I can’t force you to read this post, but if I could, I would.

Because what I have to share with you here reveals THE ‘secret key’ to an explosive 2009 for you and your fitness biz.

And it doesn’t involve buying a thing. There’s nothing for ‘sale’ here…

…except a philosophy…a strategy…a way of being, doing and having more of what you want.

That’s my only objective – to ‘sell’ you on a simple ‘mind-shift.’

When I was six years old, we lived in Munich, Germany. One day my dad come home with two small puppies. They were brother and sister Poodles and we named them Franz and Felisha.

If you’ve ever had puppies, you know that house training can sometimes be tough.

The way I remember it, Felisha learned pretty quickly, but Franz was another story.

On a couple occassions, I recall seeing my dad shove Franz’s nose into the carpet where he’d just peed and say, “NO!” Then he’d put Franz in his crate for an hour, while Felisha got to roam around the house and play.

This went on for quite a while. I forget how long, but I remember my folks talking about how difficult it was to get him trained, especially as compared to Felisha, who seemed to catch on right away.

They say Poodles are one of the smarter breeds. Franz and Felisha were brother and sister. She was smart, but he was either stubborn, lazy or stupid, despite having her as a role model.

He saw how good her life was because she did one thing right – took care of her ‘business’ outside.

And his life in those early days was not nearly as good – because he didn’t.

You’d think he’d catch on – quick – but for whatever reason he continued to sabotage the quality of his life, he continued to spend twice as much time in the crate as Felisha.

I can relate to Franz. In the early days of my biz career, I was stubborn, lazy and stupid about one thing – THE thing. And like Franz, I had no excuse because there were plenty of role models for me.

It was just blatant self-sabotage.

BEWARE THE SABOTEUR (IT’S YOU)

Why do we do it to ourselves?

If you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that taking a specific action will help you tremendously; and that the converse is also true – not taking that action will hurt you big time; what is it that stops us from doing something so obviously in our own interest?

It’s a good question, for sure. But one even the most sophisticated and accomplished shrinks can’t always answer.

We all sabotage ourselves in one way or another.

Fact is, those who do it less – those with greater self-control and discipline – are those who rise to the top.

That’s the bottom line.

Because there are no external circumstances that can hold you back if you won’t let them. There’s only internal limitations.

“YOU ARE EXACTLY WHERE YOU WANT TO BE.”

I am blessed to have a friend who doesn’t pull any punches with me. He always challenges me. And years ago, when I was really struggling and miserable, he said to me, “You are exactly where you want to be.”

“HA! You’re kidding, right?”

“You are,” he said, “because you took every step to get exactly where you are now.”

I could defend myself on that point all day long. But the more annoyed and defensive I became, the more I argued with him, the more I realized one thing: He was right.

Its not easy to change your mindset from “victim of circumstance” to “in complete control”. And it’s not something that happens overnight. But all it takes is one tiny seed to begin that transformation.

That in-my-face accusation, and the story he told me next, was the seed of my transformation.

You’ve probably heard the story about the Harvard study on goal setting. I’d heard it many times before, but when my friend Ralph told it to me again that day, it finally sunk in…

In 1979, there was a study conducted on students in the Harvard MBA program. In that year, the students were asked, “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” Only three percent of the graduates had written goals and plans; 13 percent had goals, but they were not in writing; and 84 percent had no specific goals at all.

Ten years later, the members of the class were interviewed again, and the findings, were illuminating. The 13 percent of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent who had no goals at all. And what about the three percent who had clear, written goals? They were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent put together.

In spite of such proof of success (and the re-telling of this story so frequently that almost everyone has heard it multiple times by now), most people still don’t have clear, measurable, time-bounded goals that they work toward.

Why not?

SABOTAGE

There simply is no other reason imaginable that a sane person, faced with this evidence, would not sit down, like NOW, and write out his or her goals and a clear, systematic plan for achieving them.

When my buddy Ralph held that metaphorical mirror up to my face so I could see who the culprit really was, he put me on the path towards the achievement I wanted more desperately than anything else. See, it wasn’t about muney, a nice house or a new car, it was about upholding my promise as a human being, living up to my potential, doing what I KNEW I could do. It was about accomplishment and self actualization.

And in my experience, the only way to fully realize and manifest that in our lives is by creating a plan for that achievement and then working that plan.

LIFE BY DESIGN

We can wander aimlessly, buffetted by the winds of circumstance, or we can set a target, pick a point on the map and head towards it with determination.

Regardless of where you are right now, you can be, do and have more by living your life by design. The tighter you dial it in, the more you work at refining the plan and working the plan, the more certainty you get.

I like predictability. I like certainty.

How about you?

Make 2009 your best year ever,
Eric Ruth

P.S. Don’t get caught up in the details of goal setting. Don’t worry about getting it “just right.” Just get it done and make it a weekly, if not daily practice. I promise you, nothing will have a more profound and immediate impact on your life.

If you need a starting point, get Brian Tracy’s excellent book, Goals: How To Get Everything You Want Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible. It’s available at Amazon here.
(that is NOT an affiliate link, Amazon’s links are way too long to put in this email)

What are your thoughts about goal setting and achievement? Share your perspective by posting a comment below…

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