Do you remember in the book, “Alice in Wonderland” when Alice got to the fork in the road, there was a big Cheshire Cat sitting up in the tree and he asked Alice if she was lost and where she wanted to go… Alice said she wasn’t sure where she wanted to go and then the cat said, “Well then, it doesn’t matter which road you take.” It’s the same with us. If we don’t know what we want or where we want to go, any road is just fine. We’ll just be on a joy ride rather than attempting to reach a destination.
When I was 16, my father asked me to sit down at the kitchen table. Then he sat down with me. He asked me what I wanted my tombstone to say. I thought, “Oh no, what have I down now that he wants to kill me?” But what he really wanted me to do was write down how I wanted to be remembered after I die. After much discussion, I wrote, “She lived her life in such a way that her life lives on in a positive manner.” Then he said, “Are you living your life in such a way that people will remember you in the way you want to be remembered? Are you affecting people in a way that is positive and when they think of you after you are gone, will they remember you with affection and love in their hearts?” Well, I have to admit that at that age I hadn’t given that much thought and perhaps my behavior hadn’t been even close to affecting people in a positive way. Somehow his words stuck a cord in my very being and I started considering what he said before I acted out….or I should say…acted up….in the future. Even today…all these years later… I try to live my life so that I will affect people in a positive way and so that if my Dad were still alive, he’d be proud to put those words on my tombstone one day.
Goals give us guidelines for life. If you know what you want and where you want to go, it’s easy to say NO to things that don’t fit the plan. You’ll be on the road to success and you won’t veer off one way and then the other…at least not very far. Goals are like having your own true north….they keep you on track.
Writing down your goals is a basic strategy …. And yet only 3% of people ever commit to writing what they want for themselves. The act of cursive writing has a direct correlation with your subconscious mind. When you write your goals out, an imprint is made on your subconscious and it goes to work to assist you in figuring out a way to make your goals happen. Then go a step further….cut out pictures of your goals and put them where you can see them. Put them on your bathroom mirror, on the visor of your car, in your wallet next to your money. This will keep you focused.
I call this success mapping. Cut out words and pictures of all the things you want to be, to do, and to have, paste them on a big piece of construction paper or in your success journal and put it where you can see it every day. Let it remind you daily where you want to go so you will always know which road to take.
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