How to Get What You Want?

Have you heard the expression, “What you see is what you get?

Psychologists tell us that nothing controls our live more than our self-image.

Your life is limited to your vision.  If you want to change your life, you must change your vision of your life.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was not that famous in 1976 when he met with a newspaper reporter. The reporter asked Schwarzenegger: “Now that you’ve retired from bodybuilding, what do you plan to do next?”

Schwarzenegger answered very calmly and confidently: “I’m going to be the #1 movie star in Hollywood.” The report was shocked and amused at Schwarzenegger’s plan. At that time, it was very hard to imagine how this muscle-bound body builder, who was not a professional actor and who spoke poor English with a strong Austrian accent could ever hope to be Hollywood’s #1 movie star!

So the reporter asked Schwarzenegger how he planned make his dream come true, Schwarzenegger said: ” I’ll do it the same way I became the #1 body builder in the world.

What I do was to create a vision of who I want to be, then I start living like that person in my mind as if it were already true.”

It sounds almost childishly simple, doesn’t it? But it worked!

On April 26, 2016, 30 years after the interview mentioned above Mister Asta la vista Baby DID become the #1 highest paid movie star in Hollywood!

Remember: “If you can see it, you can be it.”

Unfortunately, visualization of the achievement is not enough to get what you want.

If you want to drink you can look at a glass of water and imagine that you are drinking until cattle come home but sooner or later you need to raise your butt and take the glass, right?

The same with a goal achievement. To make things happened you need to start doing something about it.

The best way to achieve any goal is to set the SMART GOAL.

SMART stands for:

S – Specific (or Significant).

Define your goal clearly. Don’t be vague. In the case with Arnold Schwarzenegger, he has a clear goal to become #1 Hollywood actor. Not just an actor, but #1. Significant and Specific. 

M – Measurable (or Meaningful).

Develop a tangible measure of progress. You cannot measure “be an actor”, but you can measure “Be #1 Hollywood actor”. 

A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented).

Your goal must be attainable. It must align with your skills and resources. It would be too ambitious to want to become a president of the United States because Schwarzenegger was born in Austria, but to become the actor #1 was manageable and aligned to his skills and resources.

R – Relevant (or Rewarding).

Is your goal relevant to your life’s principles? When you are setting a goal, ask your self: “Why am I doing this? What reward will I receive when I reach the goal? How do I feel receiving this reward? If you feel good when you imaging yourself that you have reached the goal, go for it. Austrian body builder was a famous sports man. Movie carrier was a logical next step in his carrier. It was relevant to his previous achievement.

T – Time-bound (or Trackable).

A goal without a deadline is just a dream. A timeline, with milestones and an end date, will keep you accountable and on task. A goal needs an action plan –  the steps required to achieve the goal.

Beware of confusing a goal with a wish. A wish is not controllable and compares to a goal wish doesn’t have a plan and deadline. A wish is not measurable.

Let’s repeat how to get what you want.

S – Be Specific. Define your goal clearly.

M – Develop a tangible measure of progress.

A – Your goal must be attainable.

R – Your goal must be Relevant to your skills.

T – Your goal must be Trackable and has a deadline.

Once you went through all 5 steps, create a vision of who you want to be and start living like that person in your mind as if it were already true and you will be surprised that it works not only for Arnold Schwarzenegger but for you too.

Thinking of setting a goal please remember what Arnold Schwarzenegger said when he became a millionaire: “Money doesn’t make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million.”

by Victor Gichun,  VP Marketing at Excess Logic.com

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