CHAPTER 12

Shift from Simple Goal Setting to Transformational Goal Getting

I . . . am . . . so . . . proud . . . of . . . you!

You’ve made it to the final chapter of this book, and I can’t tell you how incredibly proud of you I am and how honored I am to have spent this time with you. But we are not done yet. There are still a few key principles that I need to download into your heart, mind, and spirit to assist you as you shift into a higher gear.

To put bookends on this concept of living life to the fullest, we must talk about why we are doing all this shifting to begin with. What’s the point of making all these big and small changes in the way we think and live? We hope that the purpose is to help us actually achieve our wildest and most impassioned goals and dreams . . . right?

My dear friend, I want you to shift from mere goal setting, which anyone can do, to actual goal getting! I want you to successfully make the transition from

• Wanting to walking

• Dreaming to doing

• Pontification to participation

• Information to implementation

• Thinking to trying

• Intention to immersion

• Inspiration to manifestation

If three birds are sitting on a branch and one decides to fly away, how many are left? All three, because the one just decided. Decision is not enough. We must take ACTION! —Author unknown

Wanting is not enough. Dreaming is not enough. Planning is not enough. These are part of achieving a goal, but they’re not enough. We must take action. Anyone can set a goal, but it takes a champion to reach a goal. We must roll the throttle!

I want you to bring into material form all that you conceptualize in your mind and heart as possible for yourself. I want you to become a manifester. To become a manifester of your goals and dreams, you have to change, because who you’ve been will not get you where you want to be. That process requires change. Throughout this book, I have been nudging you toward making small shifts that equal big changes in your life and profession. Now let’s cement that with a final challenge to change so that I can help you achieve your highest goals at a more accelerated rate.

Goals Defined

I define a goal simply as a predetermined success point; a place of arrival thought of in advance. Basically, a goal is premeditated achievement. A goal is what you decide today about where you want to be tomorrow, and taking steps today to make sure that happens.

The best way to predict the future is to create it.
—Attributed to Peter Drucker

• Imagine the game of football with no end zones.

• Imagine the game of basketball with no hoops.

• Imagine the game of baseball with no home plate.

That’s how crazy your life looks without clearly defined goals.

When I speak to corporations, associations, pro sports teams, nonprofit groups, direct selling organizations, and ministries globally, I talk about how all goal setting can be broken down into ten simple categories. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest to you that anything that you want to accomplish or achieve can be grouped under one of these ten areas of life.

1. Interpersonal, mental, and emotional—mindset, mental health, and emotional mastery

2. Professional and career—job, business growth, work or livelihood, promotions

3. Spiritual and faith—expressions of your God consciousness and beliefs

4. Family and household—biological, blended, or a combination; kids, siblings, kinfolk

5. Health and wellness—nutrition, exercise, medical appointments, supplements, routine

6. Financial and money—wealth building, budgeting, planning, investing, retirement

7. Philanthropy and service—giving, serving, volunteering, and contributing

8. Social activity and community—friends, outings, social media, neighbors, gatherings

9. Love and relationships—romantic interests, dating, marriage, life partnerships

10. Leisure and hobbies—special interests, side passions, side hustles, vacations

My challenge to you is to set one hundred goals for yourself. It’s much easier than you think, because one hundred goals are really only ten goals in each area.

Maybe your health and wellness goals could look something like this:

Health and Wellness Goals for [Your Name Here]

1. Drink 64 oz. of water daily.

2. Spend twenty minutes each day in the sunshine.

3. Maintain my ideal weight of ____ lbs without diet fads or gimmicks.

4. Exercise for at least thirty minutes Monday through Friday.

5. Plan my meals in advance so that I eat nutritiously six days per week.

6. Enjoy a cheat day one day per week.

7. Lift heavy weights two times per week and do cardio three times per week.

8. Take a gender-specific liquid multivitamin each day.

9. Keep up with my dental, vision, primary care, and specialist doctor visits.

10. Play my favorite sport or outdoor activity as often as possible with friends.

Keep in mind that this list of possible goals is a very vanilla list. Feel free to make yours much more robust than this or milder than this. But one thing I want this list to model is the specificity. Create lists like this for all the other nine areas of your life and wow—you will be well on your way to shifting from being merely a goal setter to a manifesting goal getter!

The Eight R’s to Manifest Any Goal

Whatever goals you want to achieve, use these eight principles (the eight R’s) to get them, and you will have them. This isn’t something I read in some book; this is what I’ve lived and know to be true. In fact, I want you to think of a huge goal, a goal that if you could achieve it, would make having read this book 500% worth it. Write that goal down and put it in your journal.

Now, with that goal in mind, let’s compile the following to assist you.

1. Room

This is where most people go way wrong. Coming out the gate of the journey toward their goals, they hit the pothole of overwhelm because they’ve never made room for the goals and dreams they desire. My friend, before you go adding anything new on the proverbial plate of your life, you need to decide what needs to come off that plate first. If you’re a high achiever, which you are, your plate is already full of stuff. So the question is, what stuff needs to come off your plate, what skin do you need to shed so you can make room for something new? Whom do you need to let go of so that you can attract the person you really deserve? What clothes in your closet do you need to give away, sell, or donate to make room for that new wardrobe you want? Isn’t it time to clean your garage of all that old stuff you don’t even need so that you’ll have space for a recreational vehicle or, perhaps . . . a new motorcycle? Your goals and dreams are like embryos; they need space to grow. So make a list in your journal and number it 1 through 10. Name ten things, people, mindsets, attitudes, or habits that you need to get rid of, which will make room for the goals that you actually want to achieve. You can’t even start your journey if you haven’t first made room!

2. Reasons

Most people go wrong with their goal achievement because they focus too much on the “what” of the goal instead of the “why.” Why do you want to achieve the goals you have in mind? Why is more important than what! The why is what’s going to keep you motivated and inspired when the way seems long, hard, and mostly uphill. You must have compelling reasons why you want what you want. As Simon Sinek would say, “Start with Why!” For every goal you write down in your journal, give yourself three reasons why you must achieve it.

3. Resources

Once you know why you want what you want, you need to go on a scavenger hunt to gather, rally, and assemble all the resources that you currently have at your disposal to help you pull off this goal. What do you already have in your possession that will help you achieve your dreams faster? When I wanted to produce my own reality TV show, I already lived in a city that had mansions for rent, and one of my best friends was a TV producer, so I had a location and a creative brain and partner at my disposal. You will gain tremendous momentum toward your goals once you realize that you have more wood for the fire than you realize. Make a list of all the existing resources you already have. Yes, you probably need more stuff, but start with what you have!

One of the best resources I can recommend is pictures of the goals you seek in their achieved state. If you want a new car, go sit in the one you want (even if you don’t qualify for it financially at this time) and put that photo on your wall as a resource and a source of inspiration for you. Notice how the entries in every successful cookbook have three main components: a list of ingredients, a description of the process of mixing the ingredients and cooking the actual dish, and (usually) a photo of the completed masterpiece. The authors of these books fully understand that in order to replicate any master dish, you certainly need resources. You also need the next R.

4. Road Map

You need a plan. You need a strategy. You need a route to take. And I wish that plotting out the fastest route to achieve your goals was as easy as pulling up Waze or Google Maps, but it isn’t. However, one of the best ways to draw a road map for actually getting the goals you set is by looking at prior models of success that already exist. In other words, look at people who have succeeded at doing what you want to do. What was their process? What was their path? How did they go about pulling it off? You want to learn from and glean from people who have actually done what you want to do. When I’m pulling off a big event, I never talk to people who have not hosted big events before; as well meaning as they can be, they can’t really help me. I connect only with people whose information can influence my road map. The best way to create a road map for your goal is to study those who have arrived at a destination similar to the one you seek.

5. Rewards

On the journey to success in anything that you want, you need milestones along the way that incentivize you to keep going. The human mind loves rewards. Your brain loves releasing dopamine and serotonin—two very powerful chemicals that make you feel great, happy, successful, meaningful, and alive. So as you take action on your goals and dreams, make sure that you reward yourself in small ways all along the journey. A reward can be a small snack or a massage or a weekend trip that you plan for yourself and someone you care about. It can be watching a favorite show or taking a long bath or ordering from a favorite restaurant or treating your family and friends to a night on the town, but whatever you choose, do something weekly to reward yourself as you strive to achieve your goals. Your brain will inspire you to go far beyond goal setting and shift into goal getting.

6. Relationships

This simple principle is like pouring gasoline on the fire of your goals. It takes only one person to like you, recommend you, or refer you to take your goals from a possibility to a reality. The right relationships will help you achieve your goals in record time and at lightning speed. As we discussed in chapter 8, who you ride with really and truly does matter. Ask yourself this simple question: “Who needs to know that I am trying to achieve this goal?” Then ask yourself, “Who knows someone who needs to know that I am trying to achieve this goal?” Make a list of your existing connections—you are much closer to your next open door than you realize.

7. Resolve

Once you set your mind and heart on the goal that you must manifest, you will need a healthy and unwavering dose of resolve to see it through to manifestation. In other words, you’ve gotta keep your hands on the throttle. You can’t quit, and you can’t give up. You must be determined to see it through. Here’s a cold, hard truth: you will experience failure on the way to your biggest goals. You will. You will fail on the way to something big, and you will fail on the way to something small. So you might as well go for the big! Make up in your mind before you even start the journey that you will not quit. When things get hard, you will dig in, you will take breaks as you need to, but you will continue to fight until your goals are realized. Another way to experience resolve is to express gratitude as if you already have the very thing you want. Start to journal and to declare out of your mouth expressions of thanksgiving as if you already possess the things that you want, and that declaration of resolve will speed up your goal-getting process.

8. Real Experience

If you want to train for a fitness competition, actually go to one; you will be more motivated than ever to actually make it happen. If you want to learn yoga, go on an instructor retreat and watch how much passion you develop for it. If you want to become a speaker as I did, attend the National Speakers Association annual convention and be immersed in the experience of meeting hundreds of people who do this for a living. My point? Find a real experience that puts you knee-deep in the thing that you want to do and puts you around the people who have done it, are doing it, want to do it. What you learn, who you will meet, and what you will discover about yourself will astound you.

Let me ask you a powerful question. Go back to your journal where you wrote down that big goal you want to achieve. Now ask yourself which of the eight R’s you still need. Apply these eight R’s to your big goals and dreams and watch yourself radically shift from goal setting to powerful, manifesting goal getting.

Five Ways You Can Shift Higher and Tune Up the Motorcycle of Your Life

1. The idea in life is to be a goal getter, not just a goal setter. Be willing to make the necessary transitions in order to experience success.

2. Defining your goals has four pivotal steps. First, you must see your goal mentally before anything else. Once you see your goal in your mind, writing it down brings it to life. From there, creating a visual to go with it then helps you create the experience to match it. These steps show that achieving your goals takes work but that they all start with a simple thought.

3. Manifestation is what we all want. But we have to ensure that we’re walking the right steps so that it can occur, without fail and without delay. The eight R’s—room, reasons, resources, road maps, rewards, relationships, resolve, and real experience—will enable you to manifest on a consistent basis.

4. You have to get sick and tired of being sick and tired. When you become comfortable with the pity party, you’ve entered a dangerous place. Shift off of the nail of compromise and roll the throttle by taking consistent imperfect action.

5. Shifting into a higher gear takes place when you finish what you’ve started. If you want to always go higher, be consistent with crossing the finish line each time you start something. Goal setting involves starting; goal getting is all about finishing!