The ability to set written goals and to create action plans are the 'Master Skills.'

These are far more important than technical skills, selling skills or speaking skills, because they bring into effect the "cybernetic goal seeking mechanism" of the brain. This mechanism means that once you impress on your mind the goal, then your mind moves unerringly towards making your goal into a reality in every situation.

The oil millionaire E.L.Hunt, when asked what the secret of success was, said there are only two things you need to know:

1) What it is that you want...

2) Determine what price you have to pay for it, and then resolve how to pay that price.

We all have a built in failure mechanism, which for want of a better description we call 'the comfort zone'. We tend to stay within our comfort zone in order to avoid the risk of failure. We tend to move towards things that give us pleasure and away from things that cause us pain or which are threatening. This is the 'Pain or Pleasure Principle' that we read about in psychology textbooks.

The only way to override this failure mechanism is to activate your success mechanism, through a goal. When you focus your mind on a goal you activate the success mechanism, which then releases a lot of positive energy. This builds up your Desire and Drive. It gives you persistence, clarity of thought and intensity of purpose. You must move out of your comfort zone in order to improve any aspect of your life. One of the best ways to do this is to write down progressively higher goals and keep working towards them. This is how every successful person works. This keeps them alive, motivated and successful.

And remember that successful people are not people without problems. Successful people set their goals to solve their problems. The problem is not in achieving goals but in the setting of them in the first place, because once you have set your goals your mind automatically keeps working towards them.

Once you learn this secret, happiness and a sense of fulfillment usually follows.

Write the goals down!! If your goals remain unwritten they are borderline on being wishful thinking and can soon be lost from view. If you are not sure of what your major life goals should be, here is another secret...use 'creative visualization'.

To do this find a quiet place where you can sit undisturbed, close your eyes and relax. Once your mind is at rest focus your thoughts on the kind of person you would like to be. Visualize everything you can about that person, how you would speak, how you would dress, how you would act in all kinds of situations.

As you are watching this 'minds eye' video of yourself, intensify you feelings towards this person. See and feel the changes becoming real and how much better your life will be when that person 'The Ideal You' becomes a reality.

If you do this every day for twenty days (the time it takes to establish a new habit) by the end of that time you will have changed so much you will never want to go back to the old you.

You have used the Master Skills.

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Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of my-personal-growth.com, a site that provides information and articles for self improvement and personal growth and development.