A Simple Goal Setting Template for Download

Here's a simple template for personal goal setting. I have designed the form using MS Office Infopath. The recurring table is designed to add any number of rows as you wish. You can enter a single symbol either a tick mark or cross, in the final DONE field. It will only allow you to save each file as a form in which you can enter values. If you wish to customize the template, tweak it as you wish by opening it in design mode. Have fun!

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Masters of the Universal Subconscious

One who is a deep thinker does not believe in lifeless, dronish way of 'working and living a life'. Your life should express itself in what you do. (Ah! How true it is - what the book How To Win Friends And Influence People says about it). There lies a whole world of wisdom in that kind of a book. We kids who've done schooling are taught to be mere wrapped balls who limit themselves to the physical (or mental) drudgery that we are capable of. We're mere balls who bounce to the control of circumstances. In being a drudge, we limit ourselves to our little world, making use of just hands and feet and an erring brain. In that we forget that if only we had been a little wiser, we could use the infinite resources - money, people, time, and all that are part of the universal, to our benefit.

Lay down your tools for a moment and think clearly: who is it that reapth abundant benefits - he that slogs day and night and later fritters his humble wages because of his circumstances or he who is wise to master his cirscumstances and after a little effort employs the gained resources to work for him? In short, the master or the slave? Remember, your life should express itself. That is what gives happiness and eternal glory. We sorridly fail to acknowledge the fact that there is abundance. This failure is the cause to limitations and slavery of all kinds. He who understands it has the universal subconscious at his command.

How Simple it is to be Shepherded

How simple it was to be shepherded - by parents, by teachers, and to follow a fixed pattern every year. how simple it was to be in school or college, to be told what you have to do and when.. Some years later, you're out of college, on your own, doing things which impact your career, your life. Not just how well you do things, what decisions you make at what time, matter a lot. Sick of mediocrity, wary in big moves, taking every step with caution you're not sure what's in store for you next.
You have millions of options. Perhaps, that is the most frightening part of it. Battered, desperate and having no one to guide you, you feel - how simple it is to be shepherded.

13 Steps to Start a Successful Business from Scratch

After doing an extensive analysis of the key elements for starting up a successful business from scratch, I had jotted down several points that could help me in making decisions while starting my business. Then I just felt it would be a nice idea to share the key points with everyone and also I could get some more insight about running a start up from the readers. Here are the key things to consider before you decide to start your business from scratch:

1. Start from your cupboard

If you are not starting from scratch, chances are you are heading for disaster.

2. Focus on a niche

Don’t try to be everything for everyone neither should you try to enter a saturated market. Target a specific market with needs which may not be met. This can be instrumental in helping you become market dominant in future. Better to be a market leader in a small business segment, than being a small player in a big business segment (who knows when you’ll get wiped out of competition).

3. Think of a business which can scale big (think big)

It should offer you enough scope for future growth.

4. Assess the existing players

Take a look at existing players. Find out their way of doing business. Try to find a segment of the market that is under served. Evaluate how your or your team’s skills and resources together can provide a better product / service.

5. Assess the investment / operational capital needed

Start with what funds you have and what additional investment you can put in to make the initial profits. Don’t use Other People’s Money (OPM). You can self-finance your business through your credit card or personal loan. Don’t go to the Venture Capitalist until your business has achieved solid revenues. The chances that a VC will fund your start up are one in hundred. A business which has established itself as a profitable one adds credibility when making the pitch, in future.

6. Find the right people

Don’t go it alone. Business is about people. Recruit the right team. Neither should you go for a partner unless his/her skills can really complement yours.

7. So you need a business plan

A Business Plan Doubles Your Chances for Success, Says a New Survey.

8. Be Target Oriented

Rather than letting your business take a random course over time, set specific, mesurable targets and work towards them. Setting specific targets helps you focus your energies effectively and thus get better results. Chances are, you’ll exceed your targets almost every time. Stay informed about the latest developments in the industry and government / regulatory body’s policies and incentives.

9. Be Unique

Differentiating your business from the crowd adds uniqueness and value to your brand. IBM and HP are two gigantic competing companies, but you’ll see in what ways they differ if you take a close look at their operations. Both have their own defined value propositions in selling their products and services which appeal to prospective clients who have different types of needs.

10. Make profit from day one

There is probably no better way to keep yourself motivated. If you can afford it, put every penny back into the business.

11. Strategy

There is nothing like a wise move. If you can beat competition through strategic moves, you can stay on as the market leader with very little effort.

12. Patience

A business should have gradual growth. It can't bump from somewhere small to a big-time position in the market. Irregular growth pattern might signify rash decision making which can prove dangerous over time. So be patient until it reaches the peak level from where it'll start to look great. In short, wait till the inflection point.

13. Have an exit strategy

Though it might be a business which you’ve given your life and soul to, having an alternate business plan and an exit strategy is essential. Successful entrepreneurs do not essentially stay with their start up for the entire span of the business. Exiting at the right time can prove highly profitable or help avoid losses. An exit can happen in the form of selling or merger. It gives you incentive to get started with your next Big venture!

God of All Lives

In a world of loss, stress and defeat, you have been constantly telling yourself everything is alright. Everything's going to be fine and wonderful.. Believe me, despite being affirmative on the positive that things are just going to get better, at times, I have found it difficult beyond limits that one can emotionally bear to just keep it going. Well, it's been really really long.. and you've seen too much desperation, too much deafeat. But you get one affirmation from all sources you seek to counter this desperation, emotionally - there is nothing to worry about. All these things you see as difficulty is but the thoughts of your own mind. Outside, there is nothing called negative, there is nothing to worry about. Darkness, is a non existent thing. It is just the absence of light that we call darkness.

We speak of good and evil, but Good is a reality, something tangible, while Evil is found to be simply a negative condition, the absence of Good.

- Charles F. Haanel, The Master Key System

Some seek refuge in God - that Almighty who is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. That God who is sought out to be the saviour of all lives has every power, is present everywhere and knows everything - But what is all that this God effectuated in these millions of lives who face hurdles in every attemp to achieve things in their lives. Well, I should say, you have had your lessons. You have learnt to seek better things, to better your ways. In all the course of life, as you continue to seek good things and success, the Almighty is everything but present as a distant person who will save you 'sometime'. But for all other times, what lessons you've had in your journey, the pushing inner self which tells you to hang on and the determination to pursue that destiny, is God.

New Year, better man - 2

• Read, be an ardent reader. Write if possible.
• Network with people.. Avoid getting personal unless necessary.
• Listen.
• Never miss an opportunity to develop a good habit.
• Money is expendable.
• Human self is powered by a limitless subconscious mind. Acknowledge qualities which explore the treasure house in you.

New Year, better man

This new year, and as always, I was able to get a clearer perception of the way things work. In fact, to me, the idea that one should have plenty of material resources to achieve big sounds stupider with each passing day. Then what's the point in trying to be extraordinary?

Some noteworthy points I've learnt in the last few months....

• Love all. Hate none. Try to see the good in people.
• Be genuinely interested in people (who said ?? I'm still guessing). No asset as worthy as human network. (Think politicians, film stars)
• Loose self.
  Lucky people spend an absolute minimum amount of time thinking about themselves. Instead they focus on the people around them, their current project or new opportunities. - Bob Parsons.
• Abused? criticized? Don't ever feel bad. Only the abused will abuse. There's probably no fault with you. Take constructive criticism to do things better.
• Worried? Feeling let down? Alone? You're not the only one alone. Deep inside everyone feels alone. Cheer up. Embrace values for life, everything's gonna be wonderful.
• Use what talents you possess: The woods would be very silent if no bird sang except the ones which sing best. - Henry Van Dyke
• Feel good. Think Big.