

Affirmations and Goals

Let's start with describing the difference between affirmations and goals. An affirmation is good, positive self talk, done with the conscious mind. Let me explain. If you are driving down the road in a car then you are in the Beta brainwave state, thinking of up to nine things at a time (using the conscious mind) and you can say to yourself "I am a powerful, positive, self confident person." To convert this affirmation to a goal using the CALM Techniques, you first go to your Peaceful Place where you are in the Alpha brainwave state. The Reticular Activating Filter is now open and you are working with the subconscious mind. You now say the goal, visualize its success and emotionalise it using your Emotional Anchor. Why? Because the language of the subconscious mind is Emotion. So a goal is done with the subconscious mind in Alpha using emotion. An affirmation uses 12% of the mind and a goal uses 100% of the mind.

Writing Your Goal

The example goal we're talking about  is "Overcoming Stress". Having a goal in this area will be of substantial assistance to creating the new habit of, for example, "remaining calm and relaxed". The first step is to write down the goal in positive, present tense and personal language. So what do you think of this wording for the goal ... "I relax and release stress whenever I choose to." If you go through every word, you'll see that the word "stress" is not positive and therefore needs to be altered. To find the substitute words, ask the question: "What will I be if I am not 'stressed' ? " or, "What will I have if I don't have 'stress'?" (This checking method, that is, identifying any negative word, then asking the question for the replacement word or words, should be applied to all goals). So the answer to the question is: "I'll be calm, relaxed, focused, peaceful, etc."  For maximum effectiveness the goal becomes "I am calm and relaxed whenever I choose."

WIIFMs

What's In It For Me (WIIFMs) is often considered to be a selfish way to express the "Reasons for You Wanting Your Goal." If you think like this, then rephrase WIIFMs to "Why do I want this goal?" The more reasons you have, the more likely it is that you will obtain your goal. (Conversely, if you don't have any good reason then Set Another Goal). One of the main reasons that you have WIIFMs is that they (the WIIFMs) are the keys to your visualization of the success of the goal.

So what are some WIIFMs for the goal "I am calm and relaxed whenever I choose". Here are a few examples:

* I deliver my talks without sweating
* When my boss is around I remain calm
* I wind down during the day so that I don't need alcohol at night
* I calmly respond when verbally threatened
* I am calm before exams and study well
* I stay calm when the cricket team is depending on me for batting well
* I am responding properly when my relationship is threatened
* My productivity is increasing because I am not stressed
* I am easily able to make successful sales calls
* My blood pressure remains at the correct level

You can see that whatever the reasons (or WIIFMs) for your non-stressful goals are (in the above examples) that having these WIIFMs makes it easier to visualise the success of the goal.

First Step Goal

Can your goal be achieved in 3 months? In other words is your goal a short term goal? All goals to do with being calm and relaxed are short term goals. Occasionally other goals can be, say, a year away, eg. university exams for a degree that is 12 months away. In a case such as this, then a short term goal, leading towards the long term one, needs to be written. And with this example of gaining a university degree, a good short term goal would be: "I love studying in Alpha for two hours every day."? You see, this short term goal works towards the success of the long term goal.

The Next Step is to do the Visualisation Exercise

Take a few moments and go to a quiet place inside your mind. Perhaps you can play some peaceful music to help you relax. Say your goal and your WIIFMs to yourself and then visualise the success of the goal. As you visualise, use all your senses, imagine the outcome you want and talk to yourself about it. When you sense your visualisation fading, let it go, take a deep breath and open your eyes. Then write it down.

Don't Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

Your Comfort Zone is your subconscious mind. You gradually expand your Comfort Zone by visualising the success of your goal. The complete process of using your subconscious mind in alpha is even more effective. The complete process incorporates the use of the CALM 8 Steps to achieve goals faster - it expands your Comfort Zone even faster. So at the CALM Research Centre we say "Don't step out of your comfort zone." Why? Because it causes additional stress. Instead, expand your Comfort Zone with whatever you wish to achieve and then - step into the expanded part. Is it scary? Sure it could be, but only a little, you see you've prepared yourself by doing it (the goal) over and over inside your mind, so it won't be stressful. Under these circumstances, when you use your subconscious mind to achieve and you then do something physically - for the first time - you may make a mistake. Will the mistake be stressful? No! Because, once again, you've prepared yourself. And....your attitude will be different - you will regard the "mistake" as a "learning lesson" - a stepping stone.

 

The CALM 8 Steps of Achieving Faster Goals

1. Get into a comfortable position
2. Take a breath in and close your eyes
3. Go to your Peaceful Place (now you're in Alpha)
4. Raise your eyes up and down?
5. Say your goal in the present tense and personal language
6. Visualise the success of your goal
7. Give yourself your Emotional Anchor
8. Take a breath in and open your eyes.

So, please journey to happiness by having goals, doing them with your subconscious mind, thus expanding your comfort zone first and then step into the expanded area so that you achieve without stress. Have a great 2003.

All the Best

Sandy MacGregor
 

Success Stories

 Note from Sandy. In my book "Switch On to Your Inner Strengh" I have a success story about Glenn Connor who beat Eddie Charlton (the world cue sport 8-Ball champion) using the goals system described above. Glenn is truly inspirational - despite being confined to a wheelchair, following a serious motor cycle accident when he was 17 years old, he has for the last 18 years triumphed against some of the best pool, snooker, 8-ball and 9-ball players in Australia. Here is a recent update from him:

I have been so busy since your seminar in June, I don't know if you remember I asked for your advice regarding my business, I am a Builder and at that stage I was struggling for work. Since the seminar my company has around 2 million dollars worth of work ahead - in my goals I asked for the right subcontractors to work for me. It is amazing how they all came out from nowhere, I would ask someone, and it was amazing how all of a sudden they knew of a carpenter who had just finished with a company and was looking for work.

I have been using my Peaceful Place and see myself surrounded with the best quality clients and tradesmen. I demand the best for everyone concerned, I also make sure I do not skimp on any aspect of quality on the job, I feel good about my end product and also my clients absolutely love our work and our relationships are like good friends. I make it also my duty to acknowledge them for being wonderful clients, and also acknowledge the Architects for their design and their input throughout the job. It is a team effort, not three different individuals, working for the same outcome.  MM, Victoria.