Meaningful — how to create certainty in your life

Everyone needs to find meaning in what they do and in the role they play in their life, their business, their career and their community. As individuals, we need to understand the connection that comes from the alignment of our purpose, passion and personal goals.

WHEN THE WHY BECOMES CLEAR
THE HOW BECOMES EASY!

This one statement encapsulates the premise of the whole book. It is the basis for turning the goal-setting process on its head, leaving the conventional, oh-so-yesterday approach to achieving and finding a bold new way to be more, achieve more and have more of what’s important in your life.

In the first part of the book, we discover the power of harnessing the one to three driving emotions each of us has — the power that forms the foundation on which all our successes are built. When people identify the magic of their personal positive driving emotions, the by-product is a laser-like focus and a level of satisfaction that becomes self-perpetuating.

Milestones — how to gain clarity in your life

Dreams and desires are the foundation, but it is the clarity that comes from a set of clearly defined milestones that truly transforms intentions into actions. What is measurable becomes attainable. The clarity of a person’s milestones allows them to measure their progress and impact.

As will be shown in part II, aligning your emotions, mindset and actions creates an unbreakable personal connection. This connection is created by an easy-to-remember process …

When you start to set goals based on how you want to feel, and establish your key milestones along the way to gaining that feeling, then in taking the physical action your goals become achievable faster through an effortless level of activity.

It is this simple process that turns someone who is uninspired, lost and frustrated into someone who is passionate and making planned progress. As you create certainty you gain clarity. To gain clarity you must have confidence. With confidence comes the ability to let go, certain that your goal will be achieved, which allows you to take the required action.

Mindset — how to enhance confidence in your life

Rarely is it a person’s level of ability that stops them from achieving their goals, dreams, desires and ambitions. Most often they are held back by their lack of confidence and belief in what’s possible for them, what they’re capable of achieving and whether they are worthy of that level of success — this becomes the prison people build for themselves.

On our life’s journey each of us needs to become a living example of a person who is certain, has clarity and believes in our ability to achieve our goals, both personally and professionally. And we need to strengthen and reinforce this mindset on a regular basis. It is this mental muscle that is pivotal to our ability to tap into and realise our potential.

ALL OF US KNOW IN OUR HEART OF HEARTS
WHAT WE NEED TO START DOING IN OUR LIVES &
WHAT WE NEED TO STOP DOING IN OUR LIVES.

We just need to be given the hows to transition ourselves from where we are today to where we want to be tomorrow. In part III we explore eight time-tested personal growth strategies that become a vital catalyst for removing your emotional shackles, mental roadblocks and physical excuses. My goal is to assist you in creating a level of confidence that will allow you to let go of your goal and focus on your intention, relinquishing the worry of whether the goal will come true — and making it happen in your life.

Momentum — how to live consistently in your life

Motivation is so ’80s. Life is not about how motivated you are; it is about how much momentum you have behind you. With momentum you can achieve the unthinkable and the impossible in your life. It is about making the transition from being consistently inconsistent to becoming consistently consistent in your attitude, actions and attributes.

It is about an evolution of self, not a self-imposed short-term revolution. The ‘one per cent concept’ is about taking small incremental steps that are easy to implement over a period of time. This type of action, taken consistently, will move you closer to your goal and to the type of person you want to become. This improvement concept works, as it minimises the mountain of excuses most people have and diminishes the fear of failure, the fear of success and the fear of change.

Anyone can react and respond; when you are in flow, however, you become the one who is proactive and progressive rather than reactive. You take on the philosophy that a good plan started today is better than a perfect plan started tomorrow. As part IV shows, creating real momentum in your life becomes the catalyst that recharges, refocuses and replenishes your soul, spirit and sense of purpose.

MOMENTUM IS NOT ABOUT MAKING MAJOR
CHANGES ALL THE TIME; IT IS ABOUT MAKING
SMALL INCREMENTAL CHANGES OVER A
PERIOD OF TIME.

Taking control

The last thing we need is more information, yet we all need to gain better insights from the information we have. Over the past 27 years I have been a student of passion, high-performance results, the setting of goals and how people go about achieving their goals. During that time I have gained many interesting insights that I’ll share with you in this book.

My belief is that before we lead anyone in our business, career, community or family, we need first to lead ourselves. A good friend of mine, Lawrie Montague, once said to me …

‘Either you will set your own goals or you will be part of someone else’s goals.’

Discovering our passion, purpose and life plan is one of those great opportunities each of us has to take back control and to focus on the controllables in our life rather than the uncontrollables.

How often do we lose focus, sweat the small stuff and get tied up in issues we won’t even remember in a month’s time?

If there is one insight I have gained, it is that when we pursue our passion the world has a habit of giving us access to an express lane to our goals. All we need to do is be clear about it and focus on it.

If you knew me personally, you would know that I am practical and a realist, so of course I know you will still experience challenges, roadblocks and circumstances that will slow you down from time to time. That is all part of the journey and the lifelong lessons we need to learn along the way.

I also know that most people want certainty in their life. The only way you gain certainty is to create clarity, because with clarity comes greater confidence in your ability to produce the results you want, and with that confidence comes a level of consistency that leads to certainty. And that is what this book is all about — certainty, clarity, confidence and consistency. If you want to improve, increase or develop any of these four elements, you are reading the right book at the right time of your life.

It Starts with Passion is a book packed with insights, supported by in-depth research, easy-to-understand concepts, visual models that will add to your existing knowledge base, inspirational stories that will engage you, and practical ‘how to’ ideas you can apply to your own set of circumstances to make real transformational change in your life as you rediscover your dreams, create your goals, explore your life’s purpose and pursue your passions.