Goals Mantra

The 90 Day Challenge!

by Leena on October 3, 2018 No comments

With less than 90 days to go before the year pulls to a close…chase those goals!!!

In my years of working on and researching this whole goal setting business, I notice that it can be a rough ride every once in a way. And when I reach this part of the year, I spend some time reflecting on the year that has gone by – what I set out to achieve, where I am at, what items are off the check list, which ones are a work in progress and which ones are still cold as hell!

It is easier to beat yourself up at this stage, if you focus on what has not got done yet. Especially for those of us who are super tough on ourselves, it can even be devastating.

Here’s a simple way to pick yourself up, and make the next 90 days count!

Consolidate – I cannot emphasize enough the magic of this exercise and the effect it has on your energy. When you start by noting down all that you have got done so far, appreciate your hard work and journey, your energy levels are far higher than when you started. This makes it a great frequency to be in, as you plan forward, instead of allowing self-criticism take over and really plummet your vibration. So keep it high!!!

Re-strategize – There is no rule in the book that says you cannot alter your goals or revise them any time of the year. Remember, we set goals, so we enjoy the journey, feel calm, get a sense of control on where we are headed and what we want to experience at the end of the day. So it is perfectly fine to alter them if you feel you’ve outgrown them, they are no longer meaningful to you, life has evolved and your priorities have changed or any other genuine reason you feel drawn to, to make a shift.

Fuel up – Now that you have re planned your goals, stopped the self-beating and pulled up your socks for the next leg of this journey – fasten your seat belt, plan in detail, schedule blocks of time each day to work on the goals, use tools like the hour of power to keep you fueled up and make you super productive.

Get relentless – Remove all that comes in the way of you achieving those goals now! Use the tools, do the drill and above all simply become RELENTLESS. Note your progress each day, keep an eagle’s eye on where you are spending your maximum time, prioritize and say NO to anything that takes you away from your goal, just for these 90 days.

Winners Never Quit, Quitters Never Win – Vince Lombardi

See, the reason why these 90 days are important is because I believe this is your opportunity to taste blood. An entire year to wake up at 5 am, do the work out, chase the goals you set and keep to the regiment can sometimes feel very uphill and long drawn. So when we chunk it down to these last 90 days, the mind feels – ‘oh this is just temporary and a short goal’, hence the resistance automatically comes down and gives you a window of opportunity to go all out….like you do in a sprint! Give it your best shot, shoot through the finish lines and experience a quantum leap first hand.

To all the naysayers – I challenge you on this one! Try it!
To all the ones who’ve given up – come on pick yourselves up! Just because you couldn’t do it earlier, does not mean you can’t do it now. Shut out the voice of judgement.
To the ‘I can do this’ lot of you – ready, steady and go go go!!!!

To the life of your dreams,
Leena Munot

Down Time = High Productivity

by Leena on September 23, 2018 No comments

We live in super fast, distraction laden and crazily overwhelming times. Look around you! Mobiles are buzzing, people are always in a rush with no time to lose, social media is plastered with success stories, people multi-tasking like there is no tomorrow…phew! It’s almost as if the earth has started to rotate much faster these days and I sometimes feel people have become Superman, Batman kinda super heroes – saving the world by night, working by day and making it all seem like child’s play. And I firmly believe, no matter who you are, however driven you maybe – building Down Time in your routine is imperative to reach your goals, sustain your success rate and lead a happy life.

While the heading may seem paradoxical, here is a list of reasons, why down time, rest time or taking off, whatever you may call it, is super important in our routine to amp up our productivity week after week.

Law of Diminishing Returns – The harder you work, the lesser you get done. There is only so much you can get away with in the name of pushing yourself to the outer limits of 18 hour work days. You can carry on this for a few days or weeks, before you start to feel the ill effects and burn out. After a point your mind is bound to slow down and you’ll start taking longer to accomplish even routine tasks. REST UP!

Emotions – A stressed body and mind, affects your emotional wellbeing too. You will find that happiness is being replaced by anxiety, peace is being replaced by worrying and so on. Before you know it you are unable to sleep well, you lose your cool at the smallest provocation and feel like you are on pins all the time. CALL IT A DAY!

Rest = Clarity
The old axiom – sleep over a problem holds a lot of truth. Quite literally when you rest well, your state of mind shifts from anxiety to a more calm one, helping your decision making skills to a very large extent. Sidra Jafri, world renowned healer says ‘you can’t solve a problem from the same state of mind that created it’. Need more convincing? SLEEP IT OUT!

Even if you agree with most of the above, there is an inherent inner voice that is constantly badgering us to keep going, chase those goals, deadlines, commitments… almost consuming us with high levels of guilt for taking that half a day off work, calling off that important meeting, postponing that decision at work…still DO IT! Take that off, get your down time, press RESET! A well-rested body and mind are the breeding grounds for unparalleled levels of productivity and success.

In my next blog I will share the different categories of down time that may be available, to help you make a wise choice on the one that suits you the most.

Like what you read? Feel free to share this with at least one super stressed superman or superwoman you know…and help them breath easy and schedule a down time in their routine!

Leena Munot
Entrepreneur I Speaker I Author I Blogger

Workation – the new trap?

by Leena on August 26, 2018 No comments

WORKATION – I must confess – when this word was coined, I was quick to jump at it. It meant I could work and play together? WOW!!! Think about it – I could go on vacation and work too – this meant less guilt for being away from work for long periods of time like 3 to 4 weeks, and I’d end up feeling like superman, never missing a day of work. John Henderson, Regus Regional Director for Asia Pacific, said, “The dedication that people worldwide are showing towards their jobs is admirable with a huge percentage of business professionals taking their work away with them.” “However, this can also be interpreted as an indication that they feel overstretched or insecure in their jobs and are unable to properly switch off. The effects of work place stress are well documented so it is important that workers carve out some personal time.”

As jazzy as this new buzz word sounds – it is a TRAP when not used wisely. Here is why:

Induces High Stress – You are neither here, nor there. This means when you are working you are thinking about play and vice versa. It stresses you because you feel pulled between the two. For example, if you are on workation and get a free window of two hours, you could choose from many things – write a blog, play in the pool, go for a walk and allow yourself to soak up the smell of the woods, the nature around you, enjoy the chirping of birds, or think about what’s the next big goal you want to achieve, that big work challenge that you are faced with, the outcome of a certain meeting and so on.

Heightened Levels of Guilt – Because you are not fully present to the job at hand whether it is work or play, you build guilt around your time in both areas. This makes you constantly feel inadequate and out of control. Unless you plan your days better, get into micro scheduling and be completely disciplined about it, workations could flop face down on you. You are never fully present in anything – not work, not play. And this defeats the very purpose of a workation.

Where from here? So while I am trying to get back to old school from Workation to either work OR vacation – these are some ideas I feel work for me

Plan two clear vacations a year – with no work. Fully relax, unwind and feel rejuvenated. And this to me would mean indulging my body, mind, soul and senses into nature, nothingness, new ideas – that are not forced – which means you allow them to naturally come to you, new experiences like gardening, walking in the rain, cycling in the hills and so on.

WORK when you work – no distractions of personal life, family or backlog of things you need to catch up on – like sleep, children time, love time, reading time, that pending house repair, taxes and bills that need your attention …nothing. You know that you need to be fully present and give WORK your 100% right here, right now. Your mind has only WORK to focus on.

Play when you PLAY – enjoy whatever it is you are doing – reading that book, watching a movie with your bestie, coffee time with friends, holiday with family, quality time with your spouse or children, switch off your gadgets…be fully present, involved and active. This shows the people you share your time with – that they are important, you are there for them – and this helps you build strong relationships. These relationships go a long way in ensuring a happier quality of life where you know you are always supported. No matter what.

Old school really works, because it was based on the principles of single minded focus on the things at hand. And for a non multi-tasker like me – this is a huge relief! One thing at a time, and the journey of life seems less stressful and more enjoyable.

Like this post? Go ahead and share it with those who live in high stress zones. This may be able to give them a new perspective on the concept of WORK and PLAY.

7 fail proof tips to Mastery – Part 2 of 2

by Leena on July 24, 2018 No comments

7 tips to mastery continued….2 of 2

TIP 4/7 – FIND A RHYTHM AND MAKE IT YOURS!

Most successful people attribute their productivity and consistency to their morning rituals. Whether you are a morning or an evening person, this works – find your rhythm. This is a simple one yet very potent – the Hour of Power. Dedicate 60 minutes to this routine each day and you’ll find yourself set into a routine.

20 minutes – go for a walk, work up a sweat, dance – anything to increase your heart rate and pulse. This releases dopamine in your blood stream making your entire physiology and mind become alert and open.

20 min – read and visualize your written goals (don’t have them yet? No worries, spend 30 minutes today and write down your top 3 goals and why you want to achieve them) During this time feel the experience of that goal becoming a reality and take in the feel of how it feels to be there. Anchor this feeling in your heart each day and you’ll start to attract the right resources and find yourself in the right place, at the right time.

20 min – wrap up the hour by reading something uplifting and inspiring to put you in the right frame of mind. NEWSPAPERS are not in this category for sure! You could read a book, watch a video, listen to some audio books or podcasts and infuse your mind with thoughts of possibility, dreaming big and rewiring your mind in the most amazing way.

This hour of power can also be crunched to 15 minutes by spending 5 minutes on each step (only when you genuinely cannot dedicate the time) and slowly you increase the time.This is a great tool to find your rhythm and to stick it to manifest mastery!

TIP 5/7 – SEEK INSPIRATION

While motivation is external, inspiration is what comes from within and fuels your days with an undying spirit to go out there and craft the life of your dreams. But there are days and weeks on end, where we feel off colour, lost in the fire fighting and making it through to the next day feels like climbing a massive mountain. Hold on. Breathe. This is not just you…it happens to most people and very often.

And that is why this tip makes so much sense. Seek inspiration on a daily basis – tune out of work and tune in to yourself for atleast 20 minutes everyday. During these 20 minutes, go out for some fresh air, be in nature, walk down to a nearby cafe, read a book, play your favourite music and go for a quick run… become fully present in your here and now and breathe in gratitude for this day. Once you are refuelled you get straight back into work and create magic!

TIP 6/7 – RESIST THE SABOTEUR

Here’s the thing about doing your greatest work: as you get closer to what you’re truly capable of producing, your ego will subconsciously seduce you to stop moving in that direction. You’ll feel like Skyping the office or checking your Instagram feed or taking a nap, thirst will kick in, you may yawn ….or many such distractions will crop up and try to do everything to steer you off course.

Don’t let your lower self cause you to betray the gifts embedded in you. Your loved ones need you to fly. And our world will be a whole lot better off when the brilliance of your light shines. So stick to the desk, do your job and to the little voice that so badly wants to keep you stuck…listen to this voice…and say thanks for sharing…and move on. No matter what we do…this little voice…lives inside us as long as we live. Asking us to snuggle up deeper in bed when the alarm goes off, making us sit a little longer on that social media page trying to keep us from doing our greatest work… and so on. Pick yourself up, cut the noise and move one step ahead at a time.

TIP 7/7 – REWARD THE WINS!

In my years of studying goal setting and the science of achieving them, i find a common thread. Most often people are stuck in a weird loop – set a goal, achieve it, set another goal, achieve it, set yet another goal, go on and achieve it or may be not….Not being able to achieve your goals can slowly and steadily build the baggage of guilt, reduce your steam and make achieving the next goal a herculean task. Is this you? Well, it is most of us at some point in time…

To crack free from this guilt, i’ve noticed two things work brilliantly well. First is to consolidate the journey from where you started to how far you’ve come. Acknowledge it. You may not have made it to the end, but you’ve surely moved ahead and navigated your way a little ahead. Appreciate it. And the one that nails it all is REWARD YOUR WINS. What if you set a goal, achieve it…and before you get on with the next one, you take time out and take in this success, celebrate it and reward yourself for the good work!

Research shows when you celebrate a win, and reward yourself – you increase the chances of repeating this success with the next goal. Why? Simple – what gets appreciated, appreciates in your life – you become and attract more of that which you appreciate. So the next time you set a goal and achieve it – remember to complete the loop by rewarding your win!

Be back to this space for more shares on goal setting.

7 fail proof tips to Mastery – Part 1 of 2

by Leena on April 21, 2018 No comments

Every champion needs some rest, some hand holding, some reflection time and most importantly constant doses of how to think differently. I am super excited to share with you 7 such tips over the next few blogs to re ignite you and get you going on that route to chasing those dreams and making them a reality.

TIP 1/7 – GET AWAY FROM YOUR WORLD

Do this to help you build mastery like never before. You can’t do the finest work of your career staying in your city. I’ve found I get big things done when I’m on airplanes or transiting cities, or staying at a hotel. It’s a total needle-mover to book a fantastic room in a place you adore and then put the “do not disturb” on the phone and door for a week. Yes, take it off so your room gets cleaned 😉 And put your devices in a plastic bag with a label on it that says “My Masterpiece is more important than my email!”

Just think about it: in a hotel room, no one can distract you, you can order room service when you need to, sleep when you need to, you can work out when you need to work out and you can isolate yourself so that Transient Hypofrontality [the neurobiological state of genius that we ALL have but so few know how to access] just shows up and helps you think beyond where you are envision a life you so want to make a reality.Some people say “but a great room and holiday costs too much.” Think of what Warren Buffett says: focus on value versus cost. If you do work that wows a whole industry and makes you a legend in your field, was the investment returned 1000 times over? You can’t become a history-maker stuck in tiny thinking. You just can’t.

TIP 2/7 – FIGHT TO BE DARK

I get that people need your attention and your time at work. And finding time to do work that truly matters is lost in being available to others. Go to war. Fight to go dark and be completely unavailable. Distractions are costing you your genius. The business won’t burn down and your team will figure it out. You doing masterful work is all that matters here. Trust me on this. Be nearly totally unavailable. Just watch what ideas start downloading and just see the quality of your output. Yes i can hear your resistance – saying it’s impossible, this is fictitious advice, wishful thinking – just for today, what if you choose to go dark and see what happens when cut out all distractions…it will be there for you to see.

You’ve got one life, live it well, with your priorities right. There will be times when things go awry, how soon can you bounce back on course…and get back to fighting to make sure you get your time block to do your genius work.

TIP 3/7 – BECOME A SPARTAN

Don’t fill your work space with things you don’t need! De clutter your desk of those stacks of papers, files, visiting cards, notes and post its that have been there for months. All they do is gape at you day in and day out, make you feel guilty for not having competed those tasks…and there goes your chance to any kind of mastery!

You’re like a Spartan soldier now. Keep as little in your personal work space as possible. The place where you breed the ideas and execute on the concepts so you raise the entire world. Keep it pure. Keep it lean. Make sure you de clutter your work space before you begin work each day. It’s a great way to clear your space of negative vibes and allow space for positive work to get done.

I hope you find these tips epic as I did. Each one is a gem and a complete game changer should you choose to work with them, slowly and steadily each day.
Credit: Robin Sharma, one of my favourite legendary thinkers of all time.

Life goals and why you must have them

by Leena on June 9, 2016 No comments

In my journey of meeting so many people from different walks of life as an entrepreneur and more recently as a trainer and coach, I find myself getting loads of questions around the concept of having goals, and more specifically life goals. For someone who has never set a goal in his life, asking him to set seven different goals in key areas of his life can be a daunting task. Give him a pen and paper and boom! You’ve just put him into deeper trouble!

Yet, the fact remains. Having clearly defined, written life goals are key to a life filled with happiness, contentment and success. Here are a few reasons why you need them:

Clarity
When you don’t know what you want in life, no one can help you. It’s the same as asking the best shooter to aim in the dark and hit bull’s eye. Impossible right? The best way to get clarity is realize that being busy around a whole lot activities in the day is not necessarily driving you closer to your goals. As Bill Copeland put it across very adeptly, if you don’t have a goal in life, you are spending your life running around and not achieving anything for yourself. You get the illusion that you are doing a lot of things, but they aren’t what you want. Setting goals gives you the much needed clarity about the things you truly want to have in your life. It helps you live more consciously when you know with clarity what activities are taking you closer to your goals.

Drive forward
When you have crystal clarity about what you want to achieve in life, your days are filled with purpose. Your mind automatically starts focusing on opportunities that will take you closer to your goals each day. Your goals are a mirror of your inner desires. Written goals are the fuel that give you energy to wake up each morning and make positive moves towards your goals and ultimately craft a life of your dreams. When in doubt, the best way forward is to revisit your goals and see if the options that lie ahead align with your desires, and make choices in favour of your goals.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman

Makes you accountable
Goals give our days’ purpose and our life a meaning that runs deep and hard wires us towards having an achieving mindset. When you write your goals and set out daily tasks to take step by step actions towards achieving them, you make yourself accountable to the most important person in your life – YOU. Holding yourself accountable inculcates the much needed self-discipline to help you accelerate your journey towards your goals.

Life of your dreams
Having written goals and spending your days realizing them is perhaps the best way to live a life of meaning, a life of your dreams. You become a better person as a result of being on this journey. As they say, while it is important to achieve your goals, it is more important to observe who you become as a result of being on this journey.

The importance of having life goals cannot be over emphasized and there is no better time to begin setting your life goals today. Today is after all the first day of the rest of your life. It is never too late and you are never too old to set another goal. So wake up, take charge of your dreams, write them down, make a plan of action, take productive action each day and begin to live the life you always desired.

Share this with people you know and together let us take with us our loved ones and dream big, set audacious goals that make us stretch and better our best each day and live the life of our dreams!

Leena Munot
Author I Entrepreneur I Trainer
www.goalsmantra.com

7 reasons why you need mastermind groups!

by Leena on April 19, 2016 1 comment

Napoleon Hill created the concept of mastermind groups around 75 years ago with his book, Think and Grow Rich. Designed to help you navigate through challenges using the collective intelligence of others.

Yet, most of us tend to chase our dreams and goals all by ourselves and sooner or later we run out of steam. Imagine a group of smart people meet weekly or monthly and lean on each other, give advice, share knowledge and inspire each other to chug along the route of their dreams. Think about how your life will change a s a result of these people and the energy of such groups?

Here are 7 reasons why a mastermind might be right for you:

Exclusive community: In a mastermind other members need you just as much as you need them, so quality of experience and knowledge is crucial to all involved. It is a set of people who come together to achieve their goals through the help of others.

Support: Once you are involved in a mastermind, that feeling of “being alone” while running your business or chasing your dreams is gone. The other members of the group turn into buddies and help you find new inroads that take you closer to your dreams and passions.

Collaboration: You may find someone in the group that is a perfect fit to work on a project with you or become your accountability partner. Or, you may be the perfect person to help another member as well. The group works together collaboratively, to achieve more together. Remember, TEAM – Together Everyone Achieves Miracles!

Extend your network. Joining a mastermind expands your network exponentially and rapidly. If you are in business, you know how important your network is. By joining a mastermind that helps you reach your life goals and not just business goals, you instantly add to your network and typically gain the networks of those in the group with you.

New learning. Everyone in the mastermind is unique in skill, experience and connections. By interacting and sharing your challenges, it’s almost certain that someone in your mastermind will have a solution for you and you may also be able to offer a solution, connection or tactic to help another in the group.

Cross-promotion. When you join a mastermind, you will most likely find ways to help each other by utilizing cross promotion. Finding ways to help each other through promoting to your respective networks, skills and talents.

Think bigger. Being in a mastermind will truly give you a Master Mind! You can’t help but think bigger and stretch beyond your boundaries when surrounded by amazing people doing amazing things. The support, the motivation and all the learning will lead the way for a more enriched and happy life!

Masterminds are incredible and can do wonders for your business and achievement of your life goals. Growing in a group is not only more effective, it brings with it hidden bonuses of friendships, meeting like minded people, learning through doing and much more. Sign up for a mastermind group and watch yourself grow like never before!

by
Leena Munot
Entrepreneur I Trainer I Blogger I Author

www.goalsmantra.com

Why do you need an Accountability Partner!

by Leena on February 29, 2016 No comments

Every four years we are blessed with one extra day and date– Feb 29^th! What are you doing about it? As human beings we constantly look for external motivating factors to charge us up and get us going. True that external factors do help – but not until you are willing to take a Leap…a leap of faith in that direction!

For those of us who truly believe in setting and having written goals, this could be a valuable read. This article is dedicated to the dreamer in each one of us. Once you set a goal, start work and see small progress each day, you gain momentum towards achieving more and more success in that direction. However, everyday life and old patterns takes over sooner or later. Weather changes, our moods change, our motivation to set out and perform at peak levels each day diminishes and slowly we find ourselves on a downward spiral. Have you wondered why, when you have begun on a great note, moving upwards and forward towards your dream life, suddenly you slow down or almost stop?

I have personally struggled with this one for years, and was seeking ways to combat this. How could I fill this gap between my dreams and my achievements? It was not until early this year that I found the answer to this. In fact the answer lies in the question…How could I fill the gap? GAP is the answer. Get an Accountability Partner to fill the GAP. Fill the GAP with GAP!

Get an Accountability Partner to help you fill the GAP between your dreams and your success!

Although this idea has been around in the achiever circles for long, I quickly realised that it was the most under-utilized tool to goal achievement. Most people under estimate the power of getting an accountability partner and they have interesting excuses – who will wake me up at 5 am everyday? Who has the time? Who cares? It is so embarrassing to ask for help. It will make me look weak and in-disciplined. Why bother? Do you see yourself in these excuses, can you think of more?

Contrary to the above, getting yourself an accountability partner could be game changing! Find an accountability partner in a friend, a colleague, a mentor, an associate, a family member…anyone who really cares deeply for you and wishes to see you succeed! And here are some reasons to get one soon:

Accountable: When you find and assign someone to be your accountability partner, as the word says, you become accountable to them, you become answerable to them for your progress. If you are someone like me, then this alone is good enough reason to initially wake up and jump out of bed at 5 am each day to do my work out!
Compassionate coaching: Your accountability partner cares deeply enough for you and shows compassion by empathising with your reasons and yet firmly asks you to put them away and take action anyway. Because he is equally committed to your success and will pull, push, kick, tug…or do anything that is required to get you there.
Lifts your spirits: With whom can you celebrate small successes like waking up at 5 am each morning for a whole week? Yes, you are right! Only with your accountability partner, who truly understands with how much grit you have achieved this little win. He understands different people find different challenges that they need to deal with to move forward.
Has your back: This is the most potent reason you would want to get an accountability partner for. When you fail, slow down, fall, stumble, lose faith, lose motivation, don’t feel inspired enough…this partner lifts you up with his words of encouragement like a true coach, with his never say die attitude and above all, his commitment towards your success.

So what are you waiting for? With this extra day in your year, make this Leap year count! Take that leap of faith and find your accountability partner and double up your speed on the road to goal achievement and volunteer yourself to help give wings to the dreams of other dreamers by becoming their accountability partner someday soon! As I write this blog, I just signed up with an accountability partner who will help me grow my business to 10x! I got my Accountabiliy Partner…good luck with your search!

by
Leena Munot
Entrepreneur I Trainer I Blogger I Author

www.goalsmantra.com

Before 2015 ends!

by Leena on December 27, 2015 No comments

We enter the last week of 2015 and today is the last Sunday! As you prepare to welcome the New Year with new resolutions, a stronger resolve to achieve your goals and to move to your life to a whole new level, how about a reflective date with yourself today? Most of us go through years of our life working to make ends meet and make sure we are able to survive and grow at a reasonable pace. When one goal is achieved we quietly move to the next job on hand…do we take the time to stop and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done or for a goal achieved? The goal setting loop is incomplete when all you do is set goals and go all out and achieve them. You complete the loop when you celebrate your achievements.

Celebrating your achievements is a great way to communicate with and thank the universe for turning your goals and dreams into a reality. You are expressing your appreciation for all the efforts and sacrifices you made to ensure you achieved those goals. So on the last Sunday of 2015, I am inspired to share with you, these four important to-dos before we usher in the New Year. All it needs is an hour of your time to make a list of these, yes, I mean write them down so it gives your thoughts a definite form on paper.