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Goal Setting – 7 Tips to Ensure Success!

Posted by Mike Schurko on September 13th, 2010

Hey there! So it’s Monday. I love mondays, because they signify the start of a new week. Mondays can be an amazing time to start things, like; A new workout plan, a new financial goal, or new ideology to complement your lifestyle. I have set many goals over the past decade, some that I’ve clearly completed, some that I’ve utterly failed, and ones that I’m not even sure about. I’ve read that there is an extremely large percentage of the population, who have never even sat down, and wrote out their goals on paper. Within the last 2 years, I’ve realized that I used to write out my goals in a way that set me up for failure or at least unsatisfactory completion. There are several ways to specifically write out your goals to ensure that you are successful. Here are a few;

1. Set A Specific Date:

Goals are just dreams with timelines right? : ) So give yourself a date to complete your goals by so that there is a sense of urgency to complete them. It also allows you a checkpoint to see if your set goals are actually important to you or not. At that point, you can re-evaluate, revamp and continue setting newer and bigger goals, to create a journey in life that is fun, exciting and continuously self improving!

2. One Goal Per Goal:

One thing I frequently found myself doing when writing out goals, was writing multiple goals in one. So for example;

- My goal is to read 4 books this month and to buy one book too.

This goal is relatively clear about my intentions, but when the goal deadline arrives, and you only read 2 books that month, but bought 5 books…you kind of achieved the goal and kind of didn’t. To make it even more clear for yourself, write one decisive goal per goal. There’s no limit to your goals, so write them separately;

- My goal is to read 4 books this month

- My goal is to buy a new book this month

It feels better to be able to cross 2 goals off the list as successfully completed, instead of just crossing off a goal because it didn’t really work out exactly so.

3. Phrase The Goal To Be Yes Or No:

When you write out your goals, be decisive with one goal per goal, but also, be careful of how you word it. Ensure that all of your goals are written so that when the deadline comes, you can answer it yes or no. Be precise with what you want. If you wrote down, “I want to get healthier” as a goal, can you answer that yes or no when the end date has been reached? Not really. Instead, write something like, “I want to be able to run 10k in 40 minutes by Sept 20th”, or “I want to weigh 180 lbs by Oct 1st”. These are goals that, when the end date arrives, can be answered yes or no. It increases your focus and clarity when you have an actual, tangible or logically imaginable goal. Clarity is huge in everything you do, click here to read a recent post I wrote on the power of clarity. (Ignore the new website info at the bottom of the post…this is the new website )

4. Write In The Positive Tense:

It’s always a good practice in life to stay positive, about everything you do. I’m not suggesting that negative events don’t happen, but you can usually find something good and positive to take out of any situation. The same goes for your goals. When you write your goals down, try to write them in the positive tense and use, the terms that you want to see, not what you don’t want to see. For example, a negative tense goal could look like this;

- I want to be debt free in a year…or

- I want to lose 15 lbs in 2 months…or

- I don’t want to read less than 2 books this month

When you include the terms that don’t necessarily encompass the meaning or result of what you truly want, you may not be sending clear signals about what you really want, so try to avoid using them in your goal writing. Instead of using the words; debt, lose or don’t want, just reword them slightly;

- I want to have $10,000 in savings by Jan. 1st 2011

- I want to weigh a healthy 180 lbs by Oct 3rd 2010

- I want to read 2 books by Oct. 1st

These 3 goals mean very similar things when compared to their negative version, but just by stating the positive terms which you actually want more of, you’re putting your focus on these words and meanings. This will actually attract more of those same positive feelings and terms you’re aiming towards, back into your life, which will in turn, assist you in completing your goals.

5. Set Varied Levels To Each Goal:

In order to easily achieve every goal you set, as well as push yourself beyond what you even thought you were capable of, try setting different levels of completion for each goal. I like to set 3 levels which I call, minimum, goal, and extreme. For example:

My goal is increasing my income so I would write;

Minimum – I want to earn $3000 in the month of September 2010 (this should be an easily attainable level for what you are used to achieving, regardless of the amount, the minimum should be relatively easy for you to attain)

Goal – I want to earn $5000 in the month of September 2010 (this should be a bigger challenge, one that you believe you could reach, would be very impressed if you reached it, and believe you can strive towards it)

Extreme – I want to earn $10,000 in the month of September 2010 (this should be a dream level goal, something that if you achieved it, you would be absolutely astonished and blown away by your awesomeness!)

That way, you’re still feeling the gratification of successfully completing a goal, and you’re still challenging yourself to push harder and achieve more than you ever thought possible. This works for any type of goals too, be creative!

6. Share Your Goals With Your Peers:

One way to increase the odds of successfully completing the goals you set, is to tell your friends and family your goals. Hold yourself accountable to these peers, update them on your progress, ask for guidance if you’re struggling, and then celebrate your successes with them once they’re completed! This alone can make a huge difference in goal completion, as for some strange reason, it can be easier to be dishonest with yourself, than with others. Also, if your friend or family is working on a goal, offer yourself to be an accountability partner! I’m sure they’d appreciate the support on their journey of self improvement!

7. Set Rewards

Based on the size of your goals, there should be a relative sized reward waiting for you at the finish line! There is no better way to reinforce positive and timely action in completing your goals, than a nice juicy prize for completion. Now I know its easy to get carried away with this so have some fun, don’t overdo it. Just let yourself relish in the successful completion of a goal you set. For example;

- You reached your goal weight – $100 to buy a new snazzy outfit.

- You earned your financial “extreme” level goal – book a trip for you and your best friend to Las Vegas.

- You completed that huge personal project that you chose to do in your spare time – Go out for a nice dinner at your favourite restaurant, and a go to a movie.

All of these tips can help you to achieve your goals, but the most important process behind your goal setting (besides the necessity of action), from which everything in todays world started from, a dream. Dream big dreams, set big goals! If you want to be someone, have something, go somewhere or do something that you would never think possible for you in this lifetime….even better : ) !! Please let me know what your goals and dreams are. If you need an accountability partner, let me know too! Thanks for letting me share my passion with you! I wish you the best of luck with all your goals, and in your amazing journeys towards them!

p.s. – My newest goal is to eliminate all known sources of un-natural sugars from my diet for 2 weeks to see how I feel. That means no sugar in my coffee, no pop or slurpees, ice cream, chocolate bars, you name it. I have been researching lots into the affects of sugar on our bodies, which I will be sharing with you soon.

Posted in Fitness, Health, Lifestyle, Wealth

Tags: achieving goals, best, dreams, fulfilling, goal setting, goals, goals and objectives, grow, happiness, health, improve, life, love, money, Passion, personal goals, reality, rich, self, simple, wealth

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Life after holidays! 4 steps for back to normal.

Posted by Mike Schurko on September 8th, 2010

Well, after nearly 2 weeks of visiting family and friends in Saskatchewan, I’m sad to say goodbye until we meet again, but I am very excited to get back into my “normal” lifestyle. I admit that I did indulge in many things during my holidays such as; large caloric meals, tasty sugary deserts (those darn cupcakes), adult beverages, and didn’t exercise nearly as much as I normally would.

Pike Lake Adventures

Darlene's Evil Cupcakes! : )

But, the “regulated” lifestyle that I promote definitely includes a time to relax, enjoy your friends and family and celebrate your time together because hey, life’s short…it’s always important to strive towards optimum health, but there’s always a time when we can all allow for a little “backslide”, that’s okay…BUT…the key after enjoying these times, is the ability to jump back on the horse once you’ve been off of it. Here are 4 things that I am focusing on, to help me get back into my regular, positive habits that I’ve swayed from while on holiday;

Regain a sleep schedule:

I definitely found myself staying up later, and sleeping in longer during my holidays, which is perfectly fine for time off, but I for one feel more productive when I get up with the sun or even before it, in order to get a jump start on the day. I’m striving for a full 7-8 hours of sleep, getting my exercise out of the way early, and preparing for my day.

Get back into an exercise routine:

For the first week or two back, I will be exercising for at least 30-60 minutes per day, just to help get rid of the extra pounds I acquired over the holidays, and also to get my energy and fitness levels back to where I am used to them being.

Get diet back to normal:

On holidays, I found myself consuming higher levels of sugar and empty carbs, along with less fresh fruits and vegetables. I am immediately going back to my regular diet of lots of fruits and veggies and other foods low in fat and high in protein. I’m not even going to consider “going out” for food for at least a week or two just to get my body back into the rhythm of healthy eating…and definitely not a sniff of alcohol for at least 1 or 2 weeks. Any diet, good or bad can become habit, so I’m trying to break any unhealthy habits i adopted, and re-inforce my healthy ones.

Relax, and reward yourself:

For me, cold turkey has always worked best for quitting bad habits and nourishing good ones. However, we are all human, and self-discipline can be very empowering, but without rewarding ourselves from time to time, it can be hard to feel a sense of accomplishment or pride or to even find a reason to continue depriving yourself from regular unhealthy indulgences. Yes, the outward fruits of your labour will show eventually, but again…life is to be enjoyed! Just remember to show yourself love, by rewarding yourself to a “treat” once in a while, and you’ll feel how easy it can be to maintain your positive growth and nurture positive habits.

So back in the saddle, I hope everyone had a great long weekend, an enjoyable first day back yesterday, and is ready to grow themselves and start enjoying your lives as much and more than you’ve ever thought possible! I ask you to please share with me…how do you “get back in the saddle” after a vacation?!

Thanks for letting me share my passion with you!

Posted in Fitness, Health, Lifestyle

Tags: best, body, diet, dreams, easy, fulfilling, goals, grow, happiness, health, improve, life, love, Passion, reality, self, simple, wealth

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In everything you think and do, where do you come from?

Posted by Mike Schurko on August 18th, 2010

Now you may look at this question and think to yourself, what the heck is Mikey talking about now..where do I come from when I think and do??? Please allow me to explain : )

In every thought, reaction or action you carry out on a day to day basis, you come from a certain place in your mind when doing so. This place is within you, it can be HUGELY affected by who and what’s around you, and it is the basis of how and why you act, react and think the way you do. For example, if you’re conditioned to come from a “lack” perspective, then you might say something like, “we can’t afford that new food processor, we don’t have any room for it, and what the heck good is it to us anyway?” Whereas if you come from a perspective of “prosperity” you may say, “a food processor sounds awesome, we can easily afford that, there’s tons of places for it to go and we can use it to eat healthier at home.”

The point I’m trying to get across is that no matter what the situation you’re thinking, acting or reacting too, if you come from lack, you’ll see what you don’t like, what you don’t want, what you think you can’t do or have, or why this won’t work. When you come from a prosperity mind set, you start to see the positives and the potentials in any given situation which will always lead to better outcomes.

This even effects the “self-talk” that goes on inside your head. We all have it, there’s a little voice inside our heads that guides our thoughts, decisions, and actions. The only negative aspect about self-talk, is that this voice can suggest ideas, while coming from lack, and you don’t chose to do anything to correct it. No matter what your conditioning is, or where it came from, you can affect future outcomes right now, by basing your thoughts, actions and reactions through a new lens called prosperity.

Think of it like two pairs of sunglasses. When you put on one pair…the dark pair (lack), all you see is the dark scary path that you think lies ahead of you, so therefore you slowly stagger ahead thinking that the worst-case-senerio could be hiding in the darkness, which inevitably will stop you from taking action towards your goals and dreams because you just can’t possibly see how it could work out for you….

…OR…

You can put on the clear glasses (prosperity), where you can see things a lot better, the path ahead of you doesn’t look so scary because you know…you can see, that the only things that could potentially stop you aren’t real and are only in your mind. So with these glasses on you can confidently stride ahead on your life path knowing that even if you take action down a path that may have not led you exactly where you want to end up…you can see that you’ve still moved forward, and that you can easily find you’re way to another path that leads you even closer towards where you want to be.

Here’s another example:

When you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see someone who’s not in the best shape physically, has a bad hair cut with out of date clothes on who slouches and could never be healthy, rich, or prosperous. NO!!…take off those damn lack glasses! Find the features that you love…you’re engaging eyes, you beautiful smile! Then realize that the person who is looking right back at you in that mirror; is full of potential and growth, can easily achieve ANY goals that they set out to, and are worthy of receiving absolutely everything they could ever dream of…AND MORE, and you can start to see that today!!

The incredible thing, is that there are no tools needed, no assembly required so to speak, to change how you see things right now. All it takes is awareness to understand what lens you have on right now, and a simple change in perception. Even if you don’t think you know where to find those prosperity shades…just keep looking…they’re right beside you, and when you finally get them back on and you see the world through prosperous eyes, you will again realize how beautiful, plentiful and full of potential that life really is!

Thank you so much for letting me share my passion with you! I appreciate all of you, your feedback, and the time you take to read my little snippits of light and love. I know that you know, you have something special inside of you, and you deserve the best always! Just take one small step towards self improvement per day, and start living your dream life sooner than you ever thought possible!

Mike

Posted in Lifestyle

Tags: best, build self esteem, dreams, easy, fulfilling, goals, grow, happiness, health, improve, life, love, money, Passion, positive thinking, reality, rich, self, self esteem activities, self esteem confidence, self improvement, simple, thinking mind, thinking thoughts, wealth

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The Power of Clarity

Posted by mikeschurko on August 4th, 2010

Have you ever wondered why you’re not getting exactly what you want into your life? Ever think to yourself, that you’re not 100% sure what you want? Do you feel like your spinning your wheels in who-knows-what direction? What you need, is clarity!

Clarity will allow you to set measurable goals in the direction of your dreams, and see results as to whether or not what you’re doing in your life is working for you or not. Goal setting is one of the most important steps towards self-improvement, because let’s face it, If you don’t know how you want to grow, how can you grow at all, right?! To some, this may seem silly, but I want to actually write down all of your goals in every aspect of your life, like; health, wealth, travel, business, etc…and be specific. Instead of, “I wanna be rich”, write down, I want to earn $100,000 in 2010, or instead of, “I want to be skinny”, write down, I want to weigh 150 pounds by Oct. 30th. The more specific you are, the more you can specialize what actions you take on a day-to-day basis to get you where you want to be. You can write this for small as well as big goals, for example; I want to have a net worth of more than $10 Million dollars by Dec. 31st 2012. You can have fun with this too, because the more awareness you have regarding what you really want, the more what you really want will come your way!

This leads us to the topic of goal setting, which I will post soon. There are definitely keys to setting proper goals so that you set yourself up for success, but give it a try now, and you’ll see how fast goals can be achieved when you’re clear about what your goals actually are!

Thanks again for letting me share my passion with you! I will be launching a redesigned blog website within 2 – 3 weeks, so sign up and subscribe to my blog so that you can stay informed on that, and share in future posts!

Posted in Lifestyle

Tags: 2010, best, body, budget, diet, dreams, easy, financially free, fulfilling, goals, grow, happiness, health, improve, life, love, money, Passion, reality, rich, self, simple, wealth

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Need More Motivation?

Posted by mikeschurko on July 19th, 2010

Lots of people have big dreams, and amazing plans to achieve goals, myself included…but I believe that the #1 reason why these dreams and goals get put off and put off and never get accomplished is because of MOTIVATION…or lack there of. There can be many reasons for lack of motivation, and it all starts in your brain. Your mind is an extremely powerful tool, whether it’s working for you or against you. We talked in an earlier blog about being in your discomfort or “growth zone” (click here to see that post), we discussed that being in that “growth zone”, is a very positive thing, but your mind likes to protect your well-being and tries to avoid any discomfort by talking you out of uncomfortable situations. Your mind will come up with so many amazing and extremely convincing stories that will absolutely without a doubt make you feel like it’s the best choice right now, NOT to take action, there in…a lack of motivation. So in order to master motivation, you must first master your mind. Listen to what that little voice in your head is saying to you the next time an opportunity to take action towards a dream or goal comes up, tell it that you’ve heard what it has to say and now you’re going to make a decision based off what is truly best for me, not what will hurt the least or feel the best. Notice it the next time you’re choosing whether or not to hit the snooze bar again instead of going for a run, or when you think of having another bowl of ice cream for dessert, or when you’re faced with a choice of whether or not to buy that expensive new toy you want but can’t actually afford, you’ll be amazed at how truly creative you are! : ) When you train yourself to act in spite of those protective inner ramblings, you’ll soon find you’re capable of so much more than you ever thought possible.

When you think of motivation what do you think of? Is it being barked at by a personal trainer to do 5 more sit ups, is it that extra strong coffee that will help you get started at your task on hand, is it the love for a family member or best friend, or love of yourself? Whatever you think of when it comes to motivation, it all eventually can be boiled down to this one word…WHY?

Think about it! In any given situation when you choose to take action towards some sort of result, what drives you? The “why” is what drives you. Why are you doing what you’re doing in the first place? Why is this important enough for you to spend your precious time on it? Is that “why” money, because someone told you so, or because you are ridiculously passionate about what you’re doing? Look into it, and you can really clarify your motivational issues.

As you start to investigate the”why’s” in your life, you’ll start to find out what things you do that you’re truly passionate about, what things you’re just doing for others and things that just have absolutely no good reason for you to be doing in the first place and that you’re truly not happy doing at all. Now let’s be more specific…this blog is called Budget Diet Life…and that is money, health and lifestyle…so…Say you want to earn twice as much money as last year, or want to lose 15 lbs, or want to feel more fulfilled in your life. Before you can achieve real and strong motivation, you have to be clear of the “why” behind your goals and actually feel good about the “why”. For example; If the “why” behind the fact that you want to lose 15 more pounds is because you’re worried about what other people think, or because you really want to achieve ultimate personal health so you can enjoy a healthier life, then either mind-set will render much different motivational levels. Once you try this out and learn how to regulate this in one area of your life, try applying it to all aspects of your life, and you will truly begin to live a fulfilling and extremely motivating, dream creating, goal achieving life!

This week we’ll go further into steps to actually getting motivated towards your health and wealth goals and also we’ll touch on procrastination and other reasons you may be being held back from moving towards your goals and dreams.

Thanks again everyone for letting me share my passion with all of you!

Mike

Posted in Lifestyle

Tags: best, body, dreams, easy, financial, financially free, fulfilling, goals, grow, happiness, health, improve, life, love, money, Passion, reality, rich, self, simple, wealth

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Can You Eliminate Fear Forever?!

Posted by mikeschurko on July 8th, 2010

Right off the bat you can relax…EVERYONE feels fear, you’re not alone! I’ve definitely found in the past that I’ve had many grand ideas, goals, dreams, inspirations and opportunities at hand to live life to the fullest…and then let fear stop me from taking action.

I believe that action is truly the ultimate medium through which dreams and goals become reality!

Fear can be described in many ways or feelings, it can come across as anxiety or discomfort or it can even come across as laziness or even inconvenience. Often times in order for us to grow whether it be physically, mentally or spiritually, you need to push yourself into your discomfort zone which can definitely be a fearful thing if you’re not used to it. Your discomfort zone is a place where you don’t often go and yes it is uncomfortable…that’s the point : ) The only way to make it easier to be in your discomfort zone or as I like to call it your growth zone is to spend more time in it, and every time you do feel you’re in it…appreciate every second of it, because in those moments you know that you’re growing and getting stronger faster than ever and making it easier for the next time you want to take action towards your dreams and goals that may feel a little bit scary to you.

I believe a great analogy is walking verses jogging. If your goal is to lose weight, you can lose weight faster by jogging or running verses walking right?…BUT by jogging, you have to be a bit uncomfortable compared to simply walking.

So make it the same in all aspects of your life. You can walk or jog towards financial freedom too…by using credit cards to buy fun things or go fun places you can’t afford and never pushing yourself to earn more money…that’s easy. To push yourself to earn more money and create more streams of revenue while regulating your spending, decluttering your life by selling or donating things you don’t need or use anymore and simplifying your life to save up for that fun thing or going to that fun place is a lot harder, but in the end you will be better off, a much stronger person and ultimately live a more comfortable life. (Ah ha! The ironic twist!)

Lately I strive to find ways to push myself beyond my comfort zone. Whether it be running harder than I ever have in my training…saying no to buying an over budget luxury purchase on credit and choosing to save up for it instead, getting up early and going for a hike on Grouse Mountain even though my bed is so damn comfy, working for an hour or two on my hobby project instead of playing a video game or watching TV, sticking to my eating plan or taking on a new project I’ve never tried before in regards to my production company…I know that every time I do that, my self confidence grows, I learn more and I grow closer than ever to realizing my goals.

The key is not to try and get rid of fear…the key is to feel the fear and do it any ways.

But hey, we all know talk is cheap and you have to lead by example right? Right! So the latest fear I’m working to over come is my fear of failure and fear of disapproval. I don’t like the feeling of judgement I guess…but again it’s just another fear to face that can make me stronger if I have the right mind set behind it, therefore…bring it on! : ) SO, I submitted a video for a game show called Wipe Out. I felt like a goof ball filming it, and I worried about what other people would think of it but after it was all said and done, I had fun making it and now potentially I can share my positivity and personality on a national scale!

So now I ask your participation to please share with me the ways that you face the fear and place yourself beyond your comfort zone! It’s one thing to do it, it’s another share it and feel pride in celebrating your successes!

Thanks for reading! My next blog will be about a very simple money management system that will absolutely change your life!

Posted in Lifestyle, Videos