Kris de Leon's Blog

Most people want to achieve great heights of success. At the same time, many people sit around for a long time wishing for luck to strike. The best example in this case is someone who wants to be rich but only tries the most ineffective method – playing the Lotto. There are chances of becoming rich over night, but how likely is it that this will actually happen? Creating a realistic plan in order to achieve the desired results is vital in any case, regardless of how high or low your goals are.

A great way to achieve your dream is to take successive steps that will gradually increase your chances of reaching your goal.

Take, for example, a swimming competition. The first thing to do is to make sure you are not afraid of the water. Before you even consider entering the race, you have to eliminate your fears, which may be holding you back.

Once you are convinced that your goal is worthwhile, the next stage of your plan is preparation. You cannot expect to win a professional swimming race when you don’t even know how to swim. Start with the basics and never skip any steps out of desire of reaching your goal faster. The experience and knowledge you are skipping will probably come back and hurt you later on. Take gradual steps – swim half a lap first, and then move on to a full lap. Your skills will progress each time, and you will soon beat your own lap records every time you enter the swimming pool.

It might take days, weeks or years to prepare for the big “race,” depending on what your goals are. The main thing is to enter the race feeling confident in your own success and having all the skills that would allow you to win.

There are two important benefits of taking steps one at a time and keeping your plan realistic. First, preparation and planning brings confidence. Organizing your strategy reduces the chances of making wrong moves or making less efficient decisions. Remember to take action on your plan. Don’t spend your entire time planning; otherwise, you will not reach your goal.

Secondly, having a sound plan has many psychological benefits and your subconscious mind worries less. This gives you more energy to concentrate on what is important. You are creating a pattern in your awareness that accepts success and integrates it in your plan.

When both your conscious and your subconscious mind believe in your chances of reaching a goal, you benefit from a power of concentration and focus that eliminate outside interference and let you follow the shortest path to success.

Good luck and getting to your goals!

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Have you achieved major success in your life? Most successful people I’ve spoken to have told me that success should be less of an end in itself, and more of a way of life. A truly successful person has mastered life, and thus has control of the direction of his destiny.

So how do you start on the path to becoming successful? A good way to start would be to find a successful person and ask him how he did it. Then find another and do the same. Then find another, and then another. By doing so, you will acquire the knowledge from the people who have achieved great things, and you’ll be armed with wisdom to go after your goals and desires. Success often leaves clues, so why not discover these clues?

People who have reached peak performance have certain habits and carry out certain actions. They have each found their own way to get to that point, so they obviously know how to get there. Most of them know multiple ways to get there, simply because they have done it. In the process, they failed a number of times, so they know what doesn’t work.

I read somewhere about an interview of 4 millionaires on how they got their start and earned their first million. On average, they each had an average of 18 businesses before hitting the jackpot. Imagine 17 failures. Then imagine speaking to one of them and learning how to avoid, maybe, 13 of those steps. You would already be closer to your goal.

The point is, as far as success is concerned, the most important ingredient comes from inside you. There is determination, focus, power of will and others. Then there is knowledge. It is that knowledge that gives direction to all the other forces. Once the direction is known, take action! With that action comes a definite movement towards the ultimate goal.

So if you have big dreams and want to find a faster way getting there, learn from those who have gone before you. There are many out there, and their methods are vastly different. You don’t have to do exactly as they have done, but you can apply their methods and knowledge to your own journey. Once you act on this knowledge, I can assure you that you will start to think like a successful person. Once that happens, it is only a matter of time before that success begins to manifest in your life.

Here’s to your success!

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The most successful people powered their achievements with strong motivation and the ability to persist despite previous failures. Motivation is the fire that fuels success. It is also the result of a strong burning desire that directs a person’s actions and thoughts and helps create situations that move towards accomplishing a specific goal.

Motivation must come from within, and not from an outside source. For example, if you decide to go on a diet because your spouse wants you to, that is poor motivation, and you will probably not do well at it. It is only when you truly desire to control your habits and behaviors that you will achieve self-discipline. Motivation brings about true change.

One way to increase motivation is through pressure, or having someone hold you accountable. Tell your friends, co-workers and family about your commitment to change something in your life. They will hold you accountable of whether you are taking the right action to get you to your goal.

Motivation works hand in hand with self-discipline and organization. Lack in these areas can lead to a greater number of failures, which can impact your motivation. One way to alleviate this is to structure your day and organize yourself, so that you are implementing the action plans that will get you to your goal.

As you work towards making a positive change in your life, you will eventually experience failure. The only way to defeat failure is through persistence and perseverance. The most common reason people give up on achieving their goals is because they encountered failure once or twice, and they become afraid to try again. Winston Churchill once said, “Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.” Before you even begin, you must plan to deal with failure. Be ready to persevere. Vow to never give up, no matter what, no matter how long it takes!

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Having self-discipline is powerful to help you accomplish anything you desire. With self-discipline, you can control your emotions, actions, thoughts, words and personal direction. Some people seem to be naturally self-controlled and some seem to have no self-control at all. Others seem to constantly struggle with self-discipline.

Discipline is learning to say “no” to our primitive uncontrolled cravings and selfish destructive desires. We learn to develop this discipline when you can distinguish the difference between what is actually needed and what is really necessary.

It is more difficult today, than in any other time in history, to exert self-discipline because of our ability to get almost anything we want with a push of a button or swipe of a credit card. We are also constantly bombarded with advertising that enhances our cravings for things.

An important step to gaining self-control is to identify the areas where we are out of control. Work on self-denial in the areas you want to change. Deny your self a certain pleasure each day. Then begin to start small with little victories each day, like eating one less snack or watching one less television show.

Developing new routines is a key to self discipline. People who have routines tend to be more disciplined and accomplish more. If you are one of those people who have trouble with routines, try adding just one at a time. Keep it simple. Work on the things that are most important first. Evaluate yourself regularly to see how you are doing. Reward yourself for keeping at it. Once it becomes a habit, it is much easier to maintain.

Of course, routines can be done to excess, so remember to give yourself a little healthy leeway in case the unexpected comes up.

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If you want to take that quantum leap towards achieving your goals, a great way to do so is to fuel your passion. Passion is what separates champions from the rest of the field, and can keep you going for the long term. Passion is what drives you to get you closer to your goals. If you’re about to undertake a major goal, make sure you follow these four things that will help fuel your passion.

1) Passion should be tied to ownership. If you’re going to achieve a goal, make sure it’s your own goal, and not somebody else’s. Otherwise, you won’t feel like doing whatever it takes to get to that goal. However, if it’s the goal you set for yourself, you will feel more compelled to reach your goals.

2) Passion is fuelled when you take accountability for reaching your goals. Shared goals take people further than goals that are unshared. Make sure you have a mentor who shares your goals. Your mentor will have your best interest in heart and will invest the time to hold you accountable to your goal. For a mastermind group, and brainstorm ideas on how you can get closer to your goal.

3) You will feel the driving passion if your goal is noble or significant. In other words, people will feel more passionate if their goal will affect other people in a positive way. In addition, they will feel more passionate if by achieving their goals, they will help others directly or indirectly reach their goals. These people will be driven by purpose.

4) Passion is fuelled by fun. People sometimes forget that it’s OK to have fun while reaching your goals. We often feel stressed and under pressure to reach and achieve goals. However, take the pressure off and enjoy the tasks at hand that will get you to your goal. Why do the work if you’re not having fun in the first place? It should be enjoyable, and if you’re having fun while you’re working, you’ll continue to fuel that passion and get closer to your goal.

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So what separates the winners from the losers? It’s having the winner’s edge. It’s the little difference that makes all the difference in the world and separates people from the rest of the pact. The winners take the potential they were born with and live up to that potential. The winners make things happen, while losers simply let things happen. The winner’s edge lies in your attitude. The sharpness of that edge will all depend on whether your attitude is positive or negative.

So what do the winners have that the rest of the field lack? First, the winners feel that they deserve to win in advance. They feel they have potential that is worth the investment. When they take that first step, they spend time in getting the necessary education and training in that area. Although they start off clumsy and awkward, winners don’t let that stop them because they have instilled the belief that they deserve to win.

The winners have laser-sharp focus on their goals, while losers don’t even set goals in the first place. They also expect the best, and are optimistic and have faith in the future. The power of expectation is so great, that whatever you expect in your mind, it will materialize. If you expect nothing but failure, you get failure. If you expect success, you get success. Optimism is an important ingredient in the winner. They expect the best and plan for the worst.

Winners also know they need to visualize in order to materialize. Imagination plus internalization equals realization. The mind is the most incredible motion picture ever invented. What you visualize inside your mind will be materialized on the outside. Olympic athletes often visualize their perfect race or competition even before it starts. The successful salesman visualizes his presentation even before it happens. The Oscar winner visualizes his or her acceptance speech even before performing in the movie.

Winners practice to perfection. Practice doesn’t make perfect. Rather, it’s only perfect practice that makes perfect. Rehearsal and training are important. You remember what you learned. You don’t try to do it, but you recall how to do it after endless training and preparation. Winners recall what they’ve done, and pre-call what they haven’t done yet. Imagination brings things from the past to the present. The mind can’t tell the difference from what you vividly imagine and what is reality. Everything you internalize over time becomes reality.

Finally, the winners persevere through rejection. Rejection to them means target correction, or learning experience. Failure is a detour, not a dead end. Unless they persevere, all the training in the world won’t help them unless they hang in there when the going gets tough. Successful people are comfortable with failure. Failure helps them understand that you win some and lose some.

Do you have the winner’s edge? It’s a competitive world out there, so check yourself against what the winner’s have, and soon you will separate yourself from the rest of the pact.

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Flexibility is often cited as one of the most important traits of every successful entrepreneur and leader. It is the ability to adapt your behavior to treat others the way they want to be treated. If you want to become more flexible in your way of interacting with others, cultivate the following 5 positive traits.

Confidence – It means having belief in yourself and trusting your own judgement and resourcefulness. Having confidence in specific situations would flow from your ability to meet life’s challenges. A person who exhibits confidence appreciates a sincere compliment, and is able to handle criticism. Confidence is something that gets built up over time, and this stems from your history of both large and small victories and accomplishments. This helps you handle yourself well in any situation. It’s easy to get someone’s attention with confidence. However, it’s hard to be flexible when you’re fearful or easily intimidated.

Tolerance – A person is tolerant when he is open to accepting opinions and practices different from his own, while an intolerant person doesn’t get attention from a diverse audience. Tolerance is developed from an early age, and this is one of the greatest gifts a parent can give to a child. Holding negative attitudes towards certain people prevents flexibility. With tolerance, however, people who may initially disagree will start to listen to one another and open dialogue. This opens up creativity and coming up with solutions to problems.

Empathy – A person with empathy will feel the pain or joy in the other person. Some people may confuse it with sympathy, which means acknowledging the feelings of someone else. Sympathy results in kindness and pity. Empathy, however, is a term for a deeper feeling, where you can put yourself in someone else’s shoes. You can’t feel the pain or joy of another person until you are able to feel the same thing in yourself. Do you acknowledge your own pain? Can you feel your own joy? Real empathy lies in simply finding the same place within yourself that the other person is experiencing. The willingness to be flexible can be easy when you can put yourself in someone else’s shoes.

Being positive – This allows you to maintain a state of positive expectations about people and situations, including a positive state of energy in your thoughts and emotional patterns. The attitudes we hold shape our experience and come from deep within you. This is built on having a positive life philosophy, knowing your strengths, and surrounding yourself with other positive people. This gives you a sense of purpose and can get you through the tough times. Avoid people who tend towards negative traits, as they often drain you. By maintaining positive energy, you will develop the other three traits of empathy, tolerance, and confidence, and people will start being drawn to you.

Respect for others – We’ve all heard the golden rule of “do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.” Treat people the way they want and need to be treated. Having a respect for others is not only a moral imperative, but also necessary for survival. It’s easy to become flexible when you respect others.

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I hope you all got some kind of value from my series on the Goal Achieving Process. For those who joined the group recently, you can refer to my series of 4 articles on Goal Achieving on my blog
http://krisdeleon.com

I’m a believer that leaders lead by example, and that you should practice what you preach. I’m going to show you an example in real time how I’m applying what I just wrote in my series into my life.

By now, you should have received an invite to my event called “$7K in 7 Days Birthday Challenge for Charity” (http://bit.ly/fbafanevent). This is something I created recently, and I’ll show you step by step how I’m applying what I’ve written in my series of articles through this ambitious challenge.

5 Steps of the Goal Achieving Process

Step 1: Reflection and Evaluation
One of my desires in life is to become a philanthropist and set up a nonprofit in the next few years (I’ve set up my businesses to incorporate philanthropy)

Step 2: Dreaming Big Dreams
A big dream of mine is to find a cure for HIV/AIDS in my lifetime. I know a number of people affected by this, so I want to do something in my power to get there.

Step 3: Creating goal using S.M.A.R.T. formula

- Specific: $7K

- Measurable: I can track how much I’ve raised each day, and measure daily result against goal

- Attainable: At first, I thought this was beyond my capability because I’ve never raised more than $100 for a charity before. After researching, I came across a guy who raised close to $15K in 12 hours using Twitter last year (and he had probably just the same amount of experience I have)

- Realistic: It’s been done before by people with equal or less experience than me

- Time certain: Deadline by April 4 (7 days to my birthday)

Step 4: Implementation and Accountability
I’ve implemented by first creating a Facebook event page to raise awareness of this campaign, then follow through every day. I’ve done my research on people who successfully used social media to raise funds, and have borrowed some of their ideas.

I’ve asked a friend who I consider the “King of Fundraising”, since he does this for a living, to be my mentor and hold me accountable.

Step 5: Repeat process
I’ll evaluate my progress daily and make changes where necessary.

http://bit.ly/fbafanevent

I will keep you updated, but I would like to ask you for some help with this (as you can’t do anything alone), and you need a Mastermind group (hence why I created this group). I’d be grateful if you can help in any way, whether it be monetary contribution, creating buzz, promoting this event, advice, or simply RSVP “Attending” and post positive comments to show moral support. Whether or not you believe in my cause, I’d be grateful for any kind of help. Click here for details: http://bit.ly/fbafanevent

As of this writing, while 168 people RSVPed “Not Attending” against 20 who wrote “Attending”, I’m not going to let this discourage me. My vision by the end of April 4 is to write the following status update “Thank you everyone! Kris exceeded the $7K in 7 Days Birthday Challenge for Charity”.

Kind regards,
Kris

702-475-5733
Skype: krisdeleon
krisdeleon78@gmail.com

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I’m now completing my series on the Goal Achieving Process with parts 4 & 5 here. There are two major reasons why people don’t reach they’re goals – they lack action (implementation) and follow-through (accountability). You may have the biggest dreams, and create S.M.A.R.T. goals, but without taking any action and following through your goals, then it’s worth nothing at all. You need to have a means and method to implement goals, and then follow-up. This all comes as a result of accountability.

The first step towards taking action and ensuring that you’re accountable is to constantly surround yourself with everything that reminds you of your goals. A great way to do this is by creating a vision board. Set aside a board in front of your desk, or anywhere in your room or office where you can see the board. Then hang up pictures of what you desire, and inspirational quotes to keep you going. This will ensure that you maintain your enthusiasm and energy level as you’re implementing your goals.

To continue with implementation, make sure you do the things necessary on a daily basis that helps you achieve the goal. If you’re in sales, and you want to double, triple or quadruple your results, then your daily activities can include being consistent on the number of phone calls or sales presentation you make. If your goal is to run a marathon, then you need to run every day for the necessary time and distance that will help you prepare for the marathon. Decide on the length and duration of these activities, and stay consistent.

The next step of implementation is prioritizing your time and money. Are you prioritizing your time so that you are focused on completing those daily activities that will produce results? Are you investing the right amount of money in resources, training or education needed? You will need a planning system on how to prioritize time and money. This is easy to do by using a day planner. One way to increase your productivity is to plan your next day before you go to sleep. When you wake up, stick to the plan. You wake up with enthusiasm because you know exactly what you’re going to do to accomplish this day. If an emergency or urgent matter arises, take care of it, then go back to working according to your plan. Make sure your plan focuses on the 20% of activities that yields 80% of your results. If you make this a habit, I’m sure you will see your productivity increase.

Now that you’ve implemented action plans to take you closer to your goals, take accountability by becoming the person you need to be. Jim Rohn said it best – “Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” The more you become, the more effective you become at everything you do, and the more you attract successful people and opportunities into your life. You do this by focusing on personal development and working with a mentor who has already achieved what you want. A mentor or coach will help you stay focused and hold you accountable by reminding you of your goals.

Part 5 of the goal setting process is to review and revise your plans. This will take you back to part 1, which is reflection and evaluation, and you move through the process until you achieve your goals.

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In my previous article, I discussed the importance of dreaming big dreams. It gives you the power to overcome fear and procrastination and achieve anything you want. If you have big dreams, how do you make them real? The next step is to set goals, which are the building blocks of your dreams. The way to properly set goals is to use the S.M.A.R.T. formula, which is an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time certain.

I’ll explain these components in more detail shortly, but first I’d like to discuss the different types of goals you can set for yourself. Bob Proctor talks about the ABC goals. He says that most people choose A level goals, which are those goals you are comfortable with because you’ve achieved them before. For example, if a person has lost 5 pounds, his next goal would be to lose 5 pounds. They’re not the type of goals that will get you to where you want to be. The B level goals are those you have never achieved, but not too far beyond what you’ve done before. Maybe your goal is to lose 15 pounds, but in your previous goal, you lost 10 pounds. These goals will stretch you, but not that much. The C level goals are those that really take your breath away. They’re so big that they frighten you, but are big enough to take you through obstacles and reward you for what you want. These are the types of goals you should aim for if you want to get closer to your dreams.

When creating your C level goals, make sure to follow the S.M.A.R.T. formula as follows:

Specific – It’s not enough to say that your goal is to “make more money” or “lose weight”. You need to be more specific, such as “I want to increase my yearly income by 15%” or “I want to lose 10 pounds”. People struggle with goal setting because they have not been specific enough. If you don’t have a target or something to aim for, you’re going to be all over the place with no focus. When you have clarity of your goals, you stand a much better chance of achieving them.

Measurable – If it’s not measurable, then it’s not a goal. If you’re watching a sporting event and there is no scoreboard, how would you know which team would win? The same holds true with a goal – without something to measure it by, how can you chart your progress and evaluate it? You won’t know if you met it or exceeded it.

Attainable – This is a tricky one because limiting thoughts might start to kick in. Don’t look at a goal from a belief standpoint, but rather from a commitment standpoint. Can you reach the goal based on the commitment you can give to it? For example, if you want to run a marathon, and have never ran a marathon before, can you dedicate the time and effort to train for one? Don’t say to yourself that this is not attainable, but rather can you invest the time to commit?

Realistic – This is another tricky one just like attainable. Does your goal violate certain physical laws? For example, do you want to go from dead broke to earning $100K within one month, if you’ve never done it before or made the necessary preparations? This is probably not realistic, but once you have more experience, it’s probably realistic to say that you can earn $100K in one month.

Time certain – Most people don’t put deadlines on their goals. If you want to lose 50 pounds, when do you want to lose it by? A dream is nothing more without a deadline on it. If you didn’t meet your deadline, don’t get discouraged. Simply extend the deadline, but you must keep taking action and not give up. Don’t ever procrastinate.

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