[ pausing for oooh’s and aaaah’s… ]

Like any tool, however, your goals can be powerful victory-builders. But be careful. If you set your goals too high, you’ll quickly become frustrated and experience feelings of failure and desire to give up. If you set your goals too low, you won’t be motivated to strive.

Though few people talk about it, there are certain tactics you can use to ensure that your goals significantly aid you in achieving success. Rather than simply be measuring stick for your achievement, each goal will serve as a vehicle that gets you there. I call these tactics Ten Commandments of Goal Setting.

The Ten Commandments of Goal Setting

1. Thou Shall Be Passionate: more powerful than any goal you ever set is passion you have for what you want, what you do, and who you are. Find your passion first, then set your goals around that.

2. Thou Shall Be Realistic: if your goal is to make a million dollars in one year, and you only make $500,000, according to your goal, you’ve failed. Yet, you’ve made $500,000! Isn’t that a huge success? So why not set your goal at $100,000 dollars in one year, and beat heck out of it five times that year?

3. Thou Shall Be Value-Driven: in pursuit of wealth and satisfaction, many of us lose sight of our values and beliefs. Make a list of your goals, then a list of your values. If you can’t directly associate each goal with one of your values, maybe you shouldn’t invest your time in that particular goal.

4. Thou Shall Be Detailed: goal itself is almost never enough. The most effective goals are designed so that you know goal, date by which you will achieve it, quantity by which you will measure it (is “rich” $100,000 or $500,000?), and how it will change your life.

5. Thou Shall Plan: start with end result in mind, then work backwards. For example, if your goal is that your teenager confides all her secrets to you, step before that has to be that she trusts you. To earn her trust, you have to listen, and allow her to tell you her mistakes.

By Mike Litman

Why should you strive for financial success?

For money you will receive? For attention you might garner? What is your reason?

I would like to suggest another reason for you to consider.

Recently, I was sitting down with multi-millionaire Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins' original mentor, and he told me what he feels is best reason to become a millionaire.

He said...

"Set a goal to become a millionaire for what it makes of you to achieve it."

He went on to tell me about his own mentor...

"My own mentor, Mr. Schoaff, had an interesting way of teaching it. When I was 25 years old he said, ‘I suggest, Jim, that you set a goal to become a millionaire.' I was all intrigued by that. You know, it's got a nice ring to it - millionaire.

Then Mr. Shoaff said, ‘Here's why...'

"I thought to myself, ‘gosh, he doesn't need to teach me why. Wouldn't it be great to have a million dollars?'

Then Shoaff said, "No. Then you'll never acquire it. Instead, set a goal to become millionaire for what it makes of you to achieve it."

"Do it for skills you have to learn and person you have to become. Do it for what you'll end up knowing about marketplace. What you'll learn about management of time and working with people. Do it for ability of discovering how to keep your ego in check. For what you have to learn about being benevolent. Being kind as well as being strong. What you have to learn about society and business and government and taxes and becoming an accomplished person to reach status of millionaire."

"All that you have learned and all that you've become to reach status of millionaire is what's valuable. Not million dollars."

Jim Rohn told me a lot of amazing things in our time together. But, after all of millionaires I've had pleasure of interviewing, this lesson really stands out as advice we should all follow.

You need to ask yourself:

What kind of communication skills do I need to develop in order to become a millionaire?