How many times have you tried to achieve something and failed?

It is often easier to fall short of our goals than reach them. That's because they are set to make us fail and we easily fall into a mindset that helps us reach the unachievable.

Instead of working against your goals, set and old patterns, set SMART goals. Identifying the best ways to work is the only way you can achieve what you want and to reach your full potential.

When I set my goals, I don't look at huge numbers or something that might be possible to achieve.

Instead, I look at the details, action plans and how this can be accomplished. This way, I'm working smarter toward my achievements and identifying exactly what steps to take to get results.

If you want to know how to set goals, check out this video guide on how to start.

What Are SMART Goals?

To start building your goals, look at how you can take measurable steps. Leaders and coaches have identified SMART goals as a simple approach to help you find success. Here's what it stands for:

• Specific. Set goals that mean something and are specific. Use numbers as well as details of how you will achieve those results.
• Measurable. If you can't measure how you are going to achieve goals, then it is impossible to reach them. For instance, if you want to make money online, then the smart goals would identify how much and by when. Get numbers to follow through with the goals you want to reach.
• Achievable. What actions are you going to take to reach your goals? How will you do this each day or each year? Make sure that you know exactly how to achieve the numbers you have set in motion.
• Relevant. If you aren't thinking of goals you need to achieve today, then it's not relevant. Don't think about something you have achieved in the past or that you want to achieve in the future. It needs to be something you can start working on today.
• Time Bound. If you don't set a date, then it becomes easy to procrastinate and never achieve what you really want. Give yourself timelines for everything you want to achieve so it becomes attainable.

These guidelines for smart goals allow you to take action, build something you are interested in and to create everything you want in your life. It is a tangible and realistic way to crush it in every area of your life and to develop anything from more money to a better lifestyle.

How Motivation Adds In

Even when you have several achievable goals, motivation is the driving factor that determines whether you achieve these goals or not.

Setting measurable, tangible goals is only the beginning to getting the results that you want. Make sure you don't follow the goal setting mistakes mentioned in this article.

The most common issue that many have with goal setting is related to motivation. Have you ever been unable to achieve a goal that you set?

And as a result, you beat yourself up, believe you can't achieve what you want and you stop working on what you really want.

This pattern comes from a destructive mindset related to negative programming. When you fail, it becomes easy to quit. Your mindset will lead to a response that is negative, where you beat yourself up.

What happens when you continue to do this?

You won't ever achieve your goals. You program your mind and begin to believe that you can't do what you really want to.

This is the largest mistake you can make when you are trying to achieve SMART goals.

Instead, set smaller goals. Look at the areas that you can achieve easily. Look at what you can achieve in one day and make sure you do that.

As soon as you do, reward yourself. Give yourself credit for taking one step forward. Allow yourself to celebrate what is working with the smart goals you are looking at.

The more you do this, the easier it will be to achieve what you really want to. You will find that in no time, you are achieving the goals you really want to.

More than achievable and measurable goals, I believe that positive and celebratory results for reaching your goals are more important. It is what will help you achieve more and begin living positively.

Stepping Into Mastery

Smart goals are a way for you to commit to yourself as a master of your own life. When you begin to set goals and achieve them, you are also learning how to master what you really want.

Mastery is not “being” a master, but instead learning how to continue to progress and work toward better, achievable areas in all areas of your life.

In my Life Mastery Accelerator program, I talk about how you can achieve everything you want, from relationships to finances, health and your life purpose.

What if you started to set goals in every area of your life? Instead of one New Years Resolution that you may or may not reach, you can take a proactive approach to everything you want.

Mastery means committing to every area of your life, setting goals for them, and working towards your best life.

This is not only a part of maintaining SMART goals but a way to live the lifestyle that you deserve.

When you start working toward better health, the relationship you want, optimizing your finances and following your life purpose with daily goals, then you will find a different mindset starts to set in.

I've found that when I've worked on one area of my life, such as my purpose in life, it has allowed every other area to reach new levels of achievement.

By looking at this approach, you will find that fulfillment with abundance, peace and the life you really want to live was inside you all along.

What If You Face Difficulties?

Difficulty in life is always the unexpected turn that will stop you from achieving your goals. In this post, I speak more about how to deal with adversity and difficulty in your life.

When it comes to goal setting, make sure you work with difficulties to overcome adversity and use it for your ultimate mastery.

Each difficulty you face is a part of the process so you can get to the ultimate goals you want. It's important to recognize the lessons that you are going through and look at different ways to change the results.

If difficulties get in the way of your goals, then don't beat yourself up, change your mindset, or give up. Often, we use challenges as a way to fall back into old habits that are more destructive and we don't continue to meet the goals we want.

Instead, look at what the challenges have taught you and use this to identify new smart goals.

Maybe there is a new perspective you have related to your goals. There might be certain actions that you can take now that you wouldn't have thought of before.

Use your challenges and your difficulties to discover how to reset your goals and to make them better. Don't lose the SMART goals you have set. Instead, redefine them.

That means you have to find where you have difficulties, what didn't work and what you can do next to achieve the goals you originally set.

When you start to process your difficulties as learning, then you become even more masterful.

Your Next Focus for SMART Goals

With smart goals as your foundation and motivation by your side, you can easily begin to find ways to achieve the goals you would like.

Focusing on what is next and continuing to look forward will assist with taking action today and achieving even more tomorrow.

What's even better, when you look back, you will find how far you have come from each moment where you did achieve the goals you wanted to.

If you want to maximize how you get results, then keep track of difficulties you overcome as well as other far-reaching goals that you are closer to achieving.

By creating a system for SMART goals, you will easily be able to accel at anything you set your mind to.

If you want to succeed at anything in life, you need to know how to achieve your goals.

Goals give us a sense of direction and focus. Without them, we would be wandering aimlessly. If you don't have a clear understanding of where you want to go, then how do you expect to ever get there?

We all want to achieve something great in our lives, yet many of us don't know what it takes in order to reach our desired outcome. The trick is knowing how to move from wanting something to actually following through and making it happen. 

Setting goals is a good start, but it's not enough. If you don't have a plan in place for execution, you will fail.

When you look at the statistics for failure to achieve goals, the numbers are shocking. According to research by the University of Scranton, 92 percent of people that set New Year's goals never actually achieve them. Failure to achieve your goals can leave you feeling disappointed and depressed. The result? People give up.

If you want to be one of the 8% who succeeds, you need to know how to achieve your goals. Don't expect to say, “This is what I want” and have it magically come true. If you are serious about goal-setting, you need to understand that it is a process that takes time, commitment, hard work, and patience.

In the words of Brad Burden, “Winners must have two things; definite goals and a burning desire to achieve them.” Are you ready to learn what it takes to be a winner and achieve your goals? 

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

[smart_track_player url=”https://www.buzzsprout.com/9299/675693-plm-547-how-to-achieve-your-goals-50-goals-per-year.mp3″ background=”default” ]

Are you ready to succeed faster and master every area of your life? CLICK HERE to join my Life Mastery Accelerator program!

This page contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of them, I will receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). I only ever endorse products that I have personally used and benefitted from personally. Thank you for your support!

How will you achieve your goals?

Before you can even think about setting or achieving your goals, you need to understand the difference between results-oriented and process-oriented goals.

Results-oriented goals are focused towards a specific result. Ultimately, a result is what you are striving for. However, if you only concern yourself with the final outcome, you are making a big mistake. Don't forget about the process that it takes in order to achieve your goals.

Process-oriented goals are small milestones that remind you that you are going in the right direction. Think of process-based goals as habits. Once you have mastered habits, then you can turn your focus towards the results that those habits are supposed to create.

I am a firm believer that, if you want to achieve your goals, you need to focus on and enjoy the process. This is my goal-setting strategy for success. In the words of Eric Thomas, “Fall in love with the process and the results will come.”

Let's explore 10 tips that will help you achieve your goals. 

1. Make A Commitment

If you want to achieve your goals, you need to first make a commitment to yourself. Look at the current state of your life and ask yourself, “What is the consequence of NOT achieving my goals?”

If there is something that is holding you back, go inward and figure out what it is. If you are waiting for the perfect moment to commit to achieving your goals, you are going to be waiting a long time.

As William James once proclaimed, “To change one's life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions.” Are you ready to go all in?

2. Aim High, But Start Small

When it comes to setting goals, it's important to aim high. Big goals are awesome, in that they inspire us to take action. However, I see a lot of people that set big goals that are too grandiose. As a result, they never get achieved.

I'm a big believer that, when it comes to setting goals, you need to start small. Sometimes when we look at the big picture, our goals can feel unattainable, which is why we need to celebrate the small milestones that we make on a daily basis.

This idea is supported by Harvard researcher Teresa Amabile who points out that the single most powerful workplace motivator is small, daily progress which has the power to ignite joy and engagement in people.

I probably have over 50 plus goals. The reason why I never get overwhelmed with the number of goals that I have is that I don't focus on all of my goals at once. I hone in on 1-2 projects at a time, and then as I grow, I celebrate my wins and slowly start taking on more goals. 

3. Determine Your Level of Desire and Belief 

Whenever you set a goal, your intention is always to change something. In order to achieve your goals, you need to have a deep-seeded desire to change throughout the entire goal-setting process. 

When you set a goal, ask yourself, “On a scale from 1-10, what is my level of desire to achieve this goal?” If your desire is a 2, then obviously you won't have the momentum that you need in order to achieve your goals. You want your desire to be in the range of 7-10.

Here's the kicker. Desire isn't enough. You also need to possess an unwavering belief in your ability to achieve your goals, which is why you also need to ask yourself, “On a scale from 1-10, what is my level of belief that I can achieve this goal?”

If you have a desire to make $10 million dollars this year, but your belief is at a 1, you are setting yourself up for failure. This is where a lot of people get stuck. They set goals, but because their desire and/or belief is not in alignment with the goal that they want to achieve, they fail.

The result? They drop into avoidance mode and forget about their goals altogether.

When you find the sweet spot, where your desire and your belief are in full alignment with your goals, you are setting yourself up for success. This goal-setting formula is what has allowed me to achieve my goals and take my life to the next level. 

4. Drop Bad Habits 

Achieving your goals is not so much about mastering the art of goal-setting, as it is about dropping the bad habits that are holding you back from success.

Our brains are hard-wired to prefer routine over something new, so when we are trying to kick a bad habit there is always some resistance. The result is that it inhibits our ability to make progress. Bring yourself back to “here and now” and stop thinking too far into the future.

Take the focus away from the goal itself and how you are going to get there and learn to fall in love with the process of who you want to become.

In the words of Leo Tolstoy, “Remember then: there is only one time that is important — Now. It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power.”

5. Be Consistent

To be consistent means that you commit to taking action over the long-term. It means that you are willing to go all-in and fully dedicate yourself to achieving your goals. This is what a master does. They don't get distracted by shiny objects. Rather, they are hyper-focused. Nothing stands in their way of success. If they can't find a way, they make a way.

Consistency comes down to repetition. If you want to master your life, you need to commit to repeating the same habits and rituals over and over again. One of the best ways to trick your brain into helping you achieve your goals is by consistently engaging in the habit that you want to adopt.

By working towards your goal, every day, it will be easier for your brain to convert that behavior into a habit. This is why I am such a big fan of morning rituals, as they help you make progress towards your goals by conditioning your mindset for success every day.

6. Set SMART Goals

When you set goals you have to make sure that you are achieving 80-90% of them. This is a mistake that I see a lot of people make. They set goals that are so big that they end up being impossible to achieve.

You need to phrase your goals properly, and the way that you do that is by using the S.M.A.R.T. philosophy. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym that stands for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.

These types of goals will provide you with the structure and guidance that you need in order to ensure that you actually achieve what it is that you set out to do. I achieve all of the goals that I set for myself because I follow this strategy.

When it comes to reaching your goals, in her book, Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals, Heidi Halvorson says that “Difficult but possible is the key. That’s because more difficult goals cause you to, often unconsciously, increase your effort, focus, and commitment to the goal; persist longer; and make better use of the most effective strategies.” 

7. Find an Accountability Partner 

Achieving goals takes time, hard work, discipline, and commitment. When results don't come fast enough, a lot of people give up. Yes, it can be easy to lose your motivation in the process of achieving your goals, which is why you need to find an accountability partner. 

The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) did a study on accountability and found that you have a 65% of completing a goal if you commit to someone. Moreover, if you have a specific accountability appointment with a person you’ve committed, you will increase your chance of success by up to 95%!

When you are accountable to someone else, it gives you the momentum that you need to keep pushing forward. Find someone who will inspire you to stop talking about achieving your goals and that will actually challenge you to take action and crush them!

8. Write Your Goals Down

The act of setting goals is great, but they become real and tangible when you actually write your goals down. Doing so forces you to really think about what it is that you want. Visualize what life would be like if you achieved your goals.

What would it feel like to achieve the success that you desire? 

Setting a goal is one thing, but oftentimes life gets in the way and we don't hold ourselves accountable for following through. Can you relate? We've all been there.

Writing down your goals also forces you to take action, especially when you read them out loud to yourself every day. They provide a benchmark that allows you to check-in with your progress so that you know how much farther you need to go in order to achieve your desired outcome.

9. Celebrate Your Milestones 

Sometimes we can get so consumed with juggling our massive to-do lists that we forget to celebrate our accomplishments. Whenever you achieve a small milestone, don't forget to celebrate yourself! This will give you the motivation that you need in order to keep moving forward to keep leveling up and achieve your next big goal.

10. Don't Give Up!

The people who always succeed in achieving their goals are the ones who never give up. If you are expecting an easy, breezy ride on the road to success, keep dreaming. Anything of value requires hard work and persistence.

Your ability to overcome the challenges that you face along the way makes accomplishing your goals all that sweeter.

The fact that you have read this entire blog shows me that you are the type of person that is committed to doing whatever it takes to achieve your goals. Someone once said, “Giving up on your goal because of one setback is like slashing your other 3 tires because you got one flat.” Follow your dreams and don't ever give up.

If you want to live a life that you love, you need to achieve your goals.

The best place to start is by following the above 1o tips. Every successful person has one thing in common – they all set goals and work extremely hard to achieve them. 

If you want to be successful, you need to drop the excuses. Stop telling yourself that you don't have time to achieve your goals. It's time to make time for the things that are most important to you. 

Are you ready to crush your goals? There is no better time than today to start.

Are you ready to succeed faster and master every area of your life? CLICK HERE to join my Life Mastery Accelerator program!

Do you want to learn 3 reasons why you aren't crushing your goals? CLICK HERE to read the article I wrote on Medium!

Are you ready to learn 4 secrets to making New Years resolutions that stick? January is a great time to start thinking about all the amazing things that you want to accomplish in 2018, but the trick is finding ways to stick with your resolutions.

Unfortunately, many people break their resolutions because they don't have a well-designed plan for success, nor do they prepare for the challenges that come with changing bad habits.  Research has shown that about half of all adults make New Years resolutions. However, fewer than 10% manage to keep them for more than a few months.

The good news is that you don't have to fall into this trap because I am here to share with you 4 secrets to making New Years resolutions that stick, so that you can confidently crush your goals in 2018!

Are you ready to start living every day with confidence, passion, and energy? CLICK HERE to join my Morning Ritual Mastery course!

Bad habits can be hard to break. Most of us can relate to this, whether that means trying to lose weight, quit smoking, or ditching coffee. Samuel Johnson once said, “The chains of habit are too weak to be felt, until they are too strong to be broken.”

The question remains, “If we know that bad habits aren't good for us, then why do we struggle to let them go?” New research by Duke University scientists suggests that a habit leaves a lasting mark on specific circuits in the brain, priming us to feed our cravings.

Changing habits comes down to willpower, and we all have it! Just like a muscle, it needs to be conditioned. Let's explore 4 secrets to making New Years resolutions that stick:

1. Fully Commit

Have you ever wondered why some people keep with their New Years resolutions, while others fail? It all comes down to commitment. Merely saying that you are going to change isn't enough. You need to take action.

Once you commit, create a realistic plan and write down what it is that you are going to do. A great way to hold yourself accountable to your New Years resolutions is to create a commitment contract, which has been found to have measurable effects when it comes to achieving personal goals.

Moreover, if you want to double your chances of reaching your goals, add a monetary component. One study found that people who had a financial incentive to lose weight lost 14 pounds more than those didn't have such incentives.

2. Set SMART Goals

The reason why a lot of people don't follow through with their New Years resolutions is that they are too general and not specific. If one of your resolutions is, “to lose some weight,” you won't get far.

The first step to changing any behavior is understanding what it is that you want to change. The best way to be 100% clear on what your resolutions are is to set S.M.A.R.T. goals, meaning ones that are smart, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.

According to research by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, people who followed goals that were both specific and challenging led to higher performance 90% of the time. By setting S.M.A.R.T. resolutions, it will give you an endpoint to move towards, thereby setting you up for success.

3. Start Small

Let's face it…changing a bad habit can be hard work. Everyone has attempted to start a new habit and failed at least once. Why? Oftentimes, it's because their goals were too big.

Start small and focus on simple mini habits. For example, if you want to lose 10 pounds, commit to 30 minutes at the gym 2 times/week, and then slowly increase the amount over time. When you remove the pressure and expectations that come with changing old patterns of behavior, it gives you the motivation that you need to stick with it.

In the words of psychologist Lynn Bufka, “Remember, it is not the extent of the change that matters, but rather the act of recognizing that lifestyle change is important, and working toward it, one step at a time.” Don't ever forget that small wins eventually transform into big gains over time.

4. Find An Accountability Partner

It's a lot easier to follow through with your New Years resolutions when you have someone in your corner, cheering you on, especially when you feel like giving up. Breaking a promise to yourself is one thing, but it's far harder to let someone else down.

According to a study at the Dominican University of California, more than 70% of the participants who wrote down their goals and then sent weekly updates to a friend reported successful goal achievement. Of those participants who created a goal and kept it to themselves, only 35% were successful.

Stop procrastinating and share your goals with a friend, colleague, or loved one. Having an accountability partner is one of the best ways to stay consistent and motivated so that you continually make progress towards your goals.

These are 4 secrets to making New Years resolutions that stick. What're your New Years resolutions? If you haven't already, I encourage you to sit down and make a list of the lifestyle changes that you want to make this year. This is the beginning of anything you want. Don't be afraid to dream big.

Are you ready to start living every day with confidence, passion, and energy? CLICK HERE to join my Morning Ritual Mastery course!

Do THIS every 90 days, then watch your life and business change. I would like to share a powerful self-improvement ritual that will ensure that your business consistently grows every year.

I am a big believer that, at the beginning of every year, you need to set goals for yourself and check in to ensure that you are making progress.

The ritual that I am going to share with you involves more than just setting goals. It’s about taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture of your business and your life.

If you want to achieve success, you need to assess the direction of your business and your life, in order to ensure that you are gaining ‘altitude’, as Eben Pagan says.

Are you ready to learn about a game-changing ritual for your business and your life? Do THIS every 90 days, then watch your life and business change.

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

[smart_track_player url=”http://www.buzzsprout.com/9299/566899-plm-472-do-this-every-90-days-then-watch-your-life-and-business-change.mp3″ background=”default” ]

Do you want to learn the 7 online business models that have made me an Internet millionaire? CLICK HERE for instant access to my free course!

Every 90 days I schedule a meeting with my team, and I create a specific format for it. If it’s only you in the meeting, schedule it in the same way.

Here is the meeting format that I recommend you follow. Do THIS every 90 days, then watch your life and business change:

1. Review The Vision For Your Business

A clear vision gives a business and a team a sense of direction and inspiration. In my business, I make an effort to ensure that everyone on my team is in alignment with my vision, and that we discuss what that vision is on a regular basis.

Not only that, but if the vision changes in any way, we talk about the ways in which we will need to adapt our business processes in order to ensure that we are constantly growing and expanding.

Keep in mind that it’s important that you continually check in with people to ensure that they are still on board with your vision.

2. Review The Values For Your Business And Your Life

Values are critically important for your business. Not only that, but you want to make sure that there is alignment between the values that you adhere to in your life and the ones that you promote in your business.

What does your business stand for? If you have a team, you need to communicate to them which values are most important to you.

3. Give And Receive Feedback

Feedback is a great way to develop a sense of awareness about where we can improve, so that we are consistently making progress. A lot of people forget this step in their business because they don’t create a ritual to assess themselves and their team.

There are three people on my leadership team, including myself. These are people that I trust and whose opinions I value. Like any relationship, disagreements can come up within a team, and if they aren’t expressed openly it can cause resentment amongst team members.

Each person in the team shares what he or she feels they believe that they are good at, and what they can improve. I then reflect upon what I believe that I need to improve upon, and then I allow the other members of my team to do the same.

My job is to shut up, listen, and take notes. I want my team to be honest with me. The goal is to help each other grow and improve. This is a great trust-building team exercise.

4. Analyze Your Business

As a group, my team and I then brainstorm the areas where we feel that our business has done well. We celebrate and acknowledge our accomplishments over the last 90 days, and the areas where we think we can make improvements.

We also talk about any ideas or suggestions that the team or myself may have for moving forward into the next quarter.

5. Set Goals & Actions for Next 90 Days

Things change throughout the year, so you need to be flexible. In my team, we reassess the goals that we had during the previous quarter, and then for the next quarter we decide what we want to focus on.

I always try to make sure that my team and I have goals in multiple parts of our business, and that each individual has a goal that they are moving towards.

When everyone has a goal, it allows him or her to brainstorm creative ways that they can achieve it. I also make sure that there is always a reward for achieving a goal and make sure that the goal is S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely).

6. Inspire Personal Growth and Development

Every quarter I want to make sure that my team is learning and growing, whether that’s in the form of reading books, attending seminars, taking part in courses, etc.

These are things that I support my team with because I want to invest in them, like I invest in myself. By giving the people on my team the opportunity to develop new skills, that in turn supports the growth of my business as well.

My team then shares their ideas with the group, and then for the next quarter we determine how we are going to commit to learning. We make sure that everyone on my team has goals that they are moving towards.

I highly recommend this ritual. If you want to succeed in business, you need to work on it, not in it. Take it seriously and commit to mastery.

You need to be constantly checking-in, assessing, evaluating where you are at, and where you want to go. This is what the most successful companies in the world do.

Act as if you are bigger than you are. Do THIS every 90 days, then watch your life and business change.

Are you ready to take your life and your business to the next level? In the words of Frank Ocean, “Work hard in silence. Let your success be the noise.”

Do you want to learn the 7 online business models that have made me an Internet millionaire? CLICK HERE for instant access to my free course!

Health and fitness have always been a top priority in my life.  I believe that maintaining a healthy balanced life is essential for happiness and well-being. The best way to achieve balance is by mastering every area of your life.

That is why I wanted to invite Anand Jobanputra, a Strength and Fat Loss Coach, author, and Founder of Underdog Strength, a website dedicated to providing practical fitness, nutrition, and motivation tips, to write a guest post to talk about 5 ways that fitness can help you master all areas of life.

Take it away Anand!

I would like to share with you 5 ways that fitness can help you master all areas of life. You probably already know the importance and benefits of physical fitness for health and well-being. Given that we have become more sedentary over the years, taking care of our health has become more important than ever before.

An unhealthy body and a healthy mind simply do not go hand in hand.

Several research studies have shown that a sedentary lifestyle has been associated with mental health disorders. What most people fail to see is that the benefits of pursuing a fitness goal are beyond physical.

If the benefits of fitness are so far-reaching, then why is it that so many people today are unhealthy?

In my experience, one of the biggest reasons for this is that people don’t create short and long-term fitness goals. Simply going to the gym and working out, without any goals, is not a great motivator. On the other hand, if you set specific goals with regard to your fitness regime, you will be much more motivated to achieve them.

Watch the video below:

Take my example – I used to be morbidly obese growing up, weighing over 275 lbs. I used to work out here and there, but I never achieved any long-lasting results. When I decided to set a goal of losing 100 lbs in one year, that’s when I saw the real results. Not only did I achieve my goal, I actually exceeded it by losing over 125 lbs.

You can clearly see a physical transformation here, but what most people fail to see is the mental transformation that took place. I can say, without a doubt, that my mindset has completely changed by pursuing this goal.  It has taught me some valuable life lessons, which I have been able to apply to other areas of my life. You can learn more about my transformation here.

Below are 5 ways that fitness can help you master every area of your life:

1. Fitness teaches You How To Embrace Failure 

When pursuing your fitness goals, you will inevitably deal with failure along the way. Failure can be a great opportunity to learn and adjust.

For example, if your goal is to lose weight and to look a certain way, you will hit plateaus where you are not making progress. Maybe your weight has stalled. During these times, you can make adjustments to your diet and training in order to make further progress.

The same techniques can be used when you face failure and plateaus in life. When you view failure as an opportunity to grow is when you achieve mastery in all areas of your life. Michael Jordan said it best, “I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

2. Fitness inspires You To Set and Achieve Your Goals

Fitness has given me the confidence to set goals and achieve them. There are a lot of people who set goals, but fail to achieve them because they lack the confidence to achieve them. Almost anyone can achieve small fitness goals. These small victories can be a huge confidence booster and will give you the motivation to achieve even bigger goals.

The best goals are S.M.A.R.T. goals, which stand for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound goals.

For example, if your goal is to ‘lose some weight’ then you will most likely not achieve anything significant. My personal S.M.A.R.T. goal was to lose 100 lbs. in a year. This meant that I had to lose roughly 2 lbs. per week to get there.

Let’s break it down:

Specific: The goal of losing 100 lbs. is a specific number

Measurable: I weighed myself using a weight a scale. I would also keep track of body measurements to make sure I was making progress towards my goal.

Achievable: Losing 100 lbs seems like a scary goal for most people. But if you break it down to 2 lbs. per week, it doesn’t seem that intimidating does it?

Relevant: Your goals have to be relevant to you. If you want to lose weight, you should do it because you want to, not because someone tells you to. If your goals are intrinsic, you are more likely to achieve them.

Time-Bound:  Without a deadline, your goal is just a dream. A deadline not only creates a sense of urgency but it also gives you a date to look forward to.

Once you learn how to set S.M.A.R.T. goals and achieve them, you can easily apply the same goal setting process to other areas of your life.

3. Fitness Improves Your Work Ethic

Any goal that is worthwhile requires an insane amount of work ethic. Most people underestimate how much work it actually takes to achieve a significant goal.

With fitness, you may have the best coach, training program, and supplements to support you, but you have to put in the work. No one else can do it for you.

While it’s important to have long-term goals, you have to focus on the actual process that will get you there. The hard work that you put into your fitness goals will help you develop your work ethic for life.

4. Fitness Helps You Develop Good Habits

Habits are important because they lead to success in the long term. Motivation and willpower are limited resources, which run out pretty fast. Habit is what keeps you going when they run out.

In his book, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, author Charles Duhigg talks about how we program our minds and bodies with the actions that we take or do not take on a regular basis.

According to the book, exercising and tracking what you eat are two of the eight ‘Keystone Habits’. Keystone Habits are those habits that are more important than other habits. This is because these habits can cause a chain reaction of other good habits, which will ultimately lead to your success.

If you exercise regularly, you will find that you also eat better, drink less, go to bed early, and increase productivity. Improving one keystone habit can help improve multiple things at the same time.

When you are new to fitness, you need a lot of motivation to go to the gym and eat healthily. Over time, if you make it a habit, it gets so ingrained in you that it doesn’t take much motivation to workout at all. In fact, you may find that it takes you willpower, not to workout and eat healthily.

5. Fitness Teaches You To Have Patience

In this era of instant gratification, patience is more valuable than ever. Even when it comes to fitness, people look for shortcuts to reach their goals. If someone wants to lose weight, they try to look for secrets or the magic pill that will help them get their dream body. We all know that these things don’t work.

Once you’re no longer a beginner, progress slows down over time. This is where patience can help you win in the long term. Most people suffer from shiny object syndrome. If they don’t see results right away, they move on to the next thing and the cycle continues.

With any fitness goal, you learn to trust the process and know that the results will come if you put in the work, one rep at a time. In the words of George Savile, “The man who is a master of patience is a master of everything else.”

These are 5 ways that fitness can help you master your life. If you want to take your life to the next level but don’t know how fitness is a great place to start!

When you pursue and achieve your fitness goals, your success will carry over into all areas of your life.

Anand is a Strength & Fat Loss Coach, Powerlifter and Author. After going through a major physical transformation, he has dedicated his life to helping many others achieve the same. He’s the Founder of Underdog Strength, a website dedicated to providing practical fitness, nutrition, and motivation tips.

You can connect with him via:

• Blog
• YouTube
• Instagram
• Facebook

I would like to share with you 3 steps for breaking bad habits. Everyone has bad habits that are hard to kick, whether that's smoking, eating fast food, or consuming alcohol. Bad habits are a sure way to slow you down and decrease your productivity. When you allow a bad habit to take over your life, you inhibit your opportunities for success.

In his popular book, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, Charles Duhigg cites a study from Duke University that shows that 40-45% of our daily actions are actually habits. Your daily actions make you who you are and determine how you choose to move throughout your life. What do your habits say about you?

One study found that people who exercise a high degree of self-control tend to be much happier than those who don’t, both in the moment and in the long run (Bradberry, 2017). If you want to be successful in life, you need to break bad habits. Doing so requires a large amount of willpower and self-control, but it all starts with developing a mastery mindset.

Are you ready to learn how to create new habits that will help you master your day? CLICK HERE to purchase my Morning Ritual Mastery Course!

Here are 3 steps for breaking bad habits:

1. Commit to Change

If you want to break any bad habit, you need to first commit to making a change. By nature, we are creatures of habit. Change makes us feel uncomfortable. Leo Babauta, author of the blog, Zen Habits, is a fan of tackling one habit change at a time. Be kind to yourself. It takes a lot of energy and willpower to unlearn a behaviour.

The more that you engage in a bad habit – like smoking, gossiping, or surfing the web – the harder it is to change that habit. When you decide which bad habits you want to change, make sure that your goals for doing so are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bounded).

2. Discover The Cause

Once you have committed to changing your bad habits, you need to discover what it is that causes you to take part in them in the first place. Have you ever made a decision to break a bad habit and then you fail? The resulting emotion is often guilt, which is a horrible feeling. Next time this happens, ask yourself, “What rewards am I receiving from engaging in these bad habits?”

This will require you to dig deep, go inward, and do some soul-searching. Change will not be possible until you do so. Once you know what cue triggers your bad habits, and what reward you are receiving from them, you then need to build new habits, in order to replace the bad ones.

3. Create A Ritual

The best way to break a bad habit is to replace it with a good one, which is where the power of a morning ritual comes into play. The most successful people in the world have morning rituals. The mornings set the tone for how the rest of your day will unfold. When I do my morning ritual, I feel unstoppable.

Imagine how great it would feel if you could be more productive, have more energy, and be happier on a daily basis. When you take the time to honour yourself every morning, your entire day will transform. If you are consistent with your morning ritual, you will eventually break your bad habits.

John C. Maxwell said it best – “You will never change your life until you change something that you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” Are you ready to change your bad habits, and replace them with healthy, empowering ones? There is no better time than today to get started!

Are you ready to learn how to create new habits that will help you master your day? CLICK HERE to purchase my Morning Ritual Mastery Course!

I would like to share with you my financial freedom goal setting breakdown. Everybody aspires to achieve financial freedom, but why do so few people get there? Simple. They don't commit to setting goals. If you want to succeed at anything in life, you must have written goals and a strategy in place in order to achieve them.

Dr. Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at the Dominican University in California, recently studied the art and science of goal setting. She gathered data from 267 men and women from all over the world. Her results showed that those who wrote down their goals on a regular basis, became 42% more likely to achieve them (Morrissey, 2016). The numbers don't lie.

Having a goal is not enough. This is where people get into trouble. Goal setting is an action-based process. Because financial freedom is a long-term commitment, you need to set SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound) goals so that you don't lose momentum along the way. In the words of Zig Ziglar, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

[smart_track_player url=”http://www.buzzsprout.com/9299/508611-plm-430-financial-freedom-goal-setting-breakdown-having-your-income-cover-your-expenses.mp3″ background=”default” ]

Do you want to learn how to set SMART goals that will motivate you to take action in your life? CLICK HERE to join my Life Mastery Accelerator program!

I categorize my goals into six different areas (health & fitness, financial, business, mind/emotion/spiritual, contribution, fun/social/relationships) to ensure that I am making progress. I also always make sure that my goals are aligned with my ultimate life plan and vision. There’s no limit to how many goals you can set for yourself, but I recommend setting a number that you can realistically handle.

Don't get me wrong. Big goals are great, but smaller goals can be a part of larger ones. By chunking down a large goal into smaller goals, the challenge becomes more attainable and is easier to focus on (Chadnick, 2015). Think about a time when you accomplished a small goal, and how good it made you feel. Carole Hayward said it best, “Never underestimate the giddy feeling of empowerment from reaching a goal, even a little one.”

At different times in your life, you may put more focus on certain goals, but you still have to maintain and sustain them over time. This is where the power of a morning ritual comes into play. Consistency, motivation, and self-discipline are key requirements for achieving any goal. Morning rituals help you build habits, that in turn, shape your thoughts and beliefs. They help to keep you focused and on track in the progress and achievement of your goals. In the words of Og Mandino, “The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting and achieving goals.”

When you set goals, you need to achieve them, no matter what. Too many people think that they ‘should' achieve their goals, which is why they come up short and fail. You have to make your goals a ‘must'. With every goal that I set, I know that I am going to achieve them. Why? Because I believe in myself.

When you set a goal, you need to ask yourself, “On a scale from 1-10, what is my level of desire for this goal, AND, how strong is my belief that I can achieve it?” If it’s only a 2, drop it. You want your level of desire and belief to be between 7 and 10. That is the sweet spot. When I first started out, I knew that my income had to exceed my expenses, so I thought to myself, “How I can I make a passive income source that will allow me to cover my monthly expenses?”  

I figured out that I could be an affiliate for a product that I use and trust, and then write a blog post review on it, or publish a video promoting the product on my YouTube channel. Slowly but surely, I was able to pay off each of my monthly expenses, solely by being an affiliate. I have been able to create financial freedom in my life by mastering the art of working smart.

My financial freedom goal setting breakdown has made me an Internet millionaire, and it can do the same for you. With hard work, motivation, and consistent action, anything is possible. Setting goals is essential, but unless you take action, it will never be a goal. What are you waiting for? Take action now! Achieve your goals and financial freedom is yours for the taking.

Do you want to learn how to set SMART goals that will motivate you to take action in your life? CLICK HERE to join my Life Mastery Accelerator program!