Every moment of every day, we make decisions. Sometimes those decisions are small and inconsequential, and sometimes those decisions are life-altering. In the end, though, the outcome of your day, your year, and your entire life are mostly defined by the sum of decision making and the actions that you take along the way.

There’s power in making a decision – even when you’re not completely sure that it’s the right one. I promise you that once you realize the incredible impact that making decisions can have, you can truly begin to live your best life.

Decisions can be powerful, but they aren’t always easy…

To a degree, almost all of us suffer from decision paralysis at some point in time. Realizing the impact that your decisions can have is often frightening.

After all, if a decision is important enough to change your life, it’s understandable that you’d want to be sure to get it right.

The problem is that many people have a “deer in the headlights” moment when faced with decisions. Afraid of making the wrong decision, they end up not making a decision at all. However, not making a decision is a decision in and of itself – and it’s almost always the wrong one.

The inability to make a decision can leave you frozen in place when changes are necessary. It can also wreak havoc on your confidence, your happiness, and your overall emotional well-being.

Faced with the problem of decision paralysis, it’s essential to realize that – in almost every case – any decision is going to be better than no decision at all.

If you can push past the fear and doubts associated with making decisions, you can start taking control of your life’s outcomes.

Make Decisions Quickly

One of the best ways to eliminate decision paralysis is to make decisions quickly. In fact, many of the world’s most successful innovators and leaders owe much of their success to their ability to make decisions quickly.

When you make decisions quickly, you leave no room for doubt, worry, and confusion. Instead of wasting time worrying about all of the possibilities and trying to endlessly analyze every potential outcome, making a quick decision enables you to immediately begin devoting your efforts to following through on that decision.

If you truly commit to a decision, you’ll find that following through on it is much easier than you might have thought.

The Law of Attraction dictates that you will be able to manifest what you need to follow through on any decision once you have fully committed yourself to it.

Only by making decisions quickly, though, can you fully commit to them right out of the gate without letting doubt and worry kill your decision slowly over time.

Thankfully, making decisions quickly doesn’t have to be difficult. No matter what decision you might be faced with, the only thing you have to determine is whether or not this is something you want or need and whether or not it is worth committing your time to.

If the answer to both of those questions is yes, you have everything you need to make a decision right away. Any other questions or concerns that you might have will answer themselves along the way if you are committed to making your decision a reality.

Use the Rule of 5

Once you have made a decision, the next step is to bring that decision to fruition. It’s not enough to simply make a decision and hope for the best. A decision is only fully made when you dedicate your efforts to it.

The Rule of 5 is a great place to begin to help follow through on your decision. Following the Rule of 5 means doing five things every day that will bring you closer to your goal. Let’s say, for example, that you decide to start your own business. After you’ve made that decision, you should commit to doing five things each day that will help you get your business up and running. They don’t have to be monumental tasks. Major goals are accomplished one small step at a time, which is why the Rule of 5 is so effective.

Recruiting an accountability partner is another great way to further commit to your decision. It’s not easy to back out of a decision when you have someone that you respect and trust pushing you forward and holding you accountable.

Visualize Your Goals Daily

Picture, in your mind, what your life will be like and how you will feel once you’ve accomplished it. Visualizing your goal in this manner will serve as a powerful motivator by giving you a sense of the benefits before the goal is accomplished.

If you take steps such as these to commit to a decision and motivate yourself to follow through, you can set yourself up for success after any decision you make.

Have you ever been paralyzed to make a decision, and then decided to leap forward to success? 

Some people, when they hear the word, “visualization,” think it means sitting around daydreaming.

But that’s not at all what it is…

Visualization is the practice of intentionally creating detailed pictures in your mind – both still pictures and movies – of the outcomes you want to achieve.

Visualization is a powerful tool that can help motivate you to achieve any goal – such as writing a book, getting a promotion, making more money, paying off your debts, becoming financially independent, taking that dream vacation you want, losing weight, or improving your golf game.

Visualization helps you achieve your goals for several reasons.

Why Visualization Works

Visualization works because it creates something called “structural tension.”

This is a psychological term for something that happens in your subconscious mind when you visualize something that doesn’t exist or hasn’t happened yet.

When you clearly visualize something – and generate all of the emotional feelings you would if you were actually achieving that situation – you experience the same physiological reactions as if you were actually living that experience.

And so your subconscious mind seeks to resolve the tension your visualization has created.

And there are only two ways it can do that – it can either give up the goal or it can figure out how to make it happen.

So if you make it a daily discipline to imagine the end result as already achieved, like brushing your teeth every day, you’ll find yourself making decisions and taking actions that move you in the direction of your goal—even if you’re not consciously aware of it.

A Visualization Example

For example, let’s say you dream of living in Australia for a year.

You imagine yourself getting on the plane, finding a nice place to live on the beach, and spending your days surfing and making friends with the locals.

Every day you take time to imagine yourself living this dream life in Australia.

You imagine how it will feel, who will be there with you, what it will look like, sound like, smell, feel, and taste like.

And before you know it, you start to get creative ideas about how to make this dream a reality.

You find yourself taking actions and making decisions that will help you get to Australia.

You spend your lunch hour researching job opportunities in Australia, and what you need to do to get a visa.

You start to notice more people around you speaking with an Australian accent, and you find yourself striking up conversations with them.

As a result, you make more Australian friends and you are building connections with people who might be able to help you achieve your goals.

You find yourself starting to save money for your big move. And you take advantage of every opportunity that brings you closer to your dreams.

Why? Because the structural tension will create the motivation to actually take the action steps to make it happen.

And it will help you maintain motivation even when you are faced with obstacles and challenges.

How To Start Visualizing

The great thing is, that visualization is a fairly easy skill to master. And you can do it pretty much anywhere – at home, at work, on a bus, or in the park – anywhere you can sit for a few minutes without too much distraction.

All you have to do is close your eyes and imagine yourself experiencing your desired outcome.

Think about:

What goals you want to achieve.

What your life look like when you achieve it.

Where will you be.

What your surroundings look like.

How it feels. What sounds you’re hearing.

What it smells and tastes like.

Your visualization can be created to appear like a movie in your head.

You might even imagine yourself sitting in a theatre, watching it play out like a movie on a screen.

Or it might be like a dream or a video game where you are a part of the action.

However you imagine your vision, immerse yourself in the experience as deeply as you can, so that every detail is as clear as possible, whether it is something you clearly see like a 4D high definition picture or just more like an intense thought you are thinking.

Visualize Daily

I encourage you to engage in this practice every single day.

Do it first thing in the morning, right after you get up, and right before you go to bed at night is ideal.

That way, you go to bed with your goals fixed firmly in your mind, giving your subconscious mind something to work on while you sleep, and you’ll find yourself waking up and starting your day crystal clear on what your goals and priorities are.

Once you make visualization a non-negotiable part of your daily practice, you’ll find it so much easier to stay motivated and focused as you work toward creating your ideal life and making all your dreams come true.

I challenge you to make the commitment to do it every day for 30 days in a row. I guarantee you will begin to see results.

Need help getting your mind free of daily distractions and stress? Download my free 4 Step Meditation Guide to help you relax, and tap into your intuition(even if you’ve never meditated before).

Did you know that 90 % of all New Year’s resolutions never get fulfilled? So if you’re ever found yourself on December 31st, wondering what happened to all of the big goals you set for yourself back on the previous New Year’s Eve, and why you’re not taking action on your goals, you’re certainly not alone.

“It is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might as well have not lived at all.” – J.K. Rowling

So let’s look at what separates the 10 percent who DO achieve their goals from the vast majority who don’t?

The answer has everything to do with ACTION.

The people who achieve great success in life are the ones who are willing to take consistent action toward realizing their dreams.

They’re the ones who jump out of their seat to get the ball rolling — on the new project at work, the new skill they want to learn, or the promotion they want to get.

They consistently take steps to make their goals happen, no matter what others may think or say about it.

Most importantly, they realize that the decisive moments of their lives aren’t just in the big, once-a-year big scary leaps of faith and goal-setting.

They’re in the countless small decisions they make and actions they take every single day that keep them on target toward achieving their dreams.

Because without regular and decisive action, your goals simply are not going to be achieved. Period.

No matter how ambitious your goals, or how brilliant your plans are for achieving them, if you’re not prepared to take regular consistent action to reach them, they’re not really goals at all—they’re just wishes, fantasies and daydreams.

So today I’d like to share 4 powerful tips for developing an action-focused mindset and lifestyle that will help you make steady and sustainable progress toward your dreams, and guarantee that 2019 is a truly phenomenal year for you.

1. Eliminate ALL Excuses

My first “action tip” is to start by eliminating all your excuses for not taking action.

Because if you’re looking for a reason to delay taking action, you will always be able to find one.

For example, you might tell yourself that you shouldn’t apply for that new position you want because you haven’t been working at the company long enough, and somebody else is probably more qualified for the job.

Or you might tell yourself you to wait before taking on a new project because you should probably do more research and preparation first.

Or you might try to convince yourself that you need more money, resources, or time to get started.

All of these are just excuses you tell yourself to justify your lack of action.

To achieve your goals this year, you have to give up all of your excuses.

Because you will always be able to come up with reasons why you should wait before you start.

But successful people don’t listen to those reasons and excuses.

They are just coming from the part of you that is afraid to fail.

Successful people ignore those voices of fear and just dive in and get to work!

They build momentum by taking action. They learn what they need to know as they do it.

And so should you.

2. Don’t Wait For The Perfect Moment

There is no such thing as the perfect moment.

You might tell yourself that now is not a good time because you’re busy at work, or have a project you’d like to finish first, or there’s too much going on with your family right now.

But there is ALWAYS going to be something going on in your life.

If you want to take action on your dreams, you can’t just wait for the right time to come.

You have to make NOW the right time and just go for it taking whatever steps you can take right now.

3. Take The First Step

The next piece of advice is to simply START by taking that first step.

Because that’s what achieving your goals is – a series of small steps, taken one after another, toward the reality you want to create.

You don’t achieve it all in one fell swoop!

Success is a journey that takes place over time.

And the most important action you will take on that journey is that very first step.

Because once you’ve taken one step, you will find it easier to take the next, and even easier to take the next, and so on.

Just choose to believe you can do it, and start.

One of my favorite quotes is by Dr. Martin Luther King, who said:

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.”

A good example of the truth in that statement is how Nashville singer-songwriter Jana Stanfield started her music career.

When she decided she wanted to be a successful singer, someone advised her to start by taking three easy steps she could not fail at.

So she bought a guitar, signed up for guitar lessons, and went down to the local Holiday Inn Motel and asked the manager, “What is the process that you use to hire people to perform in the lounge?”

After she took those actions, she decided what the next 3 action items would be.

And now she has recorded lots of albums, has written hit songs for top country performers, and performs all over the world by herself, and with superstars like Kenny Loggins.

4. “Fail Forward Faster”

My final piece of advice is to “fail forward faster.” Don’t let fear of failure stop you from taking action.

Instead, recognize that some amount of failure is inevitable.

You’re not going to get everything right the first time.

You are going to make mistakes. And that’s okay!

Making mistakes is how you learn. And the knowledge you gain about what didn’t work is invaluable and will help you get better results with your next attempt.

This is known as “failing forward” — using each failure to launch you closer to your dreams and goals – closer to your vision of your ideal life.

So those are a few tips on how to take start taking action on your goals and make 2019 your most incredible year yet.

Give up your excuses, don’t wait for the perfect moment, make NOW the perfect moment, and focus on taking that one first small step – and then the next, and the next, and the next – while refusing to let the fear of failure stop you in your tracks.

If you follow these tips, you will achieve your new year’s resolutions and so much more this year. I can’t wait to hear about everything you accomplish! Speaking of making 2019 a success, I’ve got a free 12 Month Success Planner you can download by clicking the link below.

2018 is coming to an end, and with the New Year comes a time to reflect on the goals you achieved in the previous twelve months – as well how to overcome failure of not achieving some goals in 2018 – because your failures are just as important for your growth as your successes are.

Failures teach you extremely valuable lessons you need to learn in order to be better able to create the life you want in the future.

But you have to be willing to acknowledge your failures and then analyze them in order to extract new awarenesses and wisdom from them.

Here are 5 tips to overcome failure and achieve your missed 2018 goals in 2019.

1. Forgive Yourself for Not Achieving Your 2018 Goals

It can be all too easy to become judgmental and get down on yourself for what you failed to achieve.

But beating yourself up over missing your goals isn’t going to change the past, and it isn’t going to help you going forward into the future either.

What it will do is negatively impact your self-esteem, your self-confidence, and your motivation.

So start by letting go of any lingering guilt or frustration with yourself, and then turn your attention to what you can learn from the experience.

Now let’s take a look at the goals you failed to accomplish during the previous year.

What exactly were those goals? And what stopped you from accomplishing them?

The first possibility is those goals were what I refer to as SHOULD goals.

Goals you think you should do, but that you don’t really want to do.

Goals like losing weight, working out more often, running a marathon, spending more time with your parents, and learning a foreign language.

You think you should do them, you think they would be good for you, but deep down you’re really not that committed to them.

These are often the goals that keep appearing year after year on your list of goals and never get accomplished.

You want your goals to be things that you really, really want to accomplish – goals that excite you, goals that you can’t wait to get out of bed to work on.

Goals like de-cluttering your office might be a should goal.

Learning to scuba dive or writing your book, or getting your realtor’s license might be something you really want to do.

Make sure to follow your joy.

Ask yourself what lights YOU up.

2. Be 100% Committed to Your Goals in 2019

Another thing that stops goals from being accomplished is not making a 100%, no matter what commitment to achieving a goal when you set it.

Once you have decided what you really want to accomplish, make a 100% commitment to it.

If you were 100% committed at the beginning of the year, but you lost focus at some point and let it slip away from you, that could be a sign that you need to develop a better planning system that allows you to stay on top of your goals and make consistent progress toward them, no matter what else is happening in your life.

If so, that’s a really valuable lesson to learn. And I encourage you to act on that awareness and implement a daily, weekly, and monthly planning system that will help you stay on track toward your goals.

3. Do Not Underestimate The Time Required

This happens all the time – especially when you’re trying to do something you’ve never done before!

You don’t have a clear idea of everything that’s involved in achieving that goal, and so you grossly underestimate how long it will take.

Or, conversely, you will overestimate the time you have will available each week to work on it. Maybe you thought you’d be able to spend 10 hours a week on it, but the reality of your other family, community and work commitments meant that you were only able to spend two or three hours on it every week.

Obviously, it’s going to take you much more time than you thought!  

You either have to adjust the time frame for achieving your goals or throw other resources toward it.

The only resources you ever have are time, money, people, ideas and technology.

If you have less time, you may need to find other partners, employees, contract labor or consultants to assist you.

4. Implement a Better Time Management System

Again, this is a valuable awareness to have, and I encourage you to act on it right away.

Use an online or offline calendar to get really clear on how much time you have available. And look for opportunities to free up more of your time by cutting out activities that aren’t really helping you accomplish your goals.

For example, if you usually spend all afternoon carting your children around to their activities, look for other parents you can share carpool duties with, so you can use that extra freed-up time to work on your goals.

And make sure you have not been majoring in the minors—spending too much time focusing on lower level priorities that don’t have much impact on your results.

For me that was spending too much time on low-level emails that I needed to delegate to my staff.

Also look for ways to prioritize your time more effectively.

For example, you could hire a Virtual Assistant so you can use that time for more important things in your business or your career.  

Or start dictating all your emails using the built-in dictation system in your computer or smartphone.

5. Disappear Fears With Tapping

You can also use EFT Tapping to eliminate limiting beliefs.

You may also have run up against some fears that stopped you.

Take the time to honestly look at what those fears are, and you can also use tapping to literally disappear those fears as well.

Remember, every failure contains a treasure trove of valuable lessons if you take the time to look for them.

So look for the lessons to be learned and implement them in your life as you set your goals for the year ahead — and you’ll make sure that 2019 is a truly phenomenal year for you.

For some additional resources on goal setting, I’ve got a free 12 Month Planner to help you plan 2019 linked below.

As you set your new year goals for 2019, it’s a good idea to take stock of the progress you’ve made toward your goals this year. For many people, this review is unpleasant and can even lead to a downward spiral.

If you didn’t achieve all of the goals you set at the beginning of the year, you may feel like you have failed. Our self-esteem can take a hit, we can become disheartened and discouraged, and our motivation drops. Some people actually become depressed.

If this sounds familiar, it’s time to reframe how you look at success. Zeroing in on accomplishments that didn’t happen puts your focus on what you lack, rather than on what you have (the things you did experience and accomplish). This subtle mental trap leads to a host of negative consequences, which usually leads to attracting more lack.

The answer is not giving up the review of your year. Periodic review is essential to the process of growth and goal achievement. The key is to acknowledge, appreciate, and celebrate what you did accomplish, and then to refocus on the goals that you still want to achieve.

Achieving a goal is a lot like flying a plane. You’re guaranteed to be off course 99% of the time, which means that if you want to successfully reach your destination, it is essential to periodically check your position and correct your course. December and January is an ideal time to perform this much-needed review and analysis.

Create a “Win List” For the Year

One of the techniques I teach my coaching clients is to create a detailed “Win List” at the end of the year. Its purpose is to help you acknowledge all of your wins, especially those that didn’t start as a written goal or intention.

This powerful technique takes about 30 minutes to complete. Start by listing all of the goals you set and achieved this year. Then list any other wins you think of – both large and small.

Here are some questions to help identify your successes.

• What wins or progress did you achieve in business?
• Did you discontinue an old product or develop a new product or product line?
• Did you identify a new market to focus on?
• Did you create any new marketing pieces or campaigns?
• Did you delegate any tasks to become more productive? This could include adding new staff and/or assistants, such as a housekeeper, executive assistant, gardener, errand runner, babysitter, or child care person. It also might include putting new systems into place to increase your efficiency.
• Did you buy, use or learn to use any new technology? This includes mental, emotional or spiritual technology, as well as mechanical, electronic and digital technology?
• Did you spend more time in nature?
• Did you develop any new supportive habits (such as meditation, exercise, sleep, or gratitude)? Did you overcome any non-supportive habits (for example, addiction to alcohol, caffeine, sugar, video games, porn, gambling, or shopping)?
• How did you grow in leadership?
• Did you deliver any presentations or speeches or develop new programs?
• Did you develop any new abilities, skills, or competencies?
• What success did you achieve in the areas of financial income, investments, or debt reduction?
• Did you create any new relationships or deepen existing relationships? Consider both business and personal relationships.
• Did you make any progress in self-development?
• Did you attend any positive events (e.g., seminars, lectures, concerts, theater, or sports)?
• Did you experience any positive events with your family?
• Were there any positive events in relation to your house or apartment?
• Did you take any trips or vacations?
• Were there any positive additions to your life?
• Were there any positive events in your community?
• How about any positive events in your spiritual life (e.g., church services, meditation, retreats, rituals)?
• Did you experience any positive events in regards to letting go (e.g., bad habits, negative people, or clutter)?
• Did you have any wins in health and fitness (e.g., weight, exercise, cholesterol, sports, or endurance)?

Reduce Mental Friction

Mental “friction” caused by negative thoughts and feelings will slow down your progress as you work to achieve your goals. By using this technique to focus your attention on what you did achieve, you’ll shift into a state of gratitude and joy, accelerating your momentum into the new year.

Begin Thinking About and Setting New Year Goals for 2019

Once you’ve gone through and written down what your successes are for this year, I want you then to start thinking about setting goals for next year. Goals need to be specific and measurable. How much, and by when? When do you want to accomplish it?

Also, review your long-term goals. Maybe you have a goal to write a book, to become a professor, to become a multi-millionaire. That may be five, or 10 years out. But you want to think about, “What do I have to accomplish in 2019 to make sure I get to my long-term goals.”

Here are 6 areas of your life that I want you to set goals for:

1. Set Goals for Your Financial Life

Have a goal for your financial life. How much do you want to make in 2019? Do you want to have a side income? Maybe you want to be debt free by the end of the year. Think hard about your finances and set a specific and realistic goal for the year.

2. Set Goals for Your Career

Have a goal for your job and career. What do you want to accomplish at work in 2019? Do you want to make more money, get a promotion, or release a new product? Use your win list to evaluate what you want to accomplish this year in your career.

3. Set Goals for Your Relationships

Have at least one goal for the most important relationships in your life. Think about your family, your friends, your significant others. How can you help them achieve more? How can you give back to them? In what ways can you improve these relationships?

4. Set Goals For Fun and Recreation

Have a goal for fun and recreation. Mine is 135 free days in 2019. That means no work from midnight to midnight, including 30 vacation days with my wife.

5. Set Goals for Fitness and Health

What’s a goal for you in terms of health and fitness? It might be running a marathon or achieving your ideal weight. Perhaps it’s to become more flexible or strong. My goal for 2019 is to weigh 195 pounds or less by December 21st, be able to do 40 pushups in a row, do 100 hours of yoga, and improve my posture.

6. Set Personal Goals

Set personal goals for yourself for the year. What is something you want to do, simply because you want to do it? This year, I’m going to commit to two hours a week to learn Spanish so I can talk to the people in Southern California where I live a lot more effectively than I currently do. I’m also going to read 50 books, and totally declutter and reorganize my office and my garage. What’s a personal goal for you?

Tell me in the comments below, what is one big goal you’d like to achieve in 2019? Take time to really think about that. What is a goal that you want to achieve that would help you create an extraordinary life, that will be a breakthrough to a new level for you? This is possible, and I want to help you achieve that.

Remember, review your past year, really realize you’ve achieved a lot, and feel good about that. That’s building the poker chips of self-esteem that will allow you to take the risks you need to take in the new year to create your extraordinary life.

Create Your Extraordinary Life One Big Goal at a Time

If you are looking for a roadmap to achieve any goal and create the life you want, look no further than my Your Extraordinary Life Plan Program. 

This powerful, brand-new, video course is my ultimate training program in setting and achieving your biggest goals. I’ll walk you through the steps needed to create a crystal clear vision of what you want, choosing a BIG, ambitious goal, and putting together a complete plan of action and achievement. Make 2019 your best year yet.

There’s a well-known Chinese proverb that says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Yet far too many people never even get started on that journey and make big changes to reach their destination.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”  – Chinese Proverb

They are afraid to take that first step. Why? Maybe it’s because the journey seems too overwhelming, the goal is too far away, there’s too much that needs to be done, and the exact path isn’t clear.

Or maybe it’s because they get caught up in wanting immediate results in other areas of their life and are distracted from their long-term goals.

But the thing about long-term goals is that they aren’t accomplished in a single day!

It’s not like they require one huge, monumental effort to be achieved.

The only way you’re going to accomplish something really big and ambitious – the kind of goal that will transform your life forever – is by consistently taking one small step at a time in the direction of your dreams.

So today I’d like to share three powerful strategies to help you get started.

1. Use The Rule of 5

The Rule of 5 dictates that every day you should take action on five specific things that will move you closer to achieving your goal.

It doesn’t matter how small these things are. As long as they are action steps that will move you closer to your goal, they are moving you in the right direction.

For example, if you’re running a business, do five things each day that will grow or otherwise improve your business in some way, such as:

• Create a new ad to run on Facebook
• Call a potential new client
• Create a standard operating procedure manual to share with your employees
• Post something to social media 

and so on…

If you are wanting to get a promotion at work, do five things each day that will make your promotion more likely.

• Devote an hour of your time to learning a new skill
• Sign up for some free training,
• Write a list of points you’d like to make at the next company meeting,
• Take a colleague out for lunch and ask them for tips on how to improve your performance.

Whatever your goal may be, taking five steps toward reaching it each and every day will eventually yield major progress, and often in much less time than you’d expect.

That’s because of the compound effect of all these small steps.

Taken individually, each small step you take may not seem all that significant. But when you add them up over time, they add up and lead to extraordinary results.

For example, writing a book may seem like a monumental task.

However, what if you committed to writing just one page a day?

By the end of the year, you’d have written a book that’s 365 pages long!

By committing to making small progress each day, you will have turned what otherwise may seem like an insurmountable challenge into something that you can accomplish in a year’s time.

Or let’s say you want to start reading more.

Simply commit to reading two pages a day and by the end of the year, you’ll have read over 700 pages! That’s two or three books you otherwise wouldn’t have read and learned from.

Or you can commit to reading for 20 minutes a day. You can always find 20 minutes a day.

If you read for 20 minutes a day, by the end of the year that adds up to seven thousand three hundred minutes, or 120 hours or three 40-hour work weeks.

That would add up to about 25 books read every year.

Or, let’s say you want to cut back on calories.

If you simply cut out one coke a day, by the end of the year you will have consumed 43,000 fewer calories.

That’s the equivalent of about 20 days of fasting.

This compound effect highlights just how beneficial small steps and changes can be when they add up over time.

Whatever your goals are, if you commit to small, daily progress, chances are you will be astounded by the results.

2. Link New Habits and Behaviors to Existing Actions

My second tip for you is to look for simple ways you can link positive new habits and behaviors to the things you are already doing.

For example, if you want to start working out more, do five pushups after each time you go to the restroom.

Going to the restroom is something you can’t avoid or brush off, and most people go about 6-7 times a day.

This means that if you do five pushups each time you come out of the restroom, you’ll be doing around thirty or thirty-five push-ups every day!

Or you could link 3 minutes of stretching or deep breathing or meditation or drinking 8 ounces of water to each time you go to the restroom.

Or instead of taking the bus to work, maybe you could ride a bike, or walk, or at least get off the bus a couple of stops early.

All of that extra walking or cycling will add up over time. And since you’re going to work anyway, you may as well use that opportunity to fit in some exercise as well.

One of my habits is I always avoid the elevator and walk up one flight of stairs or down two flights of stairs.

One of the hardest parts of taking positive steps toward your goals is getting in the habit of taking those small steps each and every day and making them a non-negotiable part of your schedule.

Small steps can often be easy to brush off or postpone since you may feel like they are insignificant.

But each tiny step you take is bringing you closer to your goals – while each step you DON’T take keeps you exactly where you are.

3. Track Your Progress

Finally, my last tip for you is to keep track of your activities and review your progress regularly.

When your journey involves taking a series of tiny steps over time, it might be easy to overlook the fact of what you’ve actually accomplished.

But when you take time each week to review everything you have achieved, you will be amazed at how far you’ve come – and you will be even more motivated to continue your journey.

What is one big goal that you have that you need to start taking small action steps on every day? If you’re ready to start 2019 by taking action, get my 12-month success planner to start planning.

Whether you perceive it or not, everything is constantly changing – the environment, the weather, the economy, technology, society, culture, your friends and family, your body, everything. And the better able you are to embrace change in what is happening in your world, the easier it will be for you to live your best life.

“Change is the only constant in life.” – Heraclitus

For some people, the idea of constant and never-ending change is terrifying, because change often involves risk and loss – possibly of something big, like your house, your job, your money, your friends, your family, or just the loss of whatever is comfortable and familiar.

Some people see change as something to fear or dread, instead of something that is a new adventure that has the potential to improve them or their life.

That’s what change actually is: it’s an opportunity for you to experience something new and to grow and evolve as a person.

Change asks you to:

• Learn new things.
• Master new skills.
• Develop new qualities like flexibility, optimism, courage, and persistence.

All of which ultimately results in you becoming a better, more capable person.

And that’s a good thing!

Because the ultimate goal of life is not just a life of comfort, but a life of mastery and mastery only develops when you are confronted with challenges.

When you try to resist change, you rob yourself of the experiences that can transform your life on both a professional and personal level.

When you welcome and embrace change, you open allow yourself to cooperate with the natural evolution that is the reality of existence on earth.

4 Tips to Learn How to Embrace Change

Think of it this way. Change is inevitable. It is like a river flowing downstream, following the law of gravity.

When you resist it, it feels like trying to row upstream during a flood.

When you accept change and embrace it is like easily flowing downstream.

You may still need to row to avoid ramming into a rock or a bridge abutment, but it won’t feel like you are fighting the current. Life gets easier.

So here are a few tips to help you deal with change and embrace change.

1. Event + Response = Outcome

The first one is to take the time to fully understand and apply the equation E+R=O. E+R=O stands for, Event + Response = Outcome.

It is your response to any event, and not the event itself, that determines the outcome you experience.

You can’t change the events that happen. They just occur outside of our control.

As one of my friends like to say, “The world is just out there worlding.”

You can’t stop the rate of technological change occurring in the world.

The Internet, personal computers, smartphones, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Uber, Lyft, Amazon.com, cable television, cryptocurrencies like BitCoin and Etherium are all examples of changes that are events that have happened.

Global warming, floods, droughts, earthquakes, mass migrations of huge populations, trade wars, massive layoffs, mass shootings, terrorist attacks, cyber attacks, and the rise of nationalism and populist leaders are all events that represent change.

As you’ve probably noticed, you cannot do much to change those events.

But you CAN change your response to them and ensure that the outcomes you experience in your life are as positive as possible.

If you want to learn more about my proven formula to take control of your life, make sure you check out my Success Formula Webcast.

Now, on a more personal level, let’s say you lose your job.

You could start freaking out over the sudden loss of a guaranteed income each month.

You could blame yourself for not being “good enough,” and fall into a state of hopeless despair that keeps you sitting on your couch, numbing your pain with hours of mindless TV watching.

Or you could choose to see this event as a gift, as your chance to pursue a new opportunity that’s more in alignment with your deeper goals and dreams – and use your newly liberated time and energy to develop the skills and expertise you’ll need to create your ideal life!

Whenever a change happens that seems like a tragedy, always remember there is a gift in it.

“Every negative event contains the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hill

I have many friends and clients who have lost their homes and all their possessions to a flood or a fire, have lost their loved ones to divorce, suicide, drug overdoses and automobile accidents, who’ve lost their jobs due to mergers, layoffs due to the recession, or to new technologies that made their jobs obsolete.

And in every case, years later they looked back and realized that those seemingly tragic events were turning points in their lives that led them to something far better than what they had before – a better job, a more fulfilling relationship, new friends, deeper wisdom, more freedom, the discovery of their true life purpose, the development of new skills, and spiritual growth.

I can remember in my own life when I was in my mid-twenties, I was working at a government training center in Iowa when the government decided to shut it down.

At the time I thought it was the end of the world.

I loved the job, and I loved the people working there. I was devastated.

But what ultimately happened was that a month later I was taking a workshop in Chicago run by people who worked for W. Clement Stone who was a close friend of Napoleon Hill.

When they found out I was being laid off, they offered me a job, which is where I began to learn about so many of the things that I teach today.

Things like:

• The importance of taking 100% responsibility for everything that happens in your life,
• How the Law of Attraction works
• The power of goal setting
• How to use affirmations and visualization
• The power of the mastermind group
• Importance of taking action now

If I hadn’t lost that job, I might still be working in a small training center in Iowa.

Take a moment later today and think back to some change that you feared or resisted and all the good that eventually came from it.

Once you begin to see that, you can begin to anticipate the good that will come from the changes you are facing now.

A good question to always be asking yourself is, “What’s the opportunity that this is?”

If you look, you will find it.

And change will become something to appreciate and embrace rather than to fear and resist.

Remember, YOU always have control over how you choose to respond to things.

And when you respond with an attitude of curiosity, optimism, and confidence, you’ll find it so much easier to survive and thrive during the change.

2. Always Create Positive Outcomes

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” – Napoleon Hill

My second piece of advice is to believe it’s possible to create positive outcomes no matter what change is happening around you.

Your mind is a very powerful instrument, and when you learn how to properly use it, you can create anything and everything you want. And the first step is to choose to believe that what you want is possible.

A belief is simply a thought you consciously choose to think over and over until it becomes automatic.

It’s true that most of our beliefs were decided or programmed into us as children, but you have the power to choose to believe a more empowering belief simply by choosing it.

And you can delete old beliefs very quickly with so many new techniques that have been created in the past few decades like EFT, Byron Katie’s work, the Sedona Method, and the Heart Freedom Method that I use in my workshops.

So, when you find yourself faced with a big change that feels overwhelming or scares you, stop and take the time to imagine the best possible outcome that could result from that change – and then simply choose to believe that you have the capacity to make that vision a reality.

Because you do!

3. Use the Power of “Acting as if”

See yourself as already being the kind of person who can successfully adapt to any kind of change – and then start showing up in the world as that person.

How would you walk, how would you talk, how would you dress, what thoughts would you think, how would you interact with people?

I observed a good example of the power of acting as if a number of years ago when I was living in Pacific Palisades, California.

I used to do my banking with Wells Fargo.

There was a young teller at the bank who started to catch my attention each time I went to the bank.

There were several tellers working there at the time, and I noticed this one in particular because he always wore a suit and tie.

Unlike the other two male tellers who just wore a shirt and a tie without a suit coat, this young man had already started to dress and look like an executive.

A year later, I noticed he had been promoted to his own desk where he was taking loan applications.

Two years later, he was a loan officer, and later he became the branch manager.

I asked him about this one day, and he replied that he always knew he would be a branch manager, so he studied how the manager dressed and started dressing that way.

He studied how the manager treated people and started interacting with people the same way.

He started acting as if he were a branch manager long before he ever became one.

You can adopt this same attitude to any situation you find yourself facing.

Ask yourself, “What kind of person do I need to be in order to achieve the best possible outcome?”

What thoughts do I need to think?

What pictures do I need to visualize?

How do I need to behave and what do I need to do?

And then start showing up as that person now.

4. Acknowledge Your Fears, and Take Action

Give yourself permission to acknowledge and experience whatever fears show up along the way, and then take action anyway.

When you’re faced with big changes, you may need to take a huge leap into the unknown. And that can be scary; I get it!

Even I have fears that arise sometimes when I take on a new challenge that I’ve never tackled before! But just because you are entering into unknown territory, that doesn’t mean it’s bad.

It could be the best thing that’s ever happened to you. And if you approach it as such, you greatly increase the likelihood that it will be the best thing that’s ever happened to you.

So allow yourself to feel the fear – and don’t let it stop you.

Take one small step after another into the unknown – and you will be surprised at how quickly the path forward will become clear to you, and entirely achievable.

What’s a change YOU are currently facing, and what’s the potential opportunity that it contains? Learn more

I actually became a millionaire quite suddenly, almost overnight. If you’re wondering how to become a millionaire or want to be a millionaire one day, you may find it helpful to learn these lessons.

“Money is usually attracted, not pursued.” —Jim Rohn

As a result of becoming a millionaire so fast, I didn’t have a lot of time to adjust to suddenly having much more money than I was used to. It happened very fast after the success of the first Chicken Soup for the Soul book took off.

That experience taught me 3 powerful lessons about money and being a millionaire.

1. Money Doesn’t Change You Much

The first thing I learned was that money doesn’t change you as much as you’d think.

You’ve heard the saying, “Money can’t buy happiness.” It’s true.

If you were happy before you had money, you’re going to be happy when you have money. If you were unhappy before you had money, having money isn’t going to make you feel any happier or any more fulfilled.

We all know people who have very little money who are very happy and we all know people who have a lot of money and are very unhappy. Money really has nothing to do with it.

At the same time, there are certain things that money definitely helps with…

Money can help you handle unexpected expenses more easily.

It can help you give your kids a good education, or provide you and your loved ones with better healthcare.

It alleviates certain hardships, and that’s a really good thing about it.

But even though money can change the world around you, it won’t change YOU.

Who you are, how you see the world and interact with it – all that stays the same.

So if you’re afraid of attracting money into your life because you’re worried it’s going to change you in some way, don’t be. Having money tends to amplify the person you already are.

If you’re a good person who wants to make a positive impact in the world, you can do a lot more good things with your money. You can fund a lot of great projects.

If you’re a terrible person who only thinks about yourself, you’ll just be a terrible person with a lot of money. We’ve all met or read about those people.

And remember, it’s never too late to change the way you think about money. I was 51 when I received my first $1,000,000 check. Here’s a video about that:

2. Money Can Make You Uncomfortable

The second lesson I learned is, having more money than other people can make you very uncomfortable.

Two years after the first Chicken Soup for the Soul book came out, I made $6,000,000 dollars in a year.

That was a major amount of money and it made me very uncomfortable. I actually felt some guilt around it and had to wrestle with my own sense of worthiness.

I wasn’t sure I deserved that kind of money when so many people in the world had nothing.

Not only that – I noticed that even though I hadn’t changed, the way some people related to me did.

In the eyes of many, Jack Canfield the multimillionaire was a very different person than Jack Canfield the relatively successful speaker and coach.

And having people treat me differently all of a sudden was a very uncomfortable experience. I did eventually get used to it, as I became more comfortable being a person with money. But it took some time.  

3. Money Makes You Look at Your Values

And the final lesson I learned when I became a millionaire is this: money forces you to look at what you truly value.

As I became more comfortable with having money, I had to take responsibility for it and decide what to do with it.

I had figure out what was most important to me, what were my values, and what did I really care about.

What I discovered was that I felt a strong responsibility to use my money for good.

But how?

Did I want to give my money to a school like Harvard, where I had graduated from – or give it to support homeless kids living in Santa Barbara where I live?

I ultimately decided to help build schools in Africa because my background and my values lie in education, and to support organizations dedicated to environmental sustainability to provide a future world where my grandchildren could survive in. That’s how I chose to give back.

I sat down with my family and together we decided what charities we were going to donate money to. It was a great opportunity to educate my kids on good money habits and the responsibilities of having money.

On Buying Too Much “Stuff”

Of course, there is also the danger of buying too much “stuff” when you have money.

People who suddenly have a lot of money may be tempted to make a lot of big purchases and surround themselves with way too much “stuff” they don’t really need.

When I first became wealthy, I went through a phase that I call my “nouveau riche stage”, in which I spent too much money on nice sweaters and clothing.

And at one point we even had a personal chef cooking all our meals. But I ended up gaining too much weight from having a chef and my wife became aware that she valued her privacy in the home more than the convenience of having someone else do all the cooking, so we decided to spend our money in ways that better served us.

So when it comes to spending your money in a way that truly makes you happy, you really need to examine yourself, your values and your priorities, and decide what it is you truly want.

Remember that it’s okay for money to make you uncomfortable, but that’s just because it’s exposing you to new situations beyond your current comfort zone.

It’s not significantly going to change YOU in any way.

But, if you want to be smart with your money and use it to create a life you truly love, put your money where your values lie. Use it to make a positive impact and create the kind of world you want to live in. That’s how you create a life of true purpose, deeper meaning, and abundance.

Develop a Millionaire Mindset

Here’s a great way to help you develop a millionaire mindset.

I want you to play the Millionaire Game. From this point forward, I encourage you to act as if you were already a millionaire or multi-millionaire.

How would you feel when you woke up in the morning?

What would your intention or purpose be for the day?

What would your mindset and outlook be?

How would you interact with your family, friends, coworkers, clients, and customers if you were already a millionaire?

How would you walk and talk, and how would you hold your body?

Fully visualize how you would move through the world as a millionaire – and then start acting that way today.

One of the most powerful exercises I often do in my live seminars and training is to have people stand up and mill around the room, interacting with each other as if they were already millionaires. At the end of the exercise, I ask them if they feel any different.

Everyone always reports that they feel more confident, more outgoing, happier, more enthusiastic and more energized.

Yet they hadn’t really become millionaires except in their minds!

And we know from the Law of Attraction when you feel, talk and act like a wealthy person, you attract more wealth and abundance into your life. The energy you put out into the universe will help you attract the people, the resources, and the opportunities to actually make that dream of wealth and abundance a reality.

If you’d like to learn more about the Law of Attraction and how to attract wealth and happiness into your life, get this free guide.

An individual’s goals are very personal. In fact, a well thought out goal hints at the person’s vulnerability and deepest desires. Not only do goals reflect a person’s desires, goals also have the incredible power to change a person’s life – if executed well of course.

However, due to the nature of such goals, people have a tendency to keep their goals and visions to themselves. But, there is great power in goal sharing.

The Power of Goal Sharing

Sharing your goals in life with others is an important success principle.

Have you ever wondered why weight loss apps encourage individuals to connect with other users, to post their weight loss goals, and their successes?

Studies show that men and women who publicly shared their weight loss goals lost more weight than those who didn’t.

This phenomenon applies to other goals too – not just weight loss related goals.

The truth is that your chance of actually achieving your goals is greatly increased when you share it with others for the following reasons:

1. You Gain Clarity

You gain more clarity about your goal and how to achieve it. In speaking your goal out loud, conversations with others may help you clarify and sharpen your goal.

Perhaps you knew you always wanted to apply to culinary school, but your friend is able to help you hone in on which specialty is best suited for you.

2. You Receive Accountability

Speaking it makes it real. Maybe your goal was written in a diary for over a year, or even longer.

Sharing your goal with a friend or family member makes the goal more real and no longer just a note in a journal.

Now, others can hold you accountable by asking you about the progress you’ve made towards reaching your goal.

If you want to be able to positively respond to those questions, you’ll quickly be motivated to take action and stay on track.

Here’s a related video that talks about how to set life goals.

What is an Accountability Partner?

Often, the term accountability partner is tossed around in the gyms or weight loss programs, but an accountability partner can help you reach any goal, fitness-related or not.

Having someone hold you accountable for your goal is an effective way to ensure that you actually reach your goal.

Accountability first and foremost can increase your motivation.

No goal can ever be met without self-motivation on your part, but unfortunately, motivation does not always come in abundance.

Sometimes we can supply our own internal motivation, but sometimes, especially during the most difficult parts of the journey, we need external support and motivation.

External motivation from a friend, who knows what you have committed yourself to, can come in the form of positive reinforcement and encouragement.

How to Choose an Accountability Partner

So who should you choose as an accountability partner?

The answer to this varies dramatically based on your circumstances and your goals.

Accountability can come from family members, friends with similar goals, colleagues at work, mentors, coaches, or personal advisors.

In fact, no matter what you do in life and no matter what your goal is, having a personal advisor is critical to being successful in meeting your goals.

It’s not always easy for people to share their most intimate visions or personal goals.

Do you share your goals with others?

If not, what is holding you back?

Sometimes individuals hold back because they are embarrassed about their goals.

They are afraid that others will mock their goal or say they are unrealistic. Of course, that could technically happen, but you don’t need to feel embarrassed if someone mocks your goals.

As long as your goals are well-planned and important to you, that is what matters. If someone does belittle your goals, then he or she is not the right accountability partner for you.

Look for support elsewhere.

Sometimes the fear of competition holds us back.

Have you ever heard of artists or musicians afraid to share their work because they don’t want others to steal the idea or compete with it?

Don’t let fear of competition stop you. Instead, focus on the benefits you’ll get from sharing with others.

Maybe you don’t share your goal because you think people won’t understand.

For instance, a teenager might not want to tell her parents she wants to join the army because she thinks she won’t get it.

However, through honest and open conversations, it is possible to share your goal and the reasons why you feel so passionately about your goal.

Connecting with other people allows them to gain clearer insight into you and your goals, which opens up the possibility of their support.

If you haven’t shared your vision or your goals with others, think carefully about what is holding you back. What can you do to overcome those obstacles?

Who is the best person that can act as an accountability partner for you? Tell them your goals, and ask for their support in keeping you on track. Leave a message in the comments if goal sharing has helped you.

There’s an enduring axiom of success that says,“The Universe rewards action, not thought.” Yet as simple as this principle seems, it’s surprising how many people get bogged down in the analyzing, planning and organizing stages when what they really need to do is to simply take action.

“What we think or what we know or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.” – John Ruskin

When you take action, not only do additional resources come your way, but you get feedback that helps you adjust your course and refine your approach.

In my seminars, I conduct a very illustrative exercise. I hold up a $100 bill and ask participants if any of them would like to have it.  I stand in front of the room, and wait until they “get it.” 

Usually, after several seconds, someone jumps out of their seat and rushes forward to pluck the $100 bill out of my hand. I then tell the rest of the audience that they, too, could have been the one to get the money if only they had taken action.

The Importance of Taking Action

The truth is, while most of us know a lot about earning money, making things happen and bringing about change in the world, only a surprising few get to have all the abundance, glory and satisfaction this world has to offer—simply because they are the select few who consistently take action.

Taking action is the one thing that separates the winners from the non-winners…the haves from the have-nots…and the high achievers from the everyday people.

Perhaps you’ve already seen someone create a big win in their life, only to grumble to yourself, I could have done that. Or perhaps you’ve watched as a co-worker launched a new project that included your ideas—only to conclude that you stood by while they took action.

How to Start Taking Action

The simple fact remains that, in life, we are not rewarded for what we know, but for what we do.

Of course, many people don’t take action because they’re fearful of the consequences. 

Perhaps they feel they don’t have permission or perhaps they’re more afraid of failure than they are of success.

Successful people realize that failure is an important part of the learning process. They know that failure is just a way we learn by trial an error. Not only do we need to stop being so afraid of failure, we need to be willing to fail.  I call this kind of instructive failure “failing forward.” 

Simply get started, make mistakes, listen to the feedback, correct and keep moving forward toward the goal.

Of course, one major benefit of taking action is that it’s a key factor in putting The Law of Attraction to work in your life. 

Step 1: You have to ask for what you want.

Step 2: You have to believe it will come about

Step 3: You have to create a vibrational or emotional match in order to receive the results when they come your way.

When you’re in action—doing research, connecting with people, finding ways to accomplish a goal—you are sending a powerful signal to the Universe that you expect and anticipate meeting that goal or enjoying that experience soon.

After all, you wouldn’t be doing all that work if you didn’t expect to be living that new life sometime soon, would you?

How to Learn to Take Action: The Rule of 5

A powerful strategy to get you in action and keep you in action is something I call The Rule of 5.

Here it is:

Every day, do five things that will move you closer to your goal – 5 concrete action steps.

If you’re self-employed, do five things to grow your business.

If you want a promotion at your job, do five things a day to improve your skills and knowledge so you’ll be eligible to be promoted.

Even if you accomplish just 5 things each week, that’s more than most people do in a month to achieve their dreams.

I remember back when I was building my speaking career, I would send 5 letters a day to school districts and program directors for educator conferences for teachers, counselors and school administrators.

And later, when Chicken Soup for the Soul was published, I would send out 5 books a day to companies who could hire me to speak at their next industry event or sales meeting.

Practice your “5 Things a Day” habit and after three weeks – not only will you have taken major action toward your life goals, you will have developed a new habit of being pro-active in creating your future.

Without action, nothing happens. So to help you get into action, I want to invite you to tune in to my webcast, which will teach you how to set and accomplish your biggest goals and create the life you want. I’ll teach you how to create awareness for where you want to go, see the big picture, and create an action plan to get there.

Fear is the single biggest thing that holds us back. Overcoming fear is an essential step in achieving our goals and dreams.

“Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.”  – Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s one of most common reasons people procrastinate on taking action toward their goals. We fear failure, or rejection, or being embarrassed, or disappointing or angering other people, or getting hurt. So we play it safe and avoid taking risks or trying new things.

Fear is natural. But where does it come from?

The answer is that it comes from US – from our own minds and imagination. it’s important to remember that, as humans, we’ve evolved to the stage where almost all of our fears are now self-created.

We scare ourselves by imagining negative outcomes to any activities we pursue or experience. But just because we imagine these things happening, that doesn’t mean they WILL happen, or that they will be as painful as we think.

That’s why psychologists like to say that fear stands for “Fantasized Experiences Appearing Real.”

Because fear is all about what MIGHT happen – not what WILL happen.

Overcoming Fear

The good news is, since we are the root source of our fears, that means we have the power to overcome them.

Instead of allowing ourselves to imagine a worst-case scenario and be a victim of our fears, we can take control of our own minds and consciously decide to visualize a best-case scenario instead.

Here’s a simple exercise to help you gain more control over your fears – and show you how unfounded they really are.

Make a List of the Things You Are Afraid to Do

These are not things you are afraid of, such as spiders, but instead, the things you are afraid to do, such as skydiving.

Your list might include things such as: leaving my job, going back to school, talking to my spouse about our relationship, asking for a raise, and so on.

Once you have completed your list, restate each fear in the following format:

I want to ____, and I scare myself by imagining ____.

For example:

I want to start my own business, and I scare myself by imagining that I would go bankrupt and lose my house.

Or:

I want to talk to my husband about our relationship, and I scare myself by imagining that if he knew how I really felt and what I really wanted, he would leave me.

By completing this statement for all of the things we are afraid to do, you can see how you are the one creating your fears by imagining negative outcomes in the future.

Take More Control Over Fears

I want you to take the last part of that statement – the fearful outcome you imagined – and transform it into something positive.

For example:

“Instead of scaring myself by imagining that I will go bankrupt and lose my house, I will work hard to do whatever it takes to make my business a success.”

Or:

“Instead of scaring myself by imagining that my husband will leave me, I will work with him to cultivate greater love and intimacy in our relationship.”

Do you see how each of these statements flips the fear on its head and transforms it into a powerful positive vision?

I encourage you to try this for yourself – and transform all of your fears into empowering visions of success!

7 Strategies to Move Past Fears

After you complete this exercise, you will still experience fear from time to time. It’s part of being human. But to help you in the process of overcoming fear faster, I have seven strategies to share with you today:

1. Become More Aware of Your Thoughts

Thoughts produce emotions – so if you want to change how you feel, change your thoughts. Whenever you feel fear, retrace your mental steps and observe what you were thinking.

What thoughts led to your feelings of fear? Once you identify them, it will be easier to resolve them.

2. Choose More Positive Thoughts

You can’t rid yourself of negative thoughts simply by not thinking them. The Law of Replacement dictates that you can’t replace something with nothing – you have to replace it with something else.

So when you notice yourself experiencing a negative, fear-producing thought, replace it with a positive thought instead – like I did in the exercise I just showed you.

For example, if you want to become a best-selling author, be on the lookout for thoughts like, “What if publishers reject my manuscript?”

Instead, visualize what will happen when a publisher DOES accept your manuscript and agrees to bring your book to market.

3. Notice the Physical Effects of Fearful Thoughts

Observe the physical sensations you experience when you think a fearful thought. You may feel fear as a sinking feeling in your stomach, a tightening in your shoulders and chest, or an elevated heart rate.

Notice what you feel and then consciously replace them with sensations you’d rather be experiencing.

Focus on how positive emotions, such as peace and joy, show up your body – as a rush of warmth or a tingle of delight. Imagine yourself experiencing those sensations instead, and your fears will be neutralized.

4. Use Positive Affirmations

Utilize affirmations to create a more positive, success-oriented mindset. Affirmations are powerful statements that describe the reality you want to create – and they are a powerful antidote to fear.

Here’s how they work: Imagine the reality you would like to create then form a positive statement that describes it as already being achieved. For example: “I am so happy and grateful now that I am a New York Times bestselling author.”

By stating it as already being achieved, you create a tension between what you are saying and experiencing physically, and what your mind knows to be true.

Your subconscious doesn’t like this tension and will begin to work overtime to resolve it, prompting you to take more action and become more aware of resources that will help you achieve your goal.

As you practice your daily affirmations, you may find yourself thinking, “What if this doesn’t work?”  If that happens, I encourage you to ask yourself instead,

“What if this does work?”

“Why will this work?”

“How will it work?”

By shifting your questions to focus more on action and solutions, you will find it easier to maintain your forward momentum.

5. Charge Your Visualizations with Powerful Positive Emotions

Take this affirmation for example:

“I am so happy and grateful now that I am a New York Times bestselling author.”

When you include a positive emotion in the statement – such as happiness or gratitude – you open yourself to experiencing that emotion in your body, giving your affirmation far more impact.

Just as the emotion of fear can paralyze you, intense positive emotions can motivate you toward greater success.

6. Be Realistic About Risk

A practical – and often overlooked – strategy for overcoming fear is to make sure you’re not risking more than you can afford to lose.

To grow and achieve greater success, you have to risk something. Just make sure that you can bear the loss if you don’t succeed the first time. My advice is to begin by taking on smaller challenges and work your way up.

If you want to start your business but you need a guaranteed income each month to pay your mortgage and stay out of debt, maybe run your business as a side gig until you have enough clients to quit your job for good.

If you’re starting your first job in sales, call on prospects or customers who will be the easiest to sell to. If you’re eager to take on new responsibilities at work, start by asking to do parts of a project you’re interested in.

If you want to run a marathon, start slowly with a simple “couch to 5K” app. Master the skills you need to learn, move through your fears, and then take on bigger challenges.

7. Celebrate Your Successes

You’ve overcome countless fears to become the person you are today, whether it was learning to ride a bike, driving a car, or kissing someone you liked for the first time. Taking risks and opening yourself to new experiences is always a little scary.

But when you face your fears and take action anyway, you build up confidence in your abilities.

The situation you’re facing now and how your fear is manifesting may be different than what you’ve experienced in the past, but you already know how to overcome your fears. You’ve spent a lifetime doing it! So I encourage you to follow Emerson’s advice and do the thing you fear.

It is the best possible way to grow as a person and achieve more success in life. Every successful person I know has been willing to take a leap of faith even though they were afraid. Because they knew that if they didn’t act, the opportunity would pass them by.

Recognize Fear For What It Is: a mental trick your ego uses to protect you from the negative outcomes it imagines. You create your fear and you have the power to dissolve it as well.

Think about something that you’re afraid to do. Now replace that fear with:

 I want to ____, and I scare myself by imagining ____.

Then transform the second part of that statement into a more positive outcome by saying,

“Instead of scaring myself by imagining ____, I will ____.

Repeat that to yourself a few times and see how you feel.

Learn how to reclaim your happiness and reach your goals without feeling stress with my Positive Thinking Guide. Discover how to overcome negative thoughts and feelings with ease.

How are you overcoming fear today? I challenge you to do something that scares you today. Do you have any questions or comments? If so, leave a comment below!