The Sykes Group's OnPoint

“Don’t ever let someone tell you that you can’t do something.  Not even me.  You got a dream, you gotta protect it.  When people can’t do something themselves, they are gonna tell you that you cannot do it.  You want something, go get it.  Period!” – Will Smith (From film The Pursuit of Happiness)

Success and achievement in life happens when you believe in something regardless of what others say.  The following article will show you the secrets to realizing your dreams and be more successful in your life:

The Secret to Living Your Dreams: Five Success Techniques to Achieving More Success in Your Life!

By Ed Sykes

How many times in our lives have we said the following?

If I had more time, I would have acted on my dream…

If I didn’t need this job, I would have pursued my dream of…

If only I had (you fill in the blank) ten years ago, I would have achieved my dream of…

I am sure you can add a dozen more “If I” dream statements. There are people going through life everyday working at jobs they hate, in situations they tolerate, and living a life that they disown because they settled for an “If I” mindset.

What is the secret between the person who is achieving his/her dream life and the person who is just wishing for a dream life? The following are five techniques for living your dream and achieving more in life:

1. Understand Your Options and Live Your Dreams - We have options in our life. Do we follow the road everyone else is taking or do we travel the road less traveled to achieve our dreams? We have the option to look at life’s challenges as a way to find creative solutions or to look at challenges as a negative barrier to achieving one’s dreams. Take the positive option to develop yourself and achieve your dreams.
2. Fight Your Fears and Live Your Dreams - Most fears we constantly think about and which sometimes paralyze us never happen. Yet we will spend 75-90% of our thoughts on our fears. F-E-A-R is nothing more than False Evidence Appearing Real. Get the facts and act accordingly. Let’s “flip our mental script” and concentrate on the upside of any situation so that we can concentrate on achieving our dreams. Fight though your fears and build your courage to live your dreams. (Create Success)

“Goals can give you power in your life.  A person or an organization without a goal is powerless.” – Lewis Timberlake

What is a goal you most want to accomplish in 2012? What resolutions are you going to keep this year? Are you in the process of goal setting to stay on track this year?

It’s 2012 and another year is upon us. Just like every other year, you may have set lofty goals, resolutions, and gone through an extensive goal setting exercise. Did you achieve your goals or were you sidetracked?

The following goal setting techniques will help you create powerful goals, realistic resolutions, and help you take action to achieving your goals:

1. Be SMARTER with your Goals

Make your goals:

• Specific
• Motivational
• Action-oriented
• Relevant to your situation
• Time-bound
• Encouraging
• Rewarding

For example, “I will increase my sales by 15% compared to last year.” Be as specific about your goal as possible. “I will start my own catering business” is a lot stronger than “I want to go into business for myself.” Challenging goals are motivating. Set goals that will push beyond what you usually think you can accomplish. Remember to set a deadline. A goal without a deadline is simply a dream. Attach a realistic yet challenging deadline for accomplishment and post this where you can review it regularly.

2. Visualize your goals. Take 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes just before you go to bed; find a quiet place; close your eyes and relax, and visualize yourself actually achieving your goals. Remember the more senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, etc.) you can involve, the more real your visualization becomes. I ask during my seminars, “Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real that you woke up in the middle of it?” Well the reason for that is the subconscious mind is at work involving all of those senses to trick you into believing the dream is real. Well, you don’t have to wait; work at visualizing your goals today.

3. Phrase your goals in the present tense and assume success. Don’t say, “I want to.” Say, “I will.” This subtle technique tells your subconscious that you have already achieved your goal, which means it will work at helping the goal become a reality. It will attract the people, places, and situations you need to achieve that goal.

4. Put your goals in writing. This simple act helps you clarify your goals and will allow you to visualize them more effectively. I recommend that you record each goal on a separate index card and review them twice a day – once in the morning (when you first wake up) and again before you go to bed. Post index cards where you spend the most time; on the bathroom mirror, on the frig., on your nightstand, etc. This process reinforces your goals, acts as a reminder, and drives your goals deep into your subconscious. In fact, this is one of the most powerful strategies you can use to achieve your targets.

5. List the benefits you intend to receive by achieving each goal. This will keep you focused and strong, particularly when you face the inevitable roadblocks and barriers. In June, when I chose to lose 20 pounds, I listed 12 benefits, and when I had the urge to put butter on my veggies or help myself to a second serving of food, I would review this list to help me get past that craving. I lost the 22 pounds and two inches around my waistline to date. I think I will go for another 10 pounds. This was not a diet, just a lifestyle change. The more benefits you can list for your goals, the more motivating those goals will become.

So my challenge to you to is to take the time to plan your goals. Start with one goal and visualize it, write it down, and act on it. As I always say, “If you don’t invest the time to set goals then someone else will do it for you. And I guarantee you won’t like their goals.” Invest the time, start today!

Happy New Year to our friends and followers! We appreciate your support throughout the year. Joy and I hope the success tips, techniques, and secrets empowered you to succeed in 2011.

Now 2012 is upon, we are looking forward to increasing your opportunities and empowering you and your organization to be more successful in the coming year and beyond.

Watch for our new success tools coming in the next few days that will help you achieve your goals.

Again, may you have a healthy, safe, creative, motivated, prosperous, and Happy New Year and beyond!

“Change is happening faster than we can keep tabs on and threatens to shake the foundations of the most secure American business.” - U.S. Congress Office of Technology

Change is occurring all around us everyday.  Most changes are small and go unnoticed by us.  Think about your daily ride to work and notice what changes are taking place over the course of a week:  possible changes in traffic patterns, new stores opening, weather patterns, etc.  Each day we adapt to the changing situations without even thinking about it, and we achieve our goals.

The organizations we work for are going through change to adapt to a very competitive marketplace.  Most organizational change, much like your daily commute, is subtle.  Some changes create a variety of emotions among employees:  from joy and enthusiasm to distrust and anger.

The best organizations create a strong culture of change management.  In fact, management at these organizations is constantly encouraging change for the good of the overall organization.

The following are seven change management secrets to creating a winning culture of change:

1. Understand the Present
   Take the time to ask questions to understand where the culture of change presently stands. Examples of questions great managers of change are consistently asking to ensure the success of change are the following:
   • Do employees understand the difference they make at work everyday?
   • Are there strong relationships between employees and management?
   • Is there an environment of openness and trust?
   • Is there an understanding of mission, purpose, beliefs, and business goals?
   • Do we have an environment of learning, growth, and empowerment?

   Take the time to ask these and other questions and, most importantly, listen to the answers.

2. Recognize That Change Management Culture Starts at the Top
   As a leader, you set the tone for change management. If you express or show a negative attitude towards the change, the culture for change will have negative results. If your attitude towards change is positive, then the culture for change will have positive results. Constantly communicate the positive overall results from the change and how the employee will benefit from this change. (Read the rest of the article at Change Management)

 ‎”Nothing stops the person who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop their achievement muscle. It’s a strengthening of their powers to accomplishment.” - Eric Butterworth

Recently, I was watching a women’s professional tennis match on TV. One of the players, Nadia Petrova, was having a spectacular tennis season, either winning or playing for the championship in several tournaments in recent months.

The TV interviewer interviewed Nadia’s new coach and mentioned that Nadia, who was rated in the top twenty players in past years, was fast becoming one of the top five players in the world. The interviewer asked Nadia’s coach about this, and the coach said, “In the past, Nadia had people around her that concentrated on what she ‘can’t do.’ So Nadia would concentrate on what she couldn’t do, especially in challenging situations on the court, and it would frustrate her. I am concentrating on what she ‘can do,’ and she is a much better, confident player and is mentally much happier.”

So I ask you, do you concentrate on the “can’t dos” or the “can dos?” The following are three secrets to creating a “can do” attitude that produces positive results and more success in your life, business, and career:

• Set Can Do Goals – Set goals that move you toward successful results. People fail because they don’t know what they want or what they don’t want. Ask a friend, family member, or associate what they want in life. In most cases, they will pause and really think about what they want. Sometimes they can’t come up with an answer. Sometimes they may come up with a weak response. However, ask the following question, “What don’t you want in life?” and, in most situations, you will receive multiple, clear, and quick answers to your question. That’s because we concentrate on what we don’t want to happen instead of what we want to happen. In life, as in sports, we concentrate on “not losing” instead of concentrating how to “win.”

Set S-M-A-R-T-E-R (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely, Encouraging, Rewarding) goals that create a crystal clear roadmap for your success, and work to achieve these goals everyday.

• Take Care of Your N-E-T-S – N-E-T-S stands for Network with Everyone Today for Success. Fill your NETS with positive people that will support your positive “can do” attitude. These people, while supporting your goals, will also help you pass roadblocks to achieve your goals. You will also make your NETS stronger by supporting their goals to create a mutually supportive situation.

Joy Fisher-Sykes always says, “Clean your NETS of people who have a “can’t do,” negative attitude, and who don’t support your quest to achieve your goals.” The more junk (negative people) in your NETS, the less room you have for more treasure (positive people). Take a close look at “friends,” family and co-workers and ask, “Do they support me and my “can do” attitude?” If they don’t, remove them from your NET. Keep your NET strong with positive people.

Concentrate on the Positive – Recent research shows that 75-80% of daily communication is negative. This would include negative self-talk, conversations with others, or the media (TV, radio, the internet, etc.).

Take back control of your mind and be responsible for your “can do” attitude. You can start with the following:

Concentrate on self-talk with positive solutions

Start your mornings with meditation. Concentrate on positive thoughts with positive results. Visualize, involving as many senses as possible, to intensify the visualization and make it real for you. Ask, “What does your success feel, look, sound, and taste like?” Be aware of negative self-talk, and replace it with positive self-talk.

• Control the Communication – If it is a conversation, reframe the negative conversation into a more positive conversation. If someone is complaining endlessly, say, “Mike, I hear what you are saying. What solutions to you see to this problem?”

If the media is negative, tune it out or turn it off.

You can always walk away. You have that right.

• Walk the Talk – Be consistent in your behavior, and act on your “can do” attitude.
• Fake It Till You Make It – Act like you are already achieving your goals, and you will rise to a higher level. Others will also see you as achieving your goals and interact with you accordingly.

Follow these “can do” techniques and you will also achieve more success in your life. I know Nadia does. As of this writing, she has won two additional tournaments, with no end in sight. She has a “can do” attitude that creates success, and you can, too.  (For additional can-do attitude resources, go to Can-Do Attitude).