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ELANA BAUM'S

Elana Baum, February 23 2020

3 simple ways to be successful in all of your personal and professional goals

Want to learn three easy ways on how to bring prosperity and success into your personal and professional life? Whatever it may be; reaching a fitness goal, wanting better grades or even just wanting to be more productive. Well, it’s pretty simple and it begins with you. 

Welcome. I am a 21 year old, fourth year marketing student at the University of Ottawa and in the last year, I accomplished a lot. When I reflect on how I did, three elements come to mind. These include goal setting, maintaining a positive mindset, and fostering passion and motivation. These tricks have made a huge impact on my life and took my game to the next level. In this blog, I will be sharing them with you. Implementing these elements into your life will help you achieve your personal and professional goals. Let’s get started.

Goal Setting

The first element that has helped me become successful in my professional and personal life is setting specific goals for myself to achieve. A Harvard study found that those who have goals are ten times more likely to succeed than those without goals. For example, I wanted to make dean's list, and I did. How I achieved this was by first setting the specific goal. Next, I made a plan on how to achieve that goal. These elements included; attending all of my classes, doing all the assigned homework, studying, asking for help when I needed it, and completing tasks in a timely manner. The last step is, get this, is to actually  follow the plan. 

This brings up a key component in being successful at accomplishing a goal. When you say you are going to do something, you actually do it. What this means, is that it is crucial to honour your word and follow through on your plan in order to succeed. I learnt this a few years ago at  a personal and professional growth, training and development program called Landmark. I'll tell a story below as an example. 

My leader in the forum told the group how he made it a goal of his to workout every single day for 6 months.  However, one night it was raining really hard. So, he told himself he'd wait later in the evening until the storm passed. He checks again, and it's only gotten worse at this point, so he waits some more. Now, it's 1am and it's a full blown chaotic storm. But, he honoured his word and he went out for a jog soaking wet in this borderline dangerous rainstorm. What’s funny is, the next day, the papers were talking about how crazy the rainstorm was, and then he sees a picture of himself running with a caption saying "And here’s this idiot running at 1 am through it". He however, honoured his word, and exercised every single day for 6 months. See? How empowering it is to accomplish what you set your mind to. You can create endless possibilities for yourself.

You can achieve anything you want in life by setting a goal, creating a plan on how to achieve it, and follow through with it. Pretty basic stuff, but very effective. To help you stay on track, I recommend using a planner (or an online version) to plan out your days and get all your tasks done. Another great tool for goal setting is using S.M.A.R.T goals: Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely goals. Effective goal planning is one of the simple tools I used in order to get stellar grades, receive amazing job opportunities, reach fitness goals, become more productive and so on. 

A goal without a plan is just a dream. Make a plan before someday becomes never.

Maintaining a Positive Mindset

The next element is maintaining a positive mindset. This includes; practicing positive self-talk, focusing on your achievements rather than setbacks and believing in yourself. According to American fitness entrepreneur Chalene Johnson, mindset is the number one factor that determines outcome. In order to achieve a goal and be successful, it is crucial for the individual to believe that they can do it. If you tell yourself that you don’t think you can achieve something, and don’t believe that you can do it, then you most likely will not. However, if you practice positive self-talk, by saying that you can be successful,  many possibilities will open for you. This was very much true for myself. I used to deal with a lot of self doubt, but when I started believing I could do anything I set my mind to, a lot changed for me. Next is a simple, yet very impactful tip I use to help with this.

Instead of telling myself I want to achieve something, I tell myself that I will achieve it. For example, notice how saying 'I will get straight A’s' is more powerful than saying 'I want to get straight A’s'. Speaking it into existence that you will accomplish something, is more powerful. Relating to this, I have also practiced daily affirmations. For example, reminding myself 'I work hard, I can achieve anything I want in life,  I am the creator of my own reality, my life is filled with endless possibilities'. By speaking these words into existence, this has helped me maintain a positive mindset. I know it seems cheesy, but when I wake up in the morning and write down a few affirmations, it starts my day with an uplifting tone. 

However, affirmations may not work for everyone and may seem silly to you, so another option is altering your affirmation into a question. I'll give an example to explain: 'How am I going to work hard today? How am I going to stay present and calm today?' This is very effective too and gets you to reflect a little. I recommend using the 5 minute journal for a quick, easy and motivating way to start and end your day on a positive note. To the left is a glimpse of the format, and here is another blog post diving deeper into the benefits and how to use this amazing journal.

Fostering Passion and Motivation

The third element that has helped me be successful, is fostering motivation and passion in everything that I do. How I do this, is to find the core reasons on why I want to achieve something, whatever it may be. For example, asking myself 'Why do I want to get good grades?' The answer is because I want to open greater job opportunities for myself in the future. The next step, is to reflect and search deeper reasons than that, by continuing to ask yourself 'Why?' For example, 'Why do I want greater job opportunities?' Because: I want to have a job that I am passionate about, to be motivated to work hard, to grow, to be successful, to have the means to travel, to have amazing experiences and adventures, to live a life filled with happiness and prosperity, to live in a luxurious home, to feel fulfilled, to make a positive impact on the world, to inspire, and so on. Notice how much more powerful that is? By reflecting on the core reasons on why I want to achieve something, it makes me feel much more connected, passionate and motivated to fulfill that goal.

Exploring and reflecting on the core reasons on why I want to accomplish something, I am able to foster motivation and passion for myself. This in turn, strengthens my willpower to follow the plans I make to achieve the goals I set for myself. 

So, next time you set a goal for yourself, ask yourself 'why?' a few times, and it will lead you to some meaningful realizations and breakthroughs. Recently, I’ve been watching 'The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes' on Netflix, and seeing these incredible homes has driven a fire in me to want to work harder. To the right, is a photo I took of my friends in the pool of an 8 bedroom luxurious home we were staying at in California together. 

Recap

In summary, these three simple elements have really impacted my life, driven prosperity into my life and helped achieve personal and professional goals. By using effective goal setting and planning: setting specific goals, creating a plan on how to achieve that goal and following through with the plan, you can accomplish anything. Second, maintaining a positive mindset by focusing on your achievements rather than setbacks, practicing positive self-talk and believing in yourself. Thirdly,  exploring and reflecting on the core reasons for why you want to achieve a goal, will foster more passion and motivation to be successful in your aspirations. 

Now that you know three simple ways to be successful in all your personal and professional goals; implement these tools into your life and you’ll see new possibilities, prosperity, success and happiness come into your life. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

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Elana Baum

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