Start Your Future Now Using Goals to Build a Solid Foundation MEGA Mentors Excerpts from: “Begin with the end in mind”, S.Covey, Frank Rivers, Zig Ziglar and B. Tracy www.usadojo.com/articles/end-goals-html And also D. Keener, “Succeeding in Life through Goals” www.dkeener.com/keenstuff/goals.html Start the discussion by asking a few questions: Is it possible to be successful without having goals and a plan? Say very few people win the lottery or marry a millionaire. What happens if YOU waited for things to happen? Who wants to be better off in the future than you are today? Let’s see what Oprah has to say about it?

Ophrah Winrey What do you think about Oprah’s statement? Video: Start Dreaming Today www.huffingtonpost.com/.../setting-goals-dreams_n_25593552.hmtl What do you think about Oprah’s statement?

Getting Started Before you can be successful, you must identify what you really want. What do you want to be? What do you want to do? What do you want to have? What do you want to give? What do you NOT want to be, do, have, give? Write down 2-3 responses for each of the questions above(3 minutes). Be prepared to discuss your answers. Ask the students to provide their answers to the above. Before you end , ask 1-2 people do the have a plan to get there?? For example, probe them to think to the end and work backwards.

Seven Steps to Success (Record your personal answers) Dream big dreams If you could be, do or have anything in life and were guaranteed you would not fail, what would you do Visualize yourself 5 years in advance and everything worked out just right, what would it look like? What would make you happy? Where would you be? Identify your unique talents and abilities 2. What makes you special? What do you find easy to do, but others think is hard? Sometimes, ask others what they think you should do. Many times they will see unique talents that you have over looked. For the next seven points, have a brief group discussion and ask the students to record their answers in their notebooks

Seven Steps to Success 3. Resolve to do, what you love to do, and commit to be excellent at it. It is only when you are growing in something that is important to you that you feel alive and in touch with your world. Remember that excellence is not a destination, but a life long journey. 4. Accept 100% responsibility for who and where you are in life. You are where you are because that is what you have chosen. You are what you are and where you are because of your past behaviors. If you want to change the future, then you need to change the behaviors you are doing today. True maturity begins when you realize that no one is coming to the rescue, but that you are totally responsible.

Seven Steps to Success 6. Set clear specific goals 5. Be honest with yourself Refuse to engage in the idea that the laws of cause and effect will ignore you.. The biggest mistake is to expect something for nothing. Success only comes from paying in full, in advance. 6. Set clear specific goals Less than 3% of people have written goals, and everyone else works for them. Only serious goals are written down. The more you write down your goals, the clearer they become in your mind and the more you believe they are attainable. The more they become attainable in your mind, the more you are willing to overcome the obstacles that will come in the way.

7. To resolve to persist until you succeed You must be willing to endure the problems that you are going to face. Persistence is self-discipline in action. Your persistence is your belief in yourself and your ability to succeed. The more you believe in yourself, the higher your self-esteem. Soon you will develop an unstoppable attitude or Tamashi - indomitable spirit.

Quotes: Start Your Future Now “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” George Harrison “Begin with the end in mind” Stephen Covey “If you do not set and strive for goals, you are going to work on stuff that doesn't matter, thereby wasting your time” D. Keener

Summary and Questions What did you learn from the session? When is the best time to start making goals? Will you be successful if you don’t dream big and do something about it? Why or why not? ASSIGNMENT: Write down your long range goals (be, want, give, have) and a be prepared to discuss with your mentors