How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life

Review:

In a number of areas on this site, I mention the great importance of setting clear and concise goals in order to ensure that you achieve your definition of success. I often say that the lack of clearly defined success is what keeps one’s dreams and happiness just out of reach of their reality. Setting goals are the first steps to achieving this success.

My father used to (and still does) spend one of the first days of every year writing out his goals of what he wants to accomplish in the year to come. When I was younger I used to heckle him and make fun of this ritual because it seemed like such a “by the book” type of thing to do. “Who writes goals anyway?” I would say. Well when you look closely you will see that very few people who have experienced great success in their lives have done so without creating and updating very specific goals in both the long and short term. So the answer is that most everyone writes goals. Everyone who is or plans to be successful does.

Needless to say, goals have become a very important and immense part of my life. When you think about it, goals are a bit like directions to a place you have never been. You cannot expect to travel the road to success if you do not have clear directions. You need directions for where you will turn in ten feet and you need them for where you will turn in 300 miles. It is fundamental to your success that you have goals set for both the long and short term. After all, it is the continuous daily accomplishments that lead you to your lifetime achievements.

This book is a bare bones road map to guide you through the development of your goals, mission and desires. Lakein discusses the value of goals and priorities through stories and examples. He then goes on to walk the reader through the necessary steps required to create and prioritize your top lifetime and short term goals. This book is a great way to understand the importance of creating and tracking toward your own goals and keeping to your priorities. The huge value in this classic book is of course not just in reading the words but in converting them into actions. There are a number of activities that Lakein guides you through in order get you started in the right direction. He makes it very easy to get started.

As with many of the books on this site, it is not enough to just read and learn about these areas and topics of success. You must act upon them. The best way to ensure this is to start by doing something today to make sure you achieve your goals tomorrow. So what is that for you? Decide and then do it. Action is the only thing that will get you where you want to go.

-Reading for Your Success