OK, I need you to be honest to yourself with these next questions. If you lie, you will only lie to yourself and will have learned nothing...

1) Do you regularly plan ahead?
2) Does your plans involve EVERYTHING you ever wanted?
3) Do you plan ahead for your business and family?
4) Do you visualize your plan being achieved?
5) ** How far ahead do you actually plan???

That wasn't so bad was it???

Within this article, I will explain to you why ALL of these questions should be asked when planning anything in your life, whether it be for business or pleasure, it makes no difference.

1) Do you regularly plan ahead?

Come-on, be honest, do you actually sit there and make a good attempt to plan out your future, every single day? NO? Why not? Is it not that important to you?

Failing to plan is the same as planning to fail!

Planning everyday may seem like a lot of work to do but in actual reality once it becomes a habit, it becomes second nature.

Study shows that it takes an average of 21 times for something to become a habit. You must drive your car 21 times before you can drive sub-consciously.

One myth that people think about when writing out their plans is that if they don't reach them, they have failed. Let me straighten that one our for you right now. Just because your didn't hit your target doesn't mean that you didn't do anything right, it only means that your closer than before you ever had a plan.

Think about that for a second, who made you create your plan? (please don't say me) you did! Who got upset from not hitting the mark (you did). See the key is not to allow yourself to feel bad about not being perfect with your plans. Its not the destination, its the journey that matters.

Instead, lets try to concentrate more on why you are doing this in the 1st place. Is it for your family? Is it for more time? More money? Whatever your reason is, think about that and only that when it comes time to revise your plans.

2) Does your plans involve everything you wanted?

When I say everything, I mean everything. I have this little special note pad that stays on my desk at all times. Within it are countless ideas of everything I ever wanted at that very moment.

At that very moment meaning, whatever it was that I wanted to have in my life "at that moment" that would make me happier. Doesn't matter what it is. For you, exactly what right now would make you happy? A nicer car? $5,000 in your bank account? More clients? Better search engine ranks?

Anything you want, write it down. Your mind is like a "crew" on your ship. If you don't walk out in the morning and command what it is you actually want done today, your crew won't know what to do. You'll have a bunch of mindless fools running around like chickens trying to find the plank to jump off the boat.

Writing exactly what it is that you want will give your mind a "TO DO LIST". Once your mind has its "TO DO LIST", your sub-conscious will search through your memory banks for an example of how to accomplish your "to do list". If your mind doesn't find anything within your memory banks, it will eventually start shooting out ideas and tips for your conscious mind to complete.

I should also note that writing down something is like etching it right into stone when it comes to your mind. It's like your mind is the paper, you need to write something down in order for it to come back later and revise what it is that you wrote down.

3) Do you plan ahead for your business and family?

Well why wouldn't you? When I think about my business, I think of what it will do for me, my friends, and my family in the future. At the moment, I am currently not married nor do I have any children but that doesn't mean that I am not thinking about the future with a family in it.

Always consider business & family the same. They are a both part of yours and the their future.

4) Do you visualize your plan being achieved?

Visualization is the fruit of success.

I affirm that because do you ever find yourself visualizing yourself in that car you always wanted? Who visualizes you and your family on some beach in Mexico somewhere? Who visualizes you winning the "entrepreneur of the year award"? YOU DO!

In order to be happier and more successful, you need to get better, you need to get better. I repeat, you need to get better.

Visualization should be a daily event. Take a moment everyday, even for 30 seconds and visualize all the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of everything involved with your daily plans.

For example, lets pretend that you have a presentation to do and like most people who have done a presentation, you are extremely nervous.

Take a moment about an hour before the presentation. Visualize yourself walking into the meeting feeling great, confident, and relaxed. Hear the people having a good time, see them smiling and paying attention to you. Try to smell a nice cologne within the room that makes you smile when taken in. Last but not least, see all the people around you congratulating you on a job well done after the presentation. See yourself having a nice, warm, rich tasting coffee while discussing your successful presentation with your boss, employees or even your potential clients.

I guarantee you that if you make it a habit to prepare yourself with visualization in that fashion before any presentation, you will have better, more vibrant feelings afterwards.

This very same technique applies for your goals. You must see yourself driving that car, the way the air feels in your hair, maybe the way the engine sounds. Whatever you can think of that lets your mind wander into your goals and dreams, use it!

5) ** How far ahead do you actually plan???

This is by far the most important. The most important only because it takes a little from all the above questions I've talked about.

What is the furthest you've ever planned ahead? I'll put money on the fact that it's not far enough. Dare to be bold, be strong in your convictions. Don't be afraid to think outside the box.

So how far do I allow myself to plan ahead???

200 Years!

No joke, my goals have included a timeline of around 231 years ahead in the future. See I don't only think about how I want to improve my life, I concentrate on something higher than life. I concentrate on my family history that is yet to be written. We all would like to leave a dinesty for future generations to prosper. Well, why aren't you planning ahead for it???

Don't be shy, afraid, uncertain or embarrased, just do it. Keep doing it within your note pad that you write in. Keep thinking about your children, their children, your great, great, great grand children to be.

Think about them. Wouldn't it be nice if they could look back and say wow, my great, great, great grand father had the vision, the dedication and the will to think of me. Think of the impact you could have on those to be. Even go as far as writing a letter to the individuals who will be in your families future. Tell them what you have planned and why.

What if what you do now, affects someone 4 generations down the line in such a positive way that they feel the need to pick up were you left off? If it wasn't for your vision, it would of never happened.

Better yet, it hasn't happened, so how about you pick up that pen and start your future right now, this very moment.

On that note, I won't keep you from writing your future.

Good luck & remember to see everything happen the way you want it to happen!

About the Author:

Martin Lemieux is the President of Smartads. Visit his web sites Mind Food For The Soul at http://mindpower.smartads.info and  Affordable Web Design & Web Site Marketing Tips.

November 11, 2003