Page 98 - 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself

“planets.” Label the first circle, “Lifelong Dream.” (And in order to keep this

example simple, I’ll make it strictly financial, although you can do it with any
kind of goal you want.) Your lifelong dream might be to save a half a million
dollars for your retirement years. So, put that number in your “Life” circle. Then
look at circle two, the next planet in your solar system. That circle you will label,
“My Year.” What do you need to save in the next year in order to be on course
to hit your life savings goal? (When you factor in the interest, it’s less than you
think.) And when you arrive at the figure, make certain that it matches up
mathematically with your first circle. In other words, if you save this amount,
and save, say 10 percent more each year that follows, will you achieve your
“Life” number? If not, do some more math until you get a direct connection
between your yearly savings projection and your lifelong goal.

Now that you’ve got your first two circles filled with a number, move to the

third circle, “My Month.” What would you have to save each month to hit your
year’s goal? Then put that number down. Three circles are now filled.

Now go to the final circle, “My Day.” What do you need to do today that, if
you repeated it every day, would ensure a successful month?

(By the way, as I said, this doesn’t have to just be about money, it can be
about physical fitness, learning a language, relationship networking, spirituality,
nutrition, or anything important to you.)

The power of this system lies in thinking of it as a universe. When you work
the math, you cannot help but see that each circle, if done successfully,
guarantees the success of the next circle. If you hit your daily goal every day,
your monthly goal is automatically hit. In fact, you don’t even have to worry
about it. And if your monthly goal is reached, the yearly goal has to happen. And
if your yearly goals are hit, the lifelong goal will be reached.

When you study the irrefutable mathematical truth contained in this system,
a strange feeling comes over you. You realize that all four circles are ultimately
dependent on the success of just one circle: the circle labeled, “My Day.”

Then you get the strangely empowering sensation that you have just proved
on paper that your day and your life are the same thing. There is no future other

than the future you are working on today. Your future is not stranded out there
somewhere in space.

This is what the great poet Rainer Maria Rilke meant when he said, “The
future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens.”