Brian Tracy | Discover How Setting GOALS Will Transform Your LIFE!

Introduction

Hello, I’m Brian Tracy and I want to thank Evan for making this video about how to set goals and for sharing my advice with his audience.

Hello, Believe Nation, I’m Evan Carmichael. My keyword is belief, and I believe entrepreneurs will solve all the world’s most significant problems. I started this video series to identify those who have gone further than us, and hopefully, by spending time with them, I will emulate their mindset, beliefs, attitudes, and worldview to become the person we’ve always wanted to be.

Setting Goals

Today we will learn how to set goals thanks to Brian Tracy’s advice. Guide me, Brian. Tip number 5 is my favorite, but I would like to know which one you like the most and, as always, while watching this video, if you hear something that resonates with you, please leave a comment with the phrase in quotes so that others can be inspired. Remember that it is easier to assimilate information if we write it down. Enjoy!

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To be successful, first, you must have a big goal. There is an exercise I often do, and its effects are impressive. Even after a year or even two or three years, thousands of people come back to thank me as if I were some kind of guru, saying that I completely changed their lives. And what I respond is that it wasn’t me, but their goals that brought about the change. The exercise is simple: take a piece of paper and make a list of the 10 goals you want to achieve in the next 12 months, your annual goals. Now, regardless of whether these goals are daily, weekly, or monthly. The important thing is that you can achieve them within a year. You should look at this list and think: if I had a magic wand and could achieve any goal on this list in just 24 hours, which one would have the most positive impact on my life? This is how you will find that specific goal that stands out among the others and becomes your main purpose, your most important objective. Then, write down this goal on another piece of paper, choose a specific deadline to achieve it, and make another list of all the actions that can help you reach this goal. Then, organize these actions and turn them into a list of steps to follow, what you will do first, what you will do next, and so on. And what’s left is to take action and do something that brings you closer to that goal every day, 7 days a week. It’s quite simple: you decide what your most important goal is, then you write it down, make a plan, take action daily, and you will see how everything will start working in your favor. Not only will you make progress on your big goal, but the rest of your goals will also move forward without you even realizing they are doing so. So one of the keys to success is to focus.

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates were at a dinner party with Bill’s father and a large group of people went to the Gates’ house in Seattle last year, and they were chatting quietly. When someone approached them and said, “Excuse me, I don’t want to interrupt you, but you are three of the most successful people in the world, in case you didn’t know.” Gates and Buffet are the two richest men in the world, and this person asked them what their secret to success was. Suddenly, all three stopped talking. They turned to the man at the same time and said in unison: “Focus.” Maintaining focus is the most important thing to achieve success. If you focus, you will go very far, but if you don’t, you will always live at the mercy of someone else’s goals. The good news is that developing your focus is like riding a bike or using a keyboard, it can be learned. You can learn to focus if you practice enough until it becomes automatic.

One of my favorite quotes is from Goethe, the German philosopher, and it says: “Everything is difficult before it is easy.” So developing a new habit is difficult until it stops being so. It must be

Persisting and Refining Goals

Persistent about it, like when you ride a bike, even if you fall several times, you must keep getting up until the process becomes easier for you, becomes automatic. And when you get used to getting up, planning your day, and working on your goal daily, your life will change completely.

These are some tips for drafting your goals. First, make sure to write them in the present tense. As if you had already achieved everything you want. For example, instead of saying “earn this amount of dollars a year,” say “I earn this amount of dollars a year.” The reason you want to do this is that your subconscious mind can only process information that is in the present tense.

Second, write your goals in affirmative settings. Instead of saying “I no longer want to smoke,” write “I have overcome the addiction to cigarettes.”

Finally, write your goals personally, that is, try to make your goals start with the pronoun “I.” This is the only way your subconscious will recognize these phrases as effective action instructions. When you say “I” plus an action verb in the present tense, “I earn this amount of dollars a year.”

A secret that helps many people become millionaires, much more than any other process to achieve your goals, is to choose your main goal and write down the question information. If your goal is to earn 100 thousand dollars a year, then think: How can I earn 100 thousand dollars in the next 12 months? It’s an open question. You’re not asking how to earn 100,000 dollars by working on something specific, but how to perceive that amount of income.

Then, you must find 20 answers to that question you asked yourself. And those answers will represent different ways to obtain those 100,000 dollars. Whether by working longer hours, putting in more effort, improving your skills, changing jobs, or even getting another part-time job. No matter what it is, write down everything that comes to mind, but make sure to find those 20 alternatives or answers to your question.

The importance of this method, called brainstorming, is that it forces you to think deeply about your question and find the answers you need. It may be calling someone or reading a book. I’ll give you an example. Some time ago, I met a 35-year-old entrepreneur who built a successful business. It took him 10 years to achieve it, and he tried to sell that business for two years because he wanted to take a sabbatical year and travel the world. So at that time, he only spent his time wandering aimlessly and wanting to sell his business. He was wandering aimlessly and wanting to sell his business. No one showed interest, even though he offered it to several people, none wanted to buy it. But after applying the method of the 20 answers, his last option, which is usually the one that offers the greatest benefits, was to buy a book on how to sell your own business. And this was an idea that came to his mind out of nowhere. So one day he took advantage of a moment he had available to go to a bookstore in the city center, and what he found were piles of books about how to buy and sell your business. He bought a couple of books, and two months later, everything changed. He sold his

business successfully and was able to take his sabbatical year. Although it was a very simple idea, it was a transformative idea. You might think, “But all he did was read,” not quite. It may seem very obvious, but the most obvious ideas are the ones we overlook.

One of the most valuable exercises you can put into practice to set goals is to ask yourself what limits you. What is that factor that determines whether you will achieve your goals or not? If

Developing Self-Confidence and Taking Action

You will be able to do it all as you develop personally. Your ability to identify that limiting factor is one of the best ways to develop your intelligence and increase your self-confidence. And your ability to eradicate that limiting factor is undeniable proof of the enormous competence you have to achieve everything you desire.

After thoroughly studying everything that has been published about personal development and success, I concluded that your level of self-confidence is most likely that critical factor that prevents you from achieving your goals. When you have enough confidence, you dare to do anything because you know that your success largely depends on numbers or probabilities. And the more you try, the greater your chances of achieving your goals. This is absolutely true. If you set goals, try new things, engage in new activities, and explore more opportunities, your chances of success will increase significantly.

The only limiting factor you may have is your level of self-confidence. When you reach that point where you believe in yourself, there is no way that the barriers that may exist around you can stop you.

The greatest obstacles to success always reside in the mind of the individual and are not found in external circumstances or in people outside of us. If you develop your self-confidence, you will win the internal battle, and the external battle will end on its own.

There are three steps you must apply to develop your self-confidence. First, accept that you are completely responsible for yourself. That includes the person you are now and the person you will become. Second, accept that you can change your current situation, but only if you work on yourself and learn what is necessary to improve as a person.

And third, set goals with deadlines to achieve what you want and work on them daily to make them a reality. That will give you more confidence.

Some time ago, I had the opportunity to speak with Rich DeVos, the president of Amway, whose income exceeds $5 billion. He began his journey by selling soaps until he created an empire. And I asked him what he believed was the most important attribute of a successful person. I remember clearly what he replied. He told me that there is a direct relationship between how long a person takes to act after having an idea and how quickly they will move to materialize anything. So the important thing here is to take action.

We often hear people sharing the same kind of ideas, but what really matters is what they do about it. If a person implements an idea immediately, the chances of success increase. What almost everyone says is, “Good idea, I love it, I’ll make it happen. This will be amazing.” But before they put it into action, they better go on vacation to a beautiful island called “someday.” So they go to this island and live in the eternal “someday.” And who do you think inhabits this island? Many people, isn’t it? And what do you think is the main topic of conversation on this island? The future and also their excuses. What’s your excuse for not acting? Tell me, why aren’t you taking the step? Why are you still not losing weight, paying off your debts, building your business, finishing the book, or if you want to start writing yours once and for all? Isn’t it true? Anyway, what they do is listen to excuses and share them with each other. “What a good excuse! I hadn’t heard that one before. I can use it to postpone my goals for another year.” And they get used to it. Did you know that 80% of the population spends almost their entire lives on the island of “someday”? Although they all have fascinating goals and good intentions, what is the only thing they end up with? Exactly, the intention to fulfill their goals “someday.” So if you want to become successful, make sure to escape from that island quickly. Forget the “someday.” Do it now or don’t do it. Prepare in advance.

Have you ever heard that proper preparation prevents poor performance in the future? Well, it does. So it is essential that you prepare your to-do list from the afternoon or evening before. What you should do before going to bed is plan your next day. I recommend that you try to plan what you will do the next day before leaving work and returning home. When you apply this strategy daily, your subconscious mind takes care of thinking about those plans and goals while you sleep, and you will notice that the next morning you will wake up with new ideas that will benefit you.

One of the main benefits of preparing your day in advance is that this habit will help you sleep more soundly. Often, many people suffer from insomnia because they stay awake trying to remember everything they need to do the next day. But if you write everything down on a to-do list, your mind is freed, and you can sleep deeply. This will help you increase your productivity over time, as you will feel renewed and more relaxed. Giving yourself some kind of reward every time you act appropriately is another valuable tip. If you work with rewards, then you will reinforce that new behavior you want to adopt, and soon you will begin to unconsciously associate the pleasure of the reward with that behavior. By creating your own system of positive consequences, you will begin to anticipate this mechanism. And this will

Motivation and Discipline

Motivation: What drives people to adopt behaviors or habits that are good for them? What do you think stops them? They know what they want to do but can’t maintain their habits. They put them into practice once, but then abandon them and try again, but they give up. How to have discipline? Well, what you must do is build the habit day by day, and the best way to achieve this is with good planning. You can’t start the day without preparing a to-do list and prioritizing the most important activities. People often say, “Well, before making my list, I’ll check my inbox to see if someone sent me a message, I’ll watch some YouTube videos,” and so on. But when they notice, it’s already 10 at night, and they’ve lost their whole day on it. I recommend you do the following: You should know that if you do something right from the start, it’s most likely to continue that way until the end. So, finish your most important task first and do this until it becomes a habit.

Managing Distractions

Now, there’s something I want you to know about emails. When you constantly check your messages, your brain releases dopamine. Dopamine acts like a drug, and there’s plenty of scientific research confirming this. In fact, dopamine increases when you consume cocaine. It surges every time you see something shiny, new, different, eye-catching, or interesting. Imagine your phone rings beside you, your brain releases endorphins, and you can’t wait to see what it’s about. When you’re talking to someone, even in a serious conversation, if you receive a notification, your mind stops, and I assure you, you’ll stop talking to pick up your phone, unlock it, and check your new messages. You should know that it takes us around 17 minutes to refocus on anything, so if you’re full of distractions, imagine how much time you’re wasting. The average adult checks their email or cell phone between 95 and 145 times a day. That’s a lot. It means they act like attention-deficit animals, spending the day jumping from one distraction to another, and in the end, they’re exhausted. A study by [__] and Harvard University claims you lose one IQ point every hour you spend checking your email. By the end of the day, you could lose up to 10 points, meaning your intellect diminishes, and you become dumber throughout the day.

Maintaining Focus

Very often, I ask my audience if they end a day without knowing if they achieved any of their goals because they spent all their time checking messages and notifications randomly. When you come home from work, and your wife asks what you want for dinner, you say, “I don’t know, anything, I don’t care, I just want to drink this.” It happens because you’re so exhausted you can’t think. You spent all your time doing nothing, and it’s as if you’ve been hit very hard on the head because your brain feels dead. In fact, you lost 10 IQ points, and you became dumber after a day. You have to turn off that device if you want to keep your mind awake. Develop the habit. Start by being convinced and reward yourself when you fulfill your purposes. It could be checking your email after finishing your first task. So, the key to success is finishing what we start. It’s obvious. Once, I had a conversation with an entrepreneur who couldn’t believe what I was saying. He kept saying he had never heard anything like it before. In another meeting I had in Japan, I talked again about the importance of finishing our tasks, and everyone was amazed. The key to success is finishing what you start. If you can’t do this, you won’t have a future. So, if that’s the key to success, you must get used to performing increasingly important tasks. If you finish your most important task first thing in the morning, your brain will release endorphins. Endorphins are chemicals our brain releases when we do something that improves our lives. This means that when you do things that are good for you, improve your life, and help you move forward, you feel happier, release energy, and also boost your self-esteem.

Cultivating Success

There’s something you must ask yourself: If you want to be a winner, how do you become one? What must you do to win? You have to cross the finish line. So, starting and finishing a task represents a win. Feeling like a winner fills you with an impressive amount of energy and inspiration, and it actually motivates you to want to generate that feeling again. How to get that feeling again? By finishing another task. That’s how you develop the habit, and successful people master the habit of finishing what they start. If my wife says we’ll have dinner in 5 minutes, I check my list and see if there’s anything I can do in that time, and that’s how I take action and finish my tasks. Every time you finish an activity, your brain releases endorphins. If it’s an important task, the amount of endorphins you release will increase, and you’ll become addicted to the habit of finishing what you started. Every successful person I know applies this rule without exception: finishing their most important tasks, and this helps them improve their reputation. If you want your projects to be successful and your business and products to succeed exponentially, then you can trust these people because they never disappoint you. And that’s how you want them to see you if you want to be successful.

Conclusion and Encouragement

Hello, I’m Brian Tracy, and I want to thank Evan for making this video about setting goals and sharing my advice with his audience. I also want to encourage each of you to apply these tips and take action daily to achieve your goals and fulfill your dreams, instead of staying on the island of “Someday, I’ll do it.” Keep waiting, but not doing anything. Start taking action from now on. Thank you all for watching. I’d love to know what you thought of this video. What was your favorite part? And why? What lessons did you learn from this wonderful man, and how will you apply them to your life or your business? Please leave it in the comments because I want to read them. I also want to send a greeting to Nathan from the Productivity Game channel. Nathan, thank you very much for buying a copy of my book, “Your Word is Your Wand,” and for writing that wonderful review. I really appreciate your support, and I’m glad you enjoyed it. Michael claims there’s a keyword that defines who you are, connects all aspects that make you feel alive, and will help you break the chains of mediocrity. I thank you very much for watching. I believe in you. I hope you never stop believing and find your word. I send you all my love. See you soon.