Have you ever dreamed of leading an amazing, totally fulfilled and extraordinary lifewhere money was no object, your relationships rock, and you’re doing what you love every single day? Great! So, have I! But if you’re like me you’d want to turn these dreams into reality, right!? So this is something you can do with a little help from our friend, the Vision Board. But most Vision Boards don’t work. Wanna know why? Read on to find out more…

Visualisation is a process used by star athletes, sport stars and businessmen

What’s the craze about these vision boards you might be asking yourself!? You’ve seen it on The Secret, Oprah’s banging on about it and even Courtney Love’s apparently got one. It’s just really a simple idea that seems to have captured peoples’ imagination. Visualisation is a process used by star athletes, sport stars and businessmen. Why? Well, the process of creating a mental picture of your end goal with some degree of clarity simply increases the chance of achieving it.

Read more about Vision Board tips in my next blog post: Vision Board Secrets to an Extraordinary Life: Your Very Own Manifestation Rocket-Fuel

In my view, unless you’re one of those naturally fortunate or fluky individuals who always get what they want out of life than you’ve got to tap into any of the available tools out there to help you manifest your dreams.

So, what is it that separates those that achieve the most grandiose of goals from those who fail at even the smallest resolution? Well, apparently those who write a goal down increases the chances of your achieving it by 80%.

But goal setting using visualisation will increase the chances of success much further. As Albert Einstein said, “Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.”So the Vision Board is a handy visualisation tool that allows you to preview and focus on your future history. Undoubtedly a little cheesy but nonetheless remarkably powerful!

A starting point for most people is to cut out images out of magazines etc. and then maybe search the Internet for images that appeal to you. Be careful not to just select clichéd images of success – the red Ferrari, the sun-drenched tropical island, the luxury yacht, etc. This is the reason most vision boards don’t work for an individual. You have to ask yourself do these images really connect with you on a visceral level!? For a vision board to really work you must search for and/or create images that connect with YOU instinctively at a primal level.

So, as you walk through the world, seek out the unfamiliar, unique and compelling. Things that make your heart thump and your solar plexus burst. You must be aware of experiences, people, objects, etc. that are a vibrational match with your deepest desires. Whenever you come across something that resonates deeply with you, capture that moment with all your senses.

Read more about Vision Board tips in my next blog posts…

This is the freefall part of reality creation: picturing delightful scenarios that don’t yet exist, then emotionally letting-go from them, and ceaselessly jumping out and into massive action.

Sometimes we have to let go of the steering wheel of life once we know we’re on the right road. We need to allow the laws of consciousness and the Universe into our lives. Funnily enough, it’s by letting go and relaxing that we increase our chances of noticing the things we seek.

There’s a massive difference between creating a vision board to emotionally connect with and embed powerful primal images of your ‘future history’ in your unconscious mind and force-feeding your mind clichéd images of “success”. If you drive too hard n’ fast down the road of success you literally miss out on spiritual signposts and subtle acts of consciousness along the lead that could lead you to your true destination. So chose your vision of life with this level of awareness.

Conclusion

The value of a vision board goes way beyond visualising speed boats, gold bars and mansions overlooking the ocean! Done right, it’s a visceral, potent reminder of what you truly desire out of life and who you really are. The process of creating a vision board should be an act of self-exploration and realisation. Done right it can be a profound and scared act. If’ it’s not, then you need to really consider doing it again.

"Worthy Goal or Cold War Challenge!?: US President John F. Kennedy announces on May 25, 1961, his goal of putting a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth before the end of the 1960s. Bold and audacious, this announcement jump-started NASA's Apollo program resulting in Neil Armstrong & Co hitting lunar dirt on July 20, 1969...forever altering the course of humanity (Photo: NASA)" ~ Keelan

I believe that the best way to measure your own success is to measure your progress against your own set of predetermined goals in line with your values. When you do this, you stop the comparison game, and carve out your own form of true and meaningful success.

I’ve found that success in life is intrinsically linked to fulfilment and fulfilment comes from filling the voids in your life (which are determined by your values) whilst focusing on the progressive achievement of worthy goals (in line with your values). We’ve all witnessed someone who has all the external trappings of success but deep down inside they feel unfulfilled and even unhappy. There’s typically a values/goals discrepancy at play when this happens.

I recognize that this sense of discontent is rooted in the hard-wired human need to have purpose and meaning in their life. So, the goal setting methodology in my ULTIMATE Goal Setting Success Manual is not only firmly about clarifying and documenting your life goals but also about drawing out from within your own life purpose, clarifying your own values and making sure you goals are in line with them.

Life is not just about what you have or achieve; it’s also firmly about who and what you’ve become. Sometimes when we cast an eye over our past we disregard all that we’ve achieved/become so far on our life’s journey. Hopefully, this article has highlighted why success leaves clues and needs clues!

Good luck in your goal setting. You can do it! 

‘Success leaves clues’ is one of those stock phrases used by personal development legend Tony Robbins. Most often it’s associated with modelling the mindset, behaviour and actions of someone who is successful. But not only does success leave clues but it also needs clues.

What I mean is that success needs success; it requires reference points in the past to know that you have already been successful so that you develop the belief that you can achieve even greater success. The problem is that many people don’t acknowledge their successes to date and so they approach future success from a position of lack rather than abundance.

Many high achievers rarely take the time to acknowledge their success to date. This is a mistake. Taking stock of your successes to date is a seriously important part of setting the overall tone of your life. Taking the time to write down your recent successes is actually great for your state of mind.

Rather than chasing new goals all the time, appreciating what you have achieved to date will support and endorse your ability to set and achieve more lifetime goals. When you look inside your mind, what do you see? Ideally it should be an image of both past successes and even greater future success to come. Have a look on my new posts

‘Success leaves clues’ is one of those stock phrases used by personal development legend Tony Robbins in his talks and seminars. However, not only does success leave clues but it also actually needs them too when it comes to the mad science of goal setting!

But what kind of clues exactly does success leave and why does it need these clues in order to set future goals? Read on to find out more about this intriguing goal setting tip!

Success is a misunderstood concept if you ask me. Becoming an overnight sensation on X-Factor, or a partner in a law firm, even running a multi-million dollar business etc., may all be worthy examples of what’s commonly thought of as “success”. But in a way these are very clichéd, stereotypical examples of success. What we want to do is define what success means to YOU.

Working Towards Worthy Goals

So, how do you know if YOU are successful? For me, this is an easy question to answer. I’ve long ago given up on comparing my level of success with that of other people. Why? Because my definition of success is based on my values, my purpose etc., and therefore is entirely unique to me. If you’re honest and true to yourself, so is yours…

I know very little about the deep inner drives and true measures of success adopted by my next door neighbours, my work colleagues and friends. I might have some idea alright but I don’t really know everything about their full background, their psychological make-up, their hierarchy of values, their innate skills and talents. In my view, success is achieved by working towards worthy goals that are personal to you and in line with your values and life purpose.

I will be writing more about success & goal setting in my next posts: Success Leaves Clues, Success Needs Clues & Fulfilment, Voids and Values

"Air Guitar World Champion 2010: Markku Hyttinen - Yes, there is actually a air guitar world championship held every year in Finland. So, if do you make it to Destination Absolute Financial Freedom you can pretty much pick up your air guitar and do whatever you want, with whomever you want, as much as you want i.e. play your air guitar all night long!!" ~ Keelan

When you think absolute financial freedom, think total rock star lifestyle! You can pretty much remove any financial limitations and pick up your air guitar for this one!

You will have achieved absolute financial freedom when you can pretty much do whatever you want, with whomever you want, as much as you want – without ever having to worry about money or work again.

So, assuming we’d still like to keep everything we have/do from our financial freedom list, we now add all the new dream capital items we’d love to have that are not in our financial freedom list.  For example:

• 35-Yacht ($500,000) – $5, 000/month
• Ferrari Testarossa ($250,000) – $2, 500/month
• Piper Cherokee 140 or Cesna 172 Private Plane ($30,000) –$3000/month
• Own desert island ($7,000,000) – $14,000/month

Additional monthly unearned income needed for these dream luxury items comes to $21,800/month i.e. $261,600/annum. Therefore the total cost of absolute financial freedom is the $140, 400/annum needed to achieve Financial Freedom PLUS an additional $261,600/annum = $402,000/annum

Again, using an annual 8% return on investment would mean you’d need a critical mass of capital amounting to $5, 025,000 in order to secure absolute financial freedom.  So, by today’s standards it’s a very significant sum of money/capital. In order to have built up this level of personal wealth, you most likely will have become a noteworthy business owner and quite a sophisticated investor i.e. you’ll be a total money master!

So, there you have it! Financial Freedom and Absolute Financial Freedom defined in terms of an absolute sum of money required each year. So, now you know EXACTLY what it’s gonna take for you to eventually quit working for money and finally have money working for you; to escape the daily grind and retire to Margaritaville…should you want to! Check out my other articles on Personal Finance, Business and Wealth Creation tips to help you reach the financial freedom finish line…fast!

"The Harley Davidson - Part Machine, Part Metaphor: Not only is it a metaphor for emotional freedom but also a symbol of financial freedom. A frequent entry on many people's financial freedom wishlist, not to mention the accompanying roadtrip on Route 66. Certainly, riding a Harley on Route 66 is on my 101 Things to Do Before I Die list. Come get your kicks..." ~ Keelan

Financial Freedom

You will have achieved financial freedom when you have accumulated a sufficient critical mass of capital to provide enough income for you to live the lifestyle you desire (accounting for inflation) without ever having to work again for the rest of your life. The keyword here is ‘desire’. This is what differentiates financial freedom from its predecessor, financial independence, which is defined more by what you ‘require’ to live reasonably comfortably.

In essence, Financial Freedom would include having and enjoying all the luxuries in life such as:

• Second Home in the Sun ($700,000) – $3, 500/month
• 35 Foot Boat ($150,000) – $1,500/month
• Mercedes Benz ($100,000) – $1,000/month
• 1 Luxury Holiday ($12,000)– $1,000/month
• Harley Davidson ($20,000) – $400/month

The additional monthly unearned income needed for these luxuries comes to $7,400/month i.e. $88,800/annum. Therefore the total cost of financial freedom is the $51, 600/annum figure needed to achieve Financial Independence (which we worked out in a previous article) PLUS an additional $88,800/annum = $140,400/annum

Again, using the benchmark of an annual 8% return on investment would mean you’d therefore need a critical mass of capital amounting to $1, 755,000 in order to secure financial freedom. So, as you can see it’s a decent sum of money but I believe within the realms of possibility for anyone who sets about achieving it and re-thinking their approach to income generation and financial planning.