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Seven Essential Steps for Reaching Your Goals in 2011

If you’re anything like me, you are more than ready to put 2010 in the books and begin setting your sights on a “fresh start” in 2011. For most of us, making a list of New Year’s resolutions (goals) is an annual ritual, much like paying taxes, throwing a Super Bowl party, or for some, forgetting your anniversary. Unfortunately, the second part of that annual ritual is usually watching those resolutions drift away, almost as quickly as they were set. Has this happened to you? Does it happen to you every year? Do you want this year’s resolutions to turn out differently?

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“The Challenge of Gratefulness”

GAINING GROUND

In preparing to write this inaugural issue of “Gaining Ground”, I had a great debate with myself over the appropriate subject matter. Thrashing around in my head were all of the normal important success topics, which will all eventually be covered, but as I really began to think about it, the answer became obvious to me. I truly believe that no great success can be accomplished without FIRST being grateful for all the riches that we already possess. So, it is only appropriate that this first edition of “Gaining Ground” be built on the solid foundation of gratefulness.

Just this past week I had the privilege of listening to an incredibly inspirational message on a “Focus on the Family” broadcast (www.family.org ) by a speaker named David Ring (www.davidring.org). In short, David was born with Cerebral Palsy, orphaned at age 14, and faced humiliating public ridicules and challenges that I can’t even begin to relate to. Ultimately, David made the decision to overcome his obstacles and live by the motto “I have Cerebral Palsy, but Cerebral Palsy doesn’t have me!” Through his faith in God and his passion for inspiring others, David has been able to overcome his obstacles and reach hundreds of thousands of people with his inspiring message. I find it amazing that although his Cerebral Palsy has affected his speech to the point that it’s difficult to understand his words, everything that he says is clearly understood!

I think that what touches me the deepest about David’s story is his incredible attitude of gratefulness. For every aspect of his life that he could be angry and bitter about, David seems to have a hundred things that he is grateful for. What an incredibly strong message that is! As I was listening to this message, I couldn’t help but think about how only fifteen minutes earlier I was complaining because my coffee wasn’t hot enough, or how another fifteen minutes before that I was a annoyed because I “had” to sit in traffic on my way to the office. As I started thinking about it, I realized that my irrelevant complaint list goes on and on and on ... How about yours?

So, right then and there I made the decision to challenge myself to be more grateful for what I DO have in my life. Of course, like most others I’ve made that same challenge many times in the past, but this time I was determined to make it more than just another passing thought. In order to make it happen, I knew that I needed to find a way to condition myself to naturally focus on being grateful for not only big things like my beautiful family, our health, my home, and my relationship with our incredible God, but also the things that I more commonly take for granted like my friendships, a great Sunday dinner, and the freedom to listen to a Bruce Springsteen album any time I wish.

Like any other behavior modification, making the shift to having an attitude of gratefulness requires what I call the “Three-P Process” (Purpose, Plan, and Practice). My personal process for the “Challenge of Gratefulness” looks like this:

Purpose
Enrich my life and the lives of others by learning to be naturally grateful for all of the blessings that I DO have.

Plan
Challenge myself to become conscious of my complaints, and then immediately replace each complaint with five things that I should instead be grateful for.

Practice
I have set an electronic reminder called “RIGHT NOW I AM GRATEFUL FOR…” to pop-up on my cell phone every four hours throughout the day.

Dale Carnegie had this to say about being grateful: “If only the people who worry about their liabilities would think about the riches they do possess, they would stop worrying. Would you sell both of your eyes for a million dollars… or your two legs… or your hands… or your hearing? Add what you do have, and you’ll find that you won’t sell them for all the gold in the world. The best things in life are yours if you can appreciate yourself.

So, now I put the challenge to you. Do you find yourself complaining too often about cold coffee, traffic jams, and countless other irrelevant annoyances that show up in your daily life? Do you wonder how a man like David Ring has the capacity to be grateful , not despite his Cerebral Palsy, but because of his Cerebral Palsy, realizing that it’s the tool that God gave him to touch the lives of so many others?

How could your life, and others around you, be different if you were conscious of and truly grateful for more of the blessings that you already have in your life? I encourage you to take your own personal “Challenge of Gratefulness” NOW and find out!

I truly appreciate you taking the time to read this first issue of “Gaining Ground”. My purpose for writing these articles is to provide readers with a valuable source of encouragement and inspiration. I’m so grateful to have you as a reader, and I look forward to sharing many more words of encouragement with you in the future.

Sincerely,

Brian Osher
Personal Life Coach
President / Founder
GAIN Life Coaching
Goals, Actions, and Inspiration NOW!