A good friend of mine Curt shares his perspective on fear and what he did to overcome it.

Do you remember when you were a little kid, riding your bike all over town? I sure do.

I remember when my bicycle was my key to freedom. I used it to escape the constant hostage of Saturday chores. In fact, sometimes I finished my homework before the sun went down I would sometimes just ride around until I couldn’t see the street anymore because of how dark it was.I’m not sure if it was a consequence or if it was in spite of it, but I was bitten by the bicycling bug. There was a time in my life just a mere 10 years ago, that I wondered if I could make a living just riding my bike.

The funny thing is, that it was only about that time when I was in my 20′s that I realized how to break the psychological trap that we’ve all experienced which is where the bike pull this off the curb even though were fighting with all of our might to stay up.

Perhaps I’m not explaining it very well, imagine writing down the sidewalk on your bicycle and inching closer and closer to the drop-off of the curb. You’re riding parallel to that 3 inch drop off and inching closer and closer to it. About the time your tire crosses the line that positions you within 4 inches or so to the edge, the curb becomes very magnetic––dare I say as if it was a black hole sucking you off and into the asphalt. You remember how funny you looked as you fought to keep your bike upright. But invariably, you end up either crashing, almost crashing, or just looking silly but no matter what you came off of the curb.

It wasn’t your fault.

In fact, even when I was beginning racing mountain bikes through the deserts of Arizona I was plagued with this terrible psychological pummeling when I tried to right along the curb.

Would you like to learn the secret?

I’ll share with you, but you have to promise that you won’t laugh when you hear how simple it is.
It’s sometimes simplicity that makes us shrug off some of the most valuable pieces of information we’re ever given.
So: with that understanding I now share with you how to ride a bike along the curb without falling off.
Look where you want to go. Do not become distracted by staring at where you do not want to go.

See, I told you it was simple.

Go try it, get on your bike fix your vision exactly on the path you want to ride along. And you will be astonished. It’s that simple.

So what’s the meaning of me telling you this? It’s the irony that this is exactly how we as business owners are. If we stare full of fear at all of the terrible things that could happen to us, and allow our minds to be filled in clouded with all those fears and worries we will find that our focus is exactly where we don’t want it to be. That misguided focus will act as a tractor beam pulling us into exactly what it is we are trying to stay away from.

Do you believe that?

Do you spend your time focusing on what you want your business to become, who you want to become, or moving towards the goals you’ve set for yourself? Or do you just have some abstract idea of what you’re trying to stay away from and spend your entire day trying to keep that from happening?

Kind of interesting isn’t it? I can’t say I’m perfect, but I’ve learned to ride along the curb with about 90% success

Did this resonate with you? Share your comments below, what are the things that you are avoiding and what are the things you’re focused on?

About the author Curt Kempton owner of Five Star Window Care and creator of the Responsibid a revolutionary way to bid window cleaning jobs over the internet.

The gun fires suddenly and now you’re off and running fast, amazingly it’s the perfect start! You come around the first turn and you have a three person lead. “This is it”

you think to yourself, all the training is finally going to pay off…. If you can just keep this momentum going and the race is yours to win. The excitement is overwhelming, you’re on a high…

Then suddenly something unexpected happens, wait a minute – what’s going on? You start to hear the footsteps slowing down behind you. The crowd’s cheers slowly turn to whispers and you don’t understand. You look ahead and realize that the unthinkable has happened. Somewhere, somehow, someone forgot to put up the finish line. How can this be? Now what?

Who can keep up this momentum with no goal in sight? You already know the people behind you are quitting. It’s just a matter of time before you quit as well right? RIGHT!

Remember this story the next time you set a goal for yourself or your business without a finish line. You and your team will most likely lose your momentum after a while. Its easy coming out of the gate with enthusiasm and excitement the hard part is maintaining it. Usually what keeps us going is the vision of accomplishing our goals.

By Definition:  Goal setting is the process of deciding what you want to accomplish and devising a plan to achieve the result you desire.

This goal setting definition emphasizes that goal setting is a two part process. For effective goal setting, you need to do more than just decide what you want to do; you also have to work at accomplishing whatever goal you have set for yourself with the end result in mind.

For many people, it’s the second part of the goal setting definition that’s problematic. They know what they want to do but have trouble creating a plan to get there. Goals without action plans are just words. If you are not setting goals with clear action plans for yourself and your company now I suggest you start today.

After you have defined your goals and decided on a plan to get there, remember to always walk in the direction of your goals. You can’t get to California if you’re facing towards New York and going in that direction. Every now and then review your goal list and action plan. When it comes time to making an important decision ask yourself, will this take me closer to my goal or further away?

From a study done at Yale University in 1953 in which the graduating class were asked if they had clear, written goals. 3% of the students said they had written goals, 13% had goals they had not written down and 84% had no clear goals.

At the class reunion 20 years later, further investigation is said to have discovered that the 3% with written goals were worth more than the other 97% put together!

Yah! I think I’m setting some goals.

The biggest obstacle to overcome are the ones we never challenge ourselves to do. Life can become stagnant if we do not push ourselves to try new things. Setting goals and working toward them is the achievement, even if the outcome is not exactly what you expected.

To set a goal, first, you need to figure out what will make you happy. Being happy is the benefit of working hard toward a goal. Next, you need to write it down & let others know.

Having support from others will keep you accountable on your journey and make the success of achievement even greater. Writing down your goals and reading them often will also keep you on track. Last, work hard! Everyone has days where we fall behind or lose focus. These set backs are necessary to the process. Achievements are not easy, if they were, we would lose the greatest feeling of earning the goal.

Start today, write down your goals. You can start with daily goals and work on bigger goals like 10 year & lifetime goals. Stress Release Reminders custom journal is a wonderful tool for daily goals. The easy insert style of daily goals, daily affirmations, & a few highlights of the day can help you focus on the path of success. Also, visit Stress Release Reminders Facebook wall page under discussions. You can add your goal to the discussion board. This will keep you accountable, along your journey, & allow you to help others succeed.

Goal Facts:

1. Specific, realistic goals work best
2. It takes time for a change to become an established habit
3. Repeating a goal makes it stick
4. Pleasing other people doesn’t work
5. Roadblocks don’t mean failure

A special thanks to Kelly Evers  from Stress Release Reminders for sharing this blog post.

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Purpose- The object toward which one strives or for which something exists.

I hope you enjoy this week’s blog post on “What do you want to be remembered for?”  I cannot take credit for this post; I contacted the author directly and asked if I could re-post this great message…. Thank you Kelly for your great insight

Have you ever asked yourself; how do I want to be remembered? What do I want to be remembered for? What can I do daily, weekly, yearly to achieve my ultimate goal?

Goal setting and working toward your ultimate desire is easy to forget. Stress can cloud our decisions and make us live a life with no purpose. It is important to take time out, many times a day to focus on your goals.

 Stress Release Reminders last step in the calming technique is to finish with the thought of your goal. This keeps you grounded to what you want out of life and reminds you to let go of the insignificant stress of every day living.  This is why the Stress Release Reminders technique is so effective.

It can be difficult deciding what you want out of life. Many people automatically think of monetary achievements.  Which can be very nice and make life simpler, but can money buy happiness? This is a great question to ask yourself. What would you do if you had extra cash laying around? How would you spend it? Would it make you happy?

Have you ever asked yourself; How do I want to be remembered? What do I want to be remembered for? What can I do daily, weekly, yearly to achieve my ultimate goal?

Goal setting and working toward your ultimate desire is easy to forget. Stress can cloud our decisions and make us live a life with no purpose. It is important to take time out, many times a day to focus on your goals.  Stress Release Reminders last step in the calming technique is to finish with the thought of your goal. This keeps you grounded to what you want out of life and reminds you to let go of the insignificant stress of everyday living.  This is why the Stress Release Reminders technique is so effective.

It can be difficult deciding what you want out of life. Many people automatically think of monetary achievements.  Which can be very nice and make life simpler, but can money buy happiness? This is a great question to ask yourself. What would you do if you had extra cash lying around? How would you spend it? Would it make you happy?

The simplest way for me to explain your ultimate goal is to look at the story Peter Pan. Peter wanted desperately to be able to fly. In order for him to do so, he had to think of his happiest thought. He tried many times and had no luck with the shallow superficial answers. Once he dug deep, he was able to fly. What would make you fly? This is your goal. Now, living to keep this thought in your daily living, is what will keep you satisfied, and on track.

Contact information about the author;

Kelly Evers

Kelly@stressreleasereminders.com

www.StressReleaseReminders.com

So how can we counter act some of this negative stuff that seems to randomly rain on us in our daily life?

Well, you’d be surprised… just the other day I was talking to my friend Monica who called to thank me for the sticky note I sent her in the mail. I just included it over a letter and wrote “Have a Super, Terrific Day” on it. It took me all of ten extra seconds and I did it without thinking about the long lasting effect it could have on her. That day she took my post it note and decided to put it on the edge of her computer monitor. At that moment she realized she’d been posting her “To Do” list on her monitor and she realized that constantly looking at everything she needed to do was stressing her out. So my post it note inspired her to replace all of the To Do notes with positive thoughts, quotes and sweet notes from her kids. Big difference in her daily life she says… I wonder what it could do for yours!

This reminded me of how simple it really is to just release the negative and focus on the good in our lives. Something so simple as posting positive post it notes where we can see them on a regular basis can help remind us to stay positive and keep walking in the direction of our goals. Sometimes people just lose sight of their dreams and that’s why they never actually realize them. I’m humbly reminded that it’s not what happens to us in life but rather how we choose to react to it. Sometimes just a smiley face on the rear view mirror is enough to keep us smiling instead of getting upset and cursing at the unappreciative driver. Sometimes the “You Can Do It” note on the wall can give us the extra push we need to finish that project and give it our all!

In our day to day we forget that people feel our attitude and then react to us. Smiles and positive thoughts really are contagious. Sometimes I come across people that I just want to do business with because every time I see them there’s a smile on their face and they just make me feel good with their presence.

So do me a favor… or better yet do YOUR SELF a favor, where ever you have stress in your life, simply place a sticky note to remind you to relax, focus on the good going on in your life and remember you have a choice to act from a positive perspective instead of reacting negatively to a challenging situation. Maybe for you it’s a smiley face in the rearview mirror. Maybe a positive post it note in the corner of your computer monitor. Maybe it’s a reminder on your calendar to just smile and be happy. Here is a great one for putting next to the phone – Put something funny on a piece of paper, for example maybe you can write: Hey I know you’re stressed but if it will make you feel better, you can wrinkle me up and throw me at the wall!

 See it works, I bet you’re smiling already.

Stick to these tips, they work! – No pun intended.

Charly Caldwell talk about setting, and reaching goals!

Lee talked about the power of SMART goal setting, which is a great personal & business tip to help you achieve so much more in life!

A SMART goal is one that is:

• Specific,
• Measurable,
• Attainable,
• Realistic, and
• Timely

For example, a goal you’re hoping to achieve could be:

“I’m going to double my sales next quarter!”

The very same goal, in SMART form, would look like this:

“In the next 90 days, I’m going to increase my sales by $30,000k, in order to do that, I’m going to work to increase my weekly sales to $2500 by the 4th week, and then continue to raise that 10% every week thereafter.”

If you’re very serious about setting, and reaching your goals, here are the three sites Charly introduced the group to in our meeting:

1. www.MySomeDay.com – This site not only helps you create your goals; and plan them — but it makes you incredibly accountable for them within it’s community!
2. www.BaseCampHQ.com - This site is one of our favorites – it’s easy to use, has great to do lists, milestones and writeboard (with revision control) for building out your goals!
3. www.MindOMO.com – This site helps you map out & brainstorm!  Very powerful.

Remember, a magical thing happens when you write down, and look at your goals on a daily basis…

You ACHIEVE them!

- Jason