Having a goal in life

It is important that we set ourselves goals in life; these can be short term, over a longer period of one to five years and also lifetime goals.

It is one thing setting these targets; however it is another thing to actually achieve them.

These goals when achieved can help to improve our lives and also helps us to become happier and more self fulfilled.

Write down your goals

I have always wanted to be a success and to have a happy life, I am sure this is the same for most people. In the early part of my life I was unable to achieve both of these aims.

In my early twenties I decided to attempt to learn about ways in which I could ensure that the future would be a lot better, than what the past had been.

I started to read many books about these topics and also about people who I considered to be successful.

I soon realised the importance of setting goals and targets. I thought about what I wanted to be and which course I wanted my life to take.

I wrote out three different lists of my aims for the future.

The first list included what I wanted to achieve within the next twelve months.

The second list contained what I wanted to achieve within five years and the third list was my lifetime goals.

I feel it is important to write down these targets as it helps you to keep a kind of focus of what you are attempting to do.

Invest time and money to reach your goals

I now had a determination to succeed and was willing to work hard to achieve my goals. To achieve anything in life, takes time and dedication.

One of my aims was to reduce my levels of stress. To do this I had to learn the art of relaxation, I have always been very hard on myself and had spent most of my life worrying about things that may happen in the future.

I decided to ease up on myself and to even have monthly treats to keep me and my body happy. I did this by attending reflexology sessions and for a short period I tried aromatherapy.

I also made my home more of a comfort zone by buying some nice scented candles and some new furniture.

These minor changes had a huge impact as it made the house more relaxing and I always work better in this type of environment.

One of my goals was to lose weight. To help me in this quest I purchased a rowing machine and decided to wake up half an hour earlier in the morning to use it.

I would sit and row at various times of the day, always in the morning and always before bed, wherever possible of course. I would also use the machine at times when I was becoming a little stressed or a bit lethargic.

This really helped me as after I had rowed for around twenty minutes, I would feel really uplifted and full of confidence.

I would also feel a sense of pride that I had battled against the negative side of brain and was sure that I would soon gain the benefit of a reduced weight.

There are two types of person in life, negative and positive. I now steer clear of negative people, as that is what I used to be and I do not want to go back there.

They try to get me back into their clan by the comments they make and try to convince me that all is not well.

Negative people tend to have negative lives, where as positive people tend to have positive lives. I want to be, as already stated, happy and successful therefore I need to continue to think in a positive way.

The above advice is how I now live my life. At times I feel down, like everybody does and this of course is when I use the rowing machine.

I have now lost my excess weight and am very happy. I hope this helps you to.

Contentment

There are far too many people who are comparing their lives to that of their friends and neighbours, and who then think that they are not good enough.

This can make them become jealous and even depressed.
I have to admit that I used to be like the people I am describing above.

I was not happy with the car I drove, or at the company where I worked, or at how much money I earned per year and even with the girlfriend I had.

My friends seemed to drive much better cars, worked for much better employers, earned far more per year than I did and had much better looking girlfriends, sorry Claire!

I have since managed to change my attitude to life and am now very happy with what I have in life.

I now look at the bigger picture and instead of concentrating my thoughts at people who I feel are better off than me, I watch the news from around the world and hear about people who are far less fortunate than I am.

I certainly now feel that I am actually very lucky compared to most people who live on this planet.

I also did not really like myself, I wanted to be taller, stronger, a better communicator (I had a stutter), and a lot fitter than I was (I was quite fat).

I have since accepted that there are various things that I can not change, such as my height and have therefore accepted that I am shorter than the average male.

Other aspects of my life at which I was not happy with, but felt I could change or improve, I have worked very hard on, and am now at a weight I am happy with and have overcome the stuttering speech impediment.

I now like myself and if other people choose not to, that is fine by me; I have enough people who do.

In any case it is what I think that counts, therefore if they think I am an idiot, that’s fine, because I believe I am not.

I now have an opinion that what car I drive or how much money I earn is not important.

For me, health and happiness are the two most important things in life and these are things which money can not buy.

I have decided that stressing or worrying about a situation is pointless, it just makes things a whole lot worse. I now think to myself, that all I can do in life is to try my best and if I do that, I can be proud of myself.

I used to be very hard on myself, my own worst critic. I am now a lot easier on myself, I have realised that I will make mistakes and always try to learn from the experiences.

My body and brain are temples and I need to be nice to them. Hopefully if I am, they will reward me with my continued health.

I am now far happier than I have ever been and am determined not to slip back into my old ways of depression and negative thinking.

gain more confidence page 13