You’Ve Set a Goal … Now What?: The Right Book at the Right Time

By Sylvia Daines

If someone asked you if you wanted money, perfect health, or your dream home, what would you decide? People feel forced to choose between such things every day, but you dont have to decidebecause you can have them all! All it takes is the proper goal setting strategies.

Sylvia Daines, a successful salesperson and entrepreneur, explains how you can unlock the treasure chest where your goals are stored in this users guide to achieving your dreams.

Filled with inspiring stories, Youve Set a Goal Now What? will equip you with the tools you need to plot a path that leads to increased cash flow, excellent health and much more. Topics include:

the importance of visualization;
working with natures laws;
the conscious and subconscious minds;
why attitude is so important
methods to build self-esteem.

Learn how to use the tools you already have at your disposal with this guide to achievement that makes goal setting a way of life. Discover how to achieve everything you want with Youve Set a Goal Now What?

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jan 14, 2011
• ISBN: 9781450272148

Sylvia Daines

Sylvia Daines, a goal-setting expert, has achieved excellence as a salesperson and business owner. She regularly delivers seminars on setting and achieving goals. She lives in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, and is an active member of the Newmarket Youth Justice Committee, serving the York Region. "A wonderful book, I like it." Joe Girard World's #1 Salesman as attested by The Guinness Book of World Records www.joegirard.com

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SKU-000178639_TEXT.pdf

The Right Book at the Right Time

Sylvia Daines

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

You’ve Set a Goal … Now What?

The Right Book at the Right Time

Copyright © 2011 Sylvia Daines

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-4502-7213-1 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-4502-7215-5 (cloth)

ISBN: 978-1-4502-7214-8 (ebk)

Web site www.nowwhatbooks.ca

Illustrations by Somaly Touch

Graphic Design by Vera Miguelo

Edited by Chris Neil

Cover Design by Shelli Villanueva

Technical Advisor - Brandon Villanueva

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 3/22/11

DEDICATION

To my son Rick and my grandchildren, Ricky and Shelli

You have never doubted my dreams and goals, no matter how moonstruck they might seem to most people. You have been my inspiration. Also to anyone who dares to soar on golden wings, may you sprinkle a little gold dust on those less fortunate who haven’t yet found the courage to believe in themselves and in their own dreams. May all of you be inspired to unlock your individual greatness within the pages of this book.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many people in our world make a difference in the lives of others through a spirit of giving. I am truly blessed and privileged to have been surrounded by so many of them during the writing of this book. The following people have been a guiding light during my journey:

My family—Shelli, my granddaughter for the time she spent reading the entire manuscript and offering positive changes. The title is a project of her imagination.

Ricky, my grandson, for his listening and patience in understanding the explanation of the project in its entirety.

My great grandson, Brandon, for his expertise in computer language. Without him the beautiful graphics placed so carefully throughout the entire book would not be a reality.

All my wonderful great grandchildren for their input and completion of their version of the 21-day formula for setting and achieving goals. Brandon, Cody, Nicole, Christopher and especially Ryan who took the time to make sure his two siblings completed their goals and forwarded the results to me by e-mail on time. This was a pilot program but without all of you this special flavour that you added would not be such a delightful ingredient in this book.

Audrey, my special sister, who helped me capture the fond memories of our childhood.

My workplace world of people—I humbly thank Joel, a brilliant man, who ignited the flame and lifted my spirit with his beautiful and endearing foreword.

Somaly, who made my book come alive with her magnificent illustrations. Thank you once again for your creative genius.

Chris, my special editor, manuscript proofreader and friend, who helped me tell my story so beautifully with his passion. You were the eyes I needed to make it all happen in such a professional manner.

To Natasha, who has been my inspiration and has shared my vision. She is a true fearless leader who seeks to bring out the beauty in everyone.

And to Jeff, for helping me with technical questions that seemed to be never-ending.

To Randy, whose assistance with solving some delicate computer challenges helped me to reach the next step.

Vera, who made a lasting impression on me and added that extra something through her understanding and application of graphic software.

My co-workers, friends and the management at AIC, my present employer, who continue to support me in everything I do.

Without all of you this book would still be in the thinking stage.

Table of Contents

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1

Setting Your Goals

Chapter 2

The Thought Process

Chapter 3

The Importance of Visualizing

Chapter 4

Using Affirmations

Chapter 5

Working with Nature’s Laws

Chapter 6

Conscious Mind

Chapter 7

Subconscious Mind

Chapter 8

Attitude Says It All

Chapter 9

The Money Principle — Winning the Lottery

Chapter 10

Focus Is Imperative

Chapter 11

Staying Motivated

Chapter 12

Being Grateful

Chapter 13

Building Self-Esteem

Chapter 14

Action Is Everything

Chapter 15

Enjoy the Celebration

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PREFACE

What is your Belief?

We live in a world of not one belief, but of many ... our beliefs shape our lives ... our beliefs make a bold statement about who we are.

Depending on whether your belief centres around Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, New Age, Christianity or some other religion you might think of God in another way. The different religions have different ways of explaining the same Creator.

Throughout the book I sometimes make reference to God. When I speak of God I think of a personal God as our Creator.

We are all connected to the Universe—we are all precious in God’s heart.

The scripture verses cited in this book have been taken from the King James Version of The Holy Bible.

FOREWORD

I remember the moment I learned that Sylvia had a different approach to setting and fulfilling her goals, as clearly as I remember what I ate for lunch today. We were having a very ordinary office conversation—the one that begins with a warm smile, progresses with a generic What’s new? or How was your weekend? kind of conversation. You likely know the type of exchange—it’s warm, friendly and generally unremarkable.

I’m getting my new printer today, she said with a wry smile. It was a look that told me there was more to the story, but I had no idea where she was leading, or how I could get the conversation to the place that would reveal the source of the grin. I struggled for words which is a rare occurrence in my life.

Wha … what type of printer?

I don’t know why I asked that. I’m not sure there would have been an answer in the world that I would have really comprehended. It had been years since I bought a printer and I heard rumours that Sylvia had owned a company refurbishing printer cartridges. I expected a technical answer that I would have no knowledge of.

Time seemed to slow down as I asked the question. Her smile was transformed from wry to warm and teaching. She looked into an adjoining office, gently pointed a finger and with a quiet confidence stated, That one.

I suppose a better story teller would have given you some background. You’ll have to forgive my hurried introduction and allow me to skip through a few facts. Sylvia and I work at a call centre together, which has more than 800 people who call it their office. I am honoured to lead and serve the training team and Sylvia is a fixture and favourite in our halls. Our company celebrated her in January, 2009 by naming her to the highest honour we have—an internal award which globally recognizes three people of 1,400 for their hard work, effect on others, charity and attitude. Sylvia was the National winner and was selected from 800 employees at a ceremony that drew a standing ovation from a legion of co-workers.

Call centres have contests. We have them to motivate and recognize the successful completion of goals of our team members who work at difficult and stressful jobs. The printer was a grand prize for a monthly contest. There was only one of them and it would be won by a combination of hard work and chance (the high performers were entered into a draw to select winners).

I wrote our conversation off as idle chatter and figured Sylvia was trying to motivate herself. I thought she was teasing, playing a game or being silly that the printer was hers. I did remember thinking that the way she acted convinced that she was going to win it, was convincing.

I laughed off the comment when she gently informed me that she was serious—the printer was already hers. We traded smiles and moved on with the day.

Later that evening I made my way to the revolving doors that form the exit of our building. As I came around the corner to the exit, I found Sylvia staring at the doors, and trying to calculate if her printer would make it through those doors. Through the power of teamwork we were able to get it through and into her car.

Do you think it’s luck? a coincidence? a fluke? Was she cheating? I didn’t know what to make of it. I filed that experience in the back of my mind and went on with my life. I still traded conversations with Sylvia and I began to notice some patterns that I hadn’t noticed before. One pattern was her ability to consistently defy the odds of being one of 800 team members and appeared to win more than her share of prizes.

I began to watch closer. I then heard a rumour that she had won a lottery. I didn’t put a lot of stock in that one but was beginning to think that she must, indeed, be lucky.

Sylvia continued to win more prizes than math could logically explain and we continued to exchange far more conversations than an abacus could count. They were pleasant exchanges, but we never delved into her ability to navigate what I thought was random chance. My interest was far greater than learning about Sylvia winning contests—her attitude is magnetic and learning from, and her passion to learn got me really excited.

Things changed dramatically when our company teamed up to support a National charity by donating equipment and labour to find canvassers who could raise money for the charity. The task was easy—we would be given a list of names to call (thousands) and we would engage strangers and request them to canvass a small amount of neighbours on their street to raise money for charity.

We are a very goal-driven culture. Careers are made ... and broken ... by setting and accomplishing goals. The goals were easy to set for this fundraiser (a National standard of 0.75 – 1.5 volunteers per hour was the National average.) Finding two volunteers in an hour was virtually unheard of. We needed to find about 700 in three weeks (calling 18 of 21 possible days). About 40 volunteers per four hour shift were required with 6 to 8 people calling during that time. Our first night was a little low—I believe it was in the high 20’s. Night two was similar. Night three showed some gains. Each night had different people calling, except for Sylvia who insisted on working every evening.

When we looked closer at the numbers, we were shocked. Sylvia had accounted for more than 50% of our success. She was finding 16 to 22 people per night, crushing the National average and doing what the charity thought was impossible. Her numbers were so startling that we feared there may be a training issue—perhaps she was entering incorrect data that was skewing her numbers. The on-duty managers stated that she was applying the correct knowledge and verified her behaviour and accomplishments. She was not cheating and was achieving the impossible.

Curiosity got the best of me and I went to the classroom on the fourth night.

Sylvia, how’s it going?

Great! I love this ...

Have you found any volunteers? She had been on the phones about an hour; her number should have been at four or five.

No, but that’s okay. They’re busy. She gave me another wry smile.

Busy doing what?

Checking their calendars, getting a pen to write down the information I have, changing their plans so they can be free because they want to help us.

Sylvia worked all 17 days and accounted for almost 50% of our total success on the program. She told me that she had missed her goal by 12 volunteers. If you’ve been reading carefully, you’ll see that we had planned to work 18 days but only worked 17. We ended the campaign early because of limited meeting space. I argued with her that she actually hit her goal for the number of volunteers per shift, but we changed the rules part way through. Sylvia did far more than hit her daily goal. She redefined what was possible for this program … she tossed years of data aside and accomplished what no one in the history of this multi-year program had ever come close to. She changed the way the entire program is run to this day.

I quickly surmised this was not about Sylvia being lucky. I’m not sure what role luck has to do with accomplishing goals on a consistent basis, but I can tell you that’s not her main tool, nor is it the punch line of what Sylvia has to share and teach you.

My biggest insight came two years after the experiences I’ve shared with you. I was working long hours. I was the host and facilitator for the top executives in our organization and was launching an international coaching program. Attendees were peers from my own office as well as those from the United Kingdom and United States of America. They were to arrive at 8 a.m. to take a course we had been developing for a year.

I was possessed with a nervous energy and excitement. I couldn’t sleep and just wanted to get going. I rose from my bed and changed for work at 4 a.m. The plan was to drive north to the conference location, grab a coffee, watch the sunrise and get focused. I drove 45 minutes and gazed at the apparent frost of the mid-fall in Ontario, as the sky began to show hints of the coming light.

I walked into a large franchise which served coffee. I laughed that I was getting to the counter at the same time I would normally wake up. I rubbed my bleary eyes and took my first sip of coffee, as I realized I was staring at Sylvia who sat lurched over a notebook. She was writing feverishly.

I walked up and she greeted me with a smile. She explained that this was a daily ritual—something she did to get her mind focused on a larger project that she was working on each day, a project which would ultimately become the book that you are holding in your hand.

I am not a master of the techniques that Sylvia shares with you. What I do know is her track record ... sales champion ... lottery winner ... national award winner ... writer ... contest winner, and most importantly—

Master of accomplishing her goals.

Joel MacCharles, PMP

INTRODUCTION

WHAT THIS BOOK IS NOT ABOUT!

This book is not about the traditional way of setting goals. The traditional way of setting goals originally began in the early 1900s to monitor the output of units in the manufacturing industry. This same method being used today by most people tells you to choose a goal and break it down into smaller ones. It explains that your goals must be realistic, measureable and timely. This method is out-of-date and incomplete. For example if your goal is an intangible one such as wanting to have a better relationship with your spouse this method will not work. How many times have you heard the saying Be realistic about what you want and don’t be a dreamer! Goals are not meant to be realistic! If this traditional method is so correct, then why is it that many people don’t follow through with their goals? Why is it that many people give up after only a few weeks of setting their goals? Why is it that many people think that setting goals requires too much work? The answer to these questions is that this traditional method of setting goals centres on using your conscious