As a kid growing up I always loved gathering for the holidays because I always got to see my Uncle Tony.  What was great about Uncle Tony was he was a “Dead Head”.  So while all my friends sat around their dinner tables during the holidays and listened to their families talk about how grateful they were and then spend hours complaining about life,  my uncle spoke of touring with the Grateful Dead and how amazing his life was.

This made me realize at a young age the difference on what constitutes a life and what constitutes a lifestyle is pretty ambiguous. One thing that seems pretty clear to me is the lifestyle is observable while a life can have many internal aspects to it. A lifestyle can include people, material things, environments, how we spend our time, energy, and money. A life includes things like our beliefs, our values, our commitments, our soul’s dream, and our vision. If you choose a lifestyle first you could wind up with an empty fortress. If you choose the life first, you will design your lifestyle to support the life.

Since most of us already have a lifestyle, and a default life, we usually have to do some redesign work. Choose a life and then redesign our lifestyle. It is possible that the lifestyle you currently have will never support the life you truly want to live. It is possible the lifestyle you currently have has many supporting structures and only minor renovations need to occur. It is possible that you are a highly intuitive person and your lifestyle is in perfect alignment. I know very few people who fall into that category. My Uncle Tony did but what I noticed about him, was he made a conscious decision to structure his life outside the social norms. He made that decision early in life and lived true to it.

As we evolve we begin to look at various aspects of our lives for congruence to our values and commitments. The disparity shows up with exclamation marks behind them and sometimes our response is discouragement and self-disappointment. We act as if we should have known better when the truth is how could we have known better? So the first thing to get over is “I didn’t know” and then after we get over that we come to “but I know now…now what?” It takes a courageous person to see this and then set their intentions on bringing integrity into their life so that their lifestyle gives them a life that serves their higher self. You will notice some people trying to work around it, pretending it doesn’t matter that their lifestyles don’t measure up to their core values.  Although my Uncle spent 90% of his life living in a VW Van, eating Tofu chili and selling his own Tye-Dye T-shirt designs I never once heard him complain about his life and I never saw his core values not match up with his lifestyle.

The real problem in life is once you see the inconsistency, not doing anything actually makes things worse and you lose ground really fast. It cost you big time to keep that inconsistency in place. You can’t be with yourself and be at peace in your life. It wears you down like water will wear down a mountain over time. Your life will devolve instead of evolve. If that is not a price that’s too high to pay, I don’t know what is. Just think about it and choose wisely the path you will follow.

Occasionally when I talk with people about goals they seem to interpret the intention of goals as being to get more things. Naturally things are important but there is so much more to goal setting that I wish to share with you.

Of course it is important to have goals for new things …

Perhaps your dream home by the ocean …

Maybe a nice shiny new car to get you around in style …

or even a vacation around the world

It’s great to set goals for new things, but not for the things themselves, rather what they will make of you to get them.

But there is another type of goal which I want to challenge you to think about and begin to set. It’s soul goals! Now I know you are wondering … what are soul goals and how do they apply to me and my life? Great question, so come with me and discover why you will soon be applying them in your life.

Soul goals are those goals that are larger than you! They are goals that impact on other people and on the world around you. They are goals that you invest your heart and soul into without any expectation of return. Soul goals are what gives life its passion, purpose & meaning! Think of Martin Luther King Jnr … his whole life was dedicated to the pursuit of his soul goals! In the end he gave his life for his soul goals. It takes a mighty goal and a might man to give your life to.

What about Mother Theresa? She passionately pursued her soul goals of taking care of those who were not empowered to look after themselves. Now I’m not suggesting that you will want to pursue grand goals that have a profound impact on the world around you … rather, that you look deep inside yourself and find something that you have a passion to contribute to the world.

What is it that you feel a sense of desire to do something about? What cause can you see yourself adding value to? What community, national or global projects are calling you to them and resonating with you? All of us need soul goals that we can invest our hearts, our minds and our souls into. We all need to feel a connection with something larger than ourselves. Its inherent in our souls to want to give without expectation of return.

As you search for your soul goals now, open your mind and heart to the infinite possibilities to match your unique skills, wisdom, specialized knowledge, compassion, assets, contacts, networks, creativity, and genius to. As you read these words knowing what you know about your incredible untapped capacity you can find a way to apply it in some way for the greater good.

Seek out your soul goals! Set your soul goals! Share your soul goals! Pursue your soul goals! Grow your soul goals! Encourage others to adopt soul goals! Here is a noble thought … for every five goals I set for me I have one soul goal to help thee! Soul goals are paying back your debt of gratitude for the good fortune you have to be able to pursue your personal or business goals.

So add a little soul into your goals!

Did you know that ‘Goal Setting’ is the secret to fulfilling ANY dream or desire you want in life?

Did you also know that SUPER Successful people use ‘Goals’ to attain the knowledge and wealth they have today?

Some of you reading this right now might agree and some of you might not.

That decision is yours to make.

The reason people find it too hard to achieve their goals is simple because they’ve set their Long-Term goals before setting Short-Term ones, or they just didn’t plan their goals out carefully.

Goal setting strategies are VERY important, especially for those who want to achieve Long-Term goals.

Well, your in luck because I’m going to share five ‘Goal Setting’ techniques to help you realize your TRUE goals today.

Your only requirement is to keep an open mind.

So, with that said, lets go to Technique #1.
Technique #1. Start with Short-Term goals.

Sometimes, people start with short-term goals unconsciously.

Why unconsciously?

Some of them may have considered the goals to be long-term at the time they planned them; and after achieving a goal, they realize that they are in fact, looking forward to a longer one.

Some are contented with their short-term goals, but after a while will realize that they also need to attain long-term ones.

Short-term goals seem to be our starting point for our Long Term ones.

They also motivate the person to plan for longer goals, which will usually take some time before achieving them in full.
Technique #2. Make sure you really want the goal.

By this, you have to ask yourself: “Do I really want this goal and will this goal give me a better life?”

Answering this ONE question will give you more passion and motivation to achieve your goal.

Some people often recall their past to find out Why and How they came up with such goal.
Technique #3. Speak up.

What I mean by this is you shouldn’t keep your goals to yourself only. By sharing your goals with other people it’ll help you get the support you may need in order to fulfill them.

The problem that usually occurs though is some people are just too shy to tell others about their goals for reasons like they are afraid they cannot achieve them in the end, or they lack the courage to speak their minds.

This is not a good habit to get into because when the time comes that you really need their support, you will have a difficult time getting it.

You’ll then be left to achieve your goals all by yourself.

Don’t make this mistake.
Technique #4. Write down your goals.

This strategy is critical and more advisable for those who have a long list of goals.

After writing them down in as much detail, it is advisable that you review them on a daily to weekly basis because this will encourage and motivate you to achieving them, plus, this will also keep that vision of your goal alive.
Technique #5. Stay on track and never give up.

Reviewing notes will help open your mind to see if you are on the right track. While on track, you may have to face challenges that might change your personality.

A person who is overconfident might suddenly feel depressed after finding out that he is going the wrong way in achieving his goal.

Thus this might lead to abandoning the goal.

Never be discouraged.

Facing obstacles is a test on how passionate one is to realizing his or her goals.
There you have it.

Give those a try and keep a visual picture in your mind everyday of you fulfilling that goal you desire so much.

Photographs are clearer when they are in focus. When they are out of focus, they are blurry, indistinct. How many times have you been disappointed by the result when the focus was off? Faces or objects are blurred, maybe even unrecognizable. Delete that memory for a poor quality picture that does not meet the ideal you had in mind when you took it. Scratch it up to experience. Maybe blame it on the camera or your friends that don’t know how to stand still..

The quality of the reality in your ideal health is also largely due to proper focus.

In the first place, the ideal must be clearly held in mind. The result you desire to out-picture or manifest in your life must first be clearly and distinctly created in your imagination. It must be ‘in focus’; that is, the components must be defined, clearly seen and envisioned.

In the second place, as you go about the ‘doing’ necessary to effectuate the picture, you must remain focused on your goal and not allow yourself to get distracted by life and what is going on around you.

Sounds simple really, but it always amazes me how easy it is to get unfocused. Ask someone to describe their ideal health and life and 90% of the time, you cannot get a clear description from them. It is blurry and indistinct. Generalities but no specifics. Or a description of the picture by what’s not in it.

“I want health, wealth and happiness”

“So what does health mean to you?”

“Well, you know, to not be sick.”

“So what does wealth mean to you?”

“Well, you know, to not be lacking.”

“So what does happiness mean to you?”

“To not be sad, dissatisfied.”

“I want peace.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, you know no more war.”

Not this, not that; defining the picture, the ideal by what is not in it, instead of what is in it. The trouble with focusing on ‘no more war’ is that you are still focusing on war. The trouble with focusing on not being unhealthy is that you are still focusing on unhealthiness,  not healthiness. The focus is on lack and limitation and not on abundance and potentiality.

As Mark Twain once said, “I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.”

All most people seem to know is what they do NOT want. Focus your attentions and intentions on those ideals that you want, desire, long for, lust after. Make that focus clear and distinct.

You get the picture you have focused on. “Prosperity is the abundance of all things held ideal in mind and dear in heart.” How clear and exact are your ideals? How much desire, longing, passion is attached to them? How focused is the image in your mind? How focused is your desire to have that ideal health  and life you pictured in your mind?

The complex thing about life is that it is wonderfully full of distractions. Here you are, focused on some purpose or goal and then this incredibly intrusive thing occurs.

Perhaps, you are 5 lbs away from you perfect beach body, totally focused on spending the whole summer on the beach. Then this great guy shows up, marries you and before you know it, you are at home practicing motherhood instead of laying on the beaches.

Or perhaps, you are busy going about the business of creating a business and some seemingly major obstacle presents itself, so you change your mind, change your plan, change your focus to the next great business idea and the next one after that.

Life is full of distractions making it easy to lose focus. Winners stay focused. Sometimes they are so focused that you cannot even get their attention.

Funny how that is.

How did Michael Jordan make so many baskets? Focus.

How did Oprah go from a TV Anchor to one of the richest women in the world? Focus.

How dis Steve Jobs create a global empire ? Focus.

Do you want to win the game of  healthier life? Get focused. Stay focused.

Habits, oh those nasty habits. Habits are developed from training, influences, observation, and practice. We develop many habits throughout our life, which some are good and others are bad. Good habits we can keep, but if one wants to improve their life the bad habits has to take a hike. Getting rid of bad habits however is not easy, especially if an addiction is involved. For this reason, we can take a few steps to learning how you can change your habits.

Making excuses:
People wander through life making excuses. Anytime a person sees something complicated, they will often make excuses why they cannot deal with the problem. “This is just the way I am.” This is a common problem in the world, which we’ve all heard billions of times. If you are out to improve your life however, you need to say, “This is something that hinders me from achievement and I have the power to change it.

The first key to success is stop making excuses. Learn how to tell the truth. The truth is the only answer that leads you to improve your personal life. Once you learn to tell the truth, you will need to commit self to learning new behaviors and habits.

You can commit by choosing a new habit. Today I plan to drink more water. Some of us detest water, yet water is our way of living healthier. Instead of detesting something that will save your life, start saying, today I will drink more water. Even if you start out drinking a glass for the first couple of days, you are making changes.

Today I am going to stop judging others and myself. This is a common mistake people make in the world. They spend time judging others and themselves. This gets them nowhere but in a world of chaos. You make your bed, you must learn to sleep in it, which is why you should change your ways. Judging is only for our Master in the sky.

Do you think negative? I can’t change this. My life is full of nonsense, I can’t swing it anymore. Why me? Who put a tag on my head, saying persecute me. If you spend your life thinking negative and saying negative connotations, try changing your ways today. For instance, say, I can change something and I am going to. Instead of saying life is full of nonsense, accept it as truth yet move ahead to make your life better. Why me is a common question, which no one knows why, yet we have to accept it, make better decisions and move ahead. If you feel persecuted, ask you what you are doing that makes you feel this way. Do you have friends or family members weighing you down? If so, then kick their butt down the road and make new friends. No one in life is worth you suffering ongoing. You have the power to make changes, yet you do not have the power to change other people.

When you start to make changes to improve your life, start small. Instead of jumping the gun, take baby steps to success. Too many times people try to change overnight. This only leads to frustration.

When you are working to change your life and habits make sure you seek support and feedback. You do not have to walk the road to success alone. Feedback is found at your library, the Internet, at colleges, and so on. You will find support along these channels as well. Ask someone you trust to support you and give you feedback when needed also.