Goal Setting

By Dean White

If you want to be, do and have you must understand your purpose in life, set clear goals and take the necessary actions. Identify and focus on what is important to you. You will learn, grow and become a different person. You will be proactive, make things happen and convert those wishes into reality!

Based on years of experience, tried and tested methods, Dean will share with you his ‘secrets’ to effective goal setting. In this step by step guide you will learn how to:

●Take control, determine your vision & understand your true purpose in life.
●Turn ideas into reality, do and have the things you always dreamed of.
●Focus on what really matters and be better at everything you do.
●Become the successful, happy person you always hoped to be.

In his second book 'The Complete Guide to Effective Goal Setting' he shows how anybody can understand their true purpose in life, set goals and realise their dreams. Dean is known for delivering solutions, leadership, change and strategies. He has studied and applied the traits for success and personal development for over 15 years. By coaching and mentoring he has successfully helped many people achieve their goals, in health, careers, wealth and life.

This is Book two in the Take a Look in the Mirror series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dean White
• Release date: Jul 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9780995437623

Dean White

Dean's passion is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. Dean is driven by his desire to help people reach their potential. He believes that you can design your life, make progress every day and do what you love. Dean has dedicated his time and effort to educate, motivate and inspire people around the world to make positive lifestyle changes. He has studied, researched, written and spoken for many years in the fields of leadership, business, health and self-development. Dean is founder and Director of EDJE. He was born and raised in the United Kingdom and now lives in Adelaide, Australia. To learn more go to https://www.edje.com.au.

Book preview

Already One Step Ahead

You may not have realised it, but by purchasing this book, you are already one step ahead of the majority of the world. That is a big statement to make. By the time you get to the end of this book (or hopefully sooner), you will agree with me.

Try this exercise. Talk to at least ten people that you know, friends, family, work colleagues or complete strangers. Here is the first question I would like you to ask, Do you have any written goals? The key word here is ‘written’. Some people will say ‘sure, I have goals’, but when asked if they have written goals, they will state (reluctantly) ‘no’.

An unwritten goal is nothing more than a dream or an idea. If written goals do exist, ask them if they can briefly show you how to set and plan goals. From my experience, one out of the ten people I ask, two people will have written goals and only one will be able to demonstrate how they set and plan them. Oh dear!

Find somebody who is either ‘successful’ or financially independent and ask them the same questions. Chances are you will see a greater percentage of people who have written goals. You will also find (contrary to common assumptions), that successful people will take the time to explain how they set goals and what they had to do to become successful. Case in point, this is why I wrote this book. The effective goal setting book is my opportunity to share how I did it, and if I can do it, so can you!

The Effective Guide to Goal Setting

This book provides many practical principles to goal setting. Ranging from simple ‘to-do’ lists to providing insight into the question ‘what is my purpose in life’? The principles in this book, when applied over time, will produce very positive results. Although the book is titled ‘Goal Setting’, it goes much further than this.

The principles in this book, have been put together after years of research and experimentation. A lot of the investigation has also been backed up by colleagues who have also adopted these principles. Just applying a couple of techniques and ideas will see you break even with the cost of this book.

What guarantees can I give you? Let me ask that another way. You already own this book; you have therefore made the first step. What guarantees are you going to give to yourself, how committed are you and are you going to do what it takes to set goals and take control of your life?

While every effort has gone into this book on the principles, you may find that one or two of them do not work for you. You may conclude that there is contradictory evidence from a 'reliable' source, also known as the Internet. Take what you find useful from this book and apply it. One of the consequences of technology advancements is that we are overwhelmed with choice, which makes it even harder to determine which piece of information is correct.

If you get something from this book, that is great. If this book does nothing for you and you have heard it all before, then that is great also. If you have all the knowledge you need; you may simply need to apply that knowledge and put it to good use! Making the decision to take control of your life, to set goals, writing them down and using them, you are already one step ahead of a substantial percentage of the world! If setting goals make a significant positive change in my life, why isn’t everybody doing it?

It is All Too Difficult

We conducted a survey and asked the question ‘If you have no written goals currently, why do you think that is?’ I have my theories and will combine them with the feedback from our survey to understand why a significant percentage of the population do not have written goals.

The Lottery Factor

During the early years at school, there was a lack of emphasis on learning financial intelligence. You, therefore, have to educate yourself in this area. Many people struggle with simple terms such as cash flow, budget, asset and liability. Is it too difficult to learn these? The perceived easiest and quickest path to gaining financial independence (wealth), without self-education, putting in the effort and time is the lottery! Everywhere I go, I hear at least one person suggesting that they cannot afford this, or they cannot afford that and that ‘one day’ they will win the lottery and everything will be all right!

I am Too Busy!

That is right, too busy going out every night drinking, playing computer games and watching television. We are all busy nowadays and have very little time to do anything. It is easier to just sit on the couch all night and aimlessly flick through the numerous television channels.

What’s the Point?

If you are happy with where you are right now and where you are heading, that is great. However, if you know (be honest) that you could do better with some aspect of your life, then doesn’t it make sense to do something about it?

What if I Fail?

Would you class not making progress every day and living a life of just existing success? Fear of failure is so strong that many people talk themselves out of doing anything before they even try once. As a baby, did you try to walk, fall over and then give up? Why is it as adults we fear so much? We will answer this question later on in this book.

The Comfort Zone

It is easier and routine to go to work every day (despite hating your job) than to make a change. It is routine to spend hours on the road every day to get to and from work. It is more comfortable to stay in the bad relationship, moving on takes effort. It is okay to run out of money at the end of the month, to get a pay rise takes much effort.

I have listed just a few of the areas that contribute to the reasons why many people do not have goals. What I have also discovered is that individuals do not consider goals until they perceive it to be too late in life. They then make the decision that they are too old to pursue a change in direction and continue to ‘get by’. The younger you are, the less likely you are to see that far ahead and therefore don’t feel the need to set goals. You have plenty of time to do that. Live a little, take each day as it comes, there is no reason to rush. If only that were true, the clock is ticking!

Taking Control

"If you don't design your own life plan,

chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan.

Guess what they have planned for you? Not much!"

~ Jim Rohn

My Early Experiences

The initial years of my life consisted of going to school to prepare me for something; that something appeared to be a job. Minimal emphasis if any at all focused on real world skills such as financial literacy, business skills, leadership, relationships and developing personal skills. The closest I came to any form of goal setting was during a course on starting my own business, which consisted of something called a business plan.

With no ‘business plan’ for my life, looking back, I was not really in control. Depending on the situation, planning was by necessity. Now and then opportunities allowed me to take some time out and reflect on what I could be doing next in life. The motivation during those early years was ‘how can I make more money so that I can live?’

During the latter half of my Royal Air Force career, I had an opportunity to increase my income. Amway, a Multi-Level Marketing business was one such opportunity. I soon realised that it was not the specific products that excited me, it was the support programme. I was on a new path that included conferences, books and audio tapes. I could play the tapes in my car and learn new skills such as marketing, sales, leadership and goal setting. One particular person that resonated with me was the late Zig Ziglar.

I applied a few of these new skills in everyday life situations and business. I was due to leave the Royal Air Force and start a new career. I, therefore, set a few goals. I purchased more books and tapes and began to self-educate. I transitioned to the world of Information Technology and rapidly advanced my career. Setting goals at this stage of my life helped me to focus on what I needed to become to be successful in my new career. Identifying the new skills, I would need and how I would go about attaining them. My book library and training courses increased accordingly.

I must admit, at first, I would question the cost of the books, audio, seminars and training sessions. However, within a few months, I could already see the benefits. Planning and goal setting soon became a regular part of my life, which included the need to avoid the dangers and maximise opportunities.

Below is a list of some of the key milestones in my life that were guided by goal planning and goal setting:

1. I started a desktop publishing business.

2. The acquisition of knowledge via books, tapes and courses.

3. Transitioning from one career to another.

4. Increasing my marketability, including promotions and being head-hunted.

5. Advancing in my new career, being a manager and leader.

6. Closing off one life in the United Kingdom and starting a new one in Australia.

7. Planning and construction of our new family home.

8. Eradication of debt, increasing our assets & passive incomes.

9. Regaining my body, losing weight and increasing my energy.

10. Understanding my purpose in life and pursuing that goal!

The above didn’t ‘just happen’, prior planning, long-term goal setting and breaking down the goals into monthly tasks and daily to-do lists were the underpinning