writing, inspiration,

“Write Down Your Goals” by Joan Y. Edwards

Do you have a plan for submitting your work? Do you have your goals written down. If your goals are written down, you will be more likely to accomplish them. Try it out on a simple goal and see what happens.

Writing it down makes a deal with your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind sets wheels in motion to help your plan become reality. Maxwell Maltz in his Psycho-Cybernetics book says that our subconscious mind is an automatic success mechanism.

You increase its effectiveness, if you write down your goal, and put it where you can see it every day. Write it on the back of a business card, write it on the back of a 3×5 index card, write it on a sentence strip like they use in elementary school, write it in large print on an 8.5 x 11 piece of typing paper, put it on a piece of white card stock. Just write it. You can even put it in your pocket and take it out and look at it several times a day. Bob Proctor in You Were Born Rich and Earl Nightingale in The Strangest Secret say that’s a great idea. Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup books uses it consistently. It keeps your goals up front in your mind. It helps you focus on what you want.

When you write it you are making a commitment to carry it out.

If you share your goals with a friend, you are doubling the commitment and creating a bond.

If you write out action steps to accomplish your goals, you’re helping yourself see your plan carried out and your goal actually come into existence.

In researching the study, I found the S.M.A.R.T.E.R. way of allocating goals. You are smarter when your goals are:

S – Specific:

Make your goal meaningful. You decide the goal, not someone else.
Make your goal as specific as possible.
Make your goal “get 10 new clients” instead of “get new clients.”
Make your goal be an instruction telling you what to do.
Make your goal one that inspires you to be determined to accomplish in spite of obstacles.

M – Measurable:

Describe and define how you will measure your progress.
Seeing progress on a chart will help you feel good and spur you on to greater success.
Measuring produces evidence for your progress.
Keep a log and record each action and reaction taken toward goal.
Accept and celebrate each step you make toward success.

A – Attainable:

Make your goal ambitious, but not impossible to reach.
Do not set yourself up for failure.
Make your goal one you are confident you can reach.
Choose a goal that will help you grow, learn, and stretch.

R – Reasonable:

Set a reasonable goal that you can and want to reach.
Break large goals into small chunks.
Write appropriate small action steps necessary to meet goal.

T – Time Based:

When will you finish your goal?
You need to choose a time, the sooner the better.
I will accomplish this goal in one week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks; year, two years, three years, five years, ten years.

E – Evaluated

Assess your progress at set intervals.
Relax and use your intuition, education, or inspiration to get you back on track.
Set revised goals and action steps.

R – Rewarded

Celebrate you and all you’ve done.
Choose a small tangible reward for each step you take: a dessert, a call to a friend, a trip window-shopping, a sticker, a dollar bill for your piggy-bank.

Good luck with all of your goals: personal, writing, and/or financial. Having a written goal will help you get where you want to go.

If you don’t know where you want to go, take time to contemplate your choices. It’s worth your time. It’ll lead you to greater happiness and self-esteem.

References

Bob Proctor. You Were Born Rich: http://www.amazon.com/You-Were-Born-Rich-Proctor/dp/1920909028
Earl Nightingale. The Strangest Secret. http://www.amazon.com/The-Strangest-Secret-Earl-Nightingale/dp/161720286X/
Earl Nightingale. The Strangest Secret. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFhkdzj-x80
G.T. Doran (1981). “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives.” Management Review, Volume 70, Issue 11(AMA FORUM), pp. 35-36.
Happy Rock. “Can’t Believe Everything You Read:1953 Yale Goal Study http://www.thehappyrock.com/2007/11/13/cant-believe-everything-you-read-1953-yale-goal-study/
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. Chicken Soup for the Soul: http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Soup-Soul-Jack-Canfield/dp/1558749209
Maxwell Maltz. Psycho-Cybernetics: http://www.amazon.com/Psycho-Cybernetics-New-More-Living-Life/dp/0671700758
Paul J. Meyer (2003). Attitude Is Everything: If You Want to Succeed Above and Beyond. Meyer Resource Group, Incorporated. http://books.google.com/books/about/Attitude_Is_Everything.html?id=C2V0OwAACAAJ.
Shanna Freeman. “How to Be Happy with Yourself: Make Attainable Goals” http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/happy-with-yourself2.htm
Sid Savara. “Writing Down Your Goals: Fact or Fiction: The Harvard Written Goal Study. Fact or Fiction?” http://sidsavara.com/personal-productivity/fact-or-fiction-the-truth-about-the-harvard-written-goal-study
S.M.A.R.T. Goals http://longevity.about.com/od/makeachange/p/smartgoal.htm
Wikipedia. “SMART Criteria:”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria

Updated January 20, 2018.

Believe in Yourself
Submit Your Manuscript Today
Joan Y. Edwards
Copyright © 2012-2018 Joan Y. Edwards

Please check out my books:
Flip Flap Floodle, Will this little duck’s song save him from Mr. Fox?
Joan’s Elder Care Guide A guide to help caregivers and elders never give up

“The Power of Thankfulness” by Joan Y. Edwards

Thankfulness is powerful. Thankfulness gives you a chance to receive more of what you are thankful for.

I think of the ten lepers that Jesus healed. Only one came back and said, “Thank you.”

In your lifetime, I’ll bet there have been many times when you did something for another person and…they…never…said, “Thank you.” They may not have even given you a smile.

I know, I know. We shouldn’t do things just for the recognition. However, it is nice to receive thanks for the things we do, the things we give.

What do you do if people don’t say thank you? Do you chop off their heads? Do you refuse to help them next time? If you’re getting upset because no one said, “Thank you,” you need to change your reasons for doing things in the first place. In the second place, you can thank yourself. You can celebrate your willingness to help others even when they don’t say, “Thank you.” Thirdly, remember that God thanks you. He knows and appreciates everything you do to help His people.

When you sincerely thank people for what they do for you, you light up their lives. It’s possible that no one has ever shown them appreciation for all the work they do. Even if it’s a service you’ve paid for, it is a great thing to thank others for their service. When we are thankful for each thing we have, we set the good vibes to receive more.

When you are down, list in your mind or on paper, ten things for which you are thankful. It’ll change your emotions. Changing your thoughts, changes your emotions. Your emotions are the clues to your thoughts. Before long, you’ll be feeling better.

The want to control other people, events, and experiences seems a human thing. It’s definitely something I desire from time to time. I want to:

Control the traffic.
Control what my spouse does.
Control what happens to my family and friends.
Control my body.
Control my mind.
Control my experiences.

Goodness! Such stress. Does wanting and wishing for control do any good?

“No.” People still do what they feel best for them. Traffic keeps flowing in its own way. Good events and bad events still happen without my control, approval, or disapproval.

However, accepting myself and others creates a great deal of peace within me. Being thankful for others as they are, creates a great deal of wisdom of the unhealthy demands for perfection on my part and theirs.

In the movie, The Secret, Lee Brower tells about how he found a rock and said, “Every time I touch this rock I’m going to remind myself of how thankful I am for my life.” He shared his rock with a man from South America. The man asked Lee to send him some gratitude rocks. He sent him some from his neighborhood. The man from South America used these rocks to remind him to be thankful for the healing of his son. His son did heal. See the full text from the gratitude segment in The Secret: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrp5Ri2GZ38

Here is Lee Bower’s story of how he started using a Gratitude Rock. Very touching story of how this helped him and his daughter through rough times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVIWQt7LYu0&

Gratitude shifts your focus to love and peace.

No matter whether the person you helped or gifted is thankful, God remembers. The universe remembers. Some people call it, “Good Karma.”

What goes around, comes around.
What you do for or to others, comes back to you.
When you think positive, you allow positive things to happen.
When you think negative, you’re allowing or inviting negative things to happen.
You reap what you sow. It’s like a boom-a-rang. What you send out, comes back to you.
When you put only sad thoughts in your mind, sad thoughts come out, and more sad thoughts and sad events come in.
When you judge others, you allow judgment to come back to you.

Your own thankfulness puts you in line to receive more of what you are thankful for.

If you want more money, be thankful for the money you have and use it wisely.
If you want more friends, be thankful for the friends you have and treat them nicely.
If you want more food, be thankful for the food you have and use it in a healthy way.
If you want more knowledge, be thankful for the knowledge you have and use it wisely.
If you want a better job, be thankful for the job you have and do it well.
If you want a better house, be thankful for the house you have and keep it well-maintained.
If you want publication, be thankful for your gift of writing and for all publishers.

You can also be thankful for the gifts you want to receive and mention them as having been received. Show:

Gratitude for your published books.
Gratitude for your new house.
Gratitude for your friendships.
Gratitude for your good-paying job.
Gratitude for your customers.
Gratitude for the flowers, grass, and shrubs in your yard.
Gratitude for an abundance of rainfall.
Gratitude for your abundance of money.
Gratitude for your healthy body, mind, and spirit.
Gratitude for your education.

Being thankful helps you accept where and who you are in this particular place and time. A sense of gratitude pays off big time. A sense of gratitude grows with each utterance of thankfulness said aloud or in private. Here are things that like me, you might be thankful for:

What’s on your gratitude list?

Design something to help you remember to wake up being thankful. Put something on the table beside your bed. Right beside your glasses. Or put something in the bathroom beside your toothbrush. Or perhaps you’d like to put it on the breakfast table, or beside the coffee pot. The more times you’re thankful, the better off you will be. Choose a rock, plate, necklace, key chain, plaque, doll, flower, or other item as a symbol of your gratitude.

Use the power of thankfulness. Be thankful for your life. There is no one else like you. You are a blessing to our world. Thank you for being you.

Celebrate you
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards

Writing, Inspiration