Achieve Your Goals And Dreams by Using Excel Spreadsheets

Do you think your life is passing you by and you want to get back on track? Do you feel you are stuck in a rut and you don't really know how to change your life?

That is how Caroline Righton felt to some extent two years ago. She had a high powered job in TV in charge of a department of 25 people but realised that her life was not stimulating:

"I was not sure what I wanted to do with my life two years ago. My husband got a job at the other end of the country and both sons went away to college I was defined by my work and my role as a mother and wife. I now had time to stop and think about where I wanted to be in 6 months time."

Caroline decided to audit or stock take her own life and especially her time. She wanted to take an unemotional and business like look at her life. She would use some of the same methods and tools that she used in her job.

She decided to compartmentalise her life and stock take what she wanted to change and what she wanted to eliminate. She advises everyone to "look at your life and how you spend your time and then decide what is time well spent and what is a waste of time and what makes you feel guilty."

When we decide to pursue our dreams, "we start with good intentions and before we know it our time is hijacked. It is taken up by work and friends and with ringing Aunt Edna three times a week. You find that your time is no longer your own."

It is only too easy to "free fall through each day of your life thinking that was OK but you have never consciously put a quality of life value on each day or each hour."

Caroline advises you to analyse your days:

"You do time analysis. How am I spending this time and with whom? What am I doing and where am I doing it and when am I doing it? Do I want to spend those two hours with those people or do I prefer to do watercolours which I have wanted to do for years?

Two years ago I thought I don't know who I am. I didn't want to get too emotional. I wanted to be very clear about how I was doing and about what my commitments were and whether I really wanted the dreams I was chasing."

Caroline decided to use the strategies she used at work in charge of a department of 25 people

"I brought in the spreadsheets and found that ticking the boxes was clear and business like. I found that I had spent 4 hours watching TV. It was clear and precise and refreshing. It wasn't like pouring your heart out."

There was no psychological mumbo jumbo involved in Caroline's methods. Her approach is business like and mathematical. She looked at her life in cold numbers and arrived at a clear, unemotional picture of her life.

There are 24 hours in a day and 168 hours in a week and 8760 hours in a year

We all have X hours available. Take away Y hours that are committed to duties like looking after your family and friends. What you have left is Z hours.

You can use Z to fulfil your dreams if you can identify them.

Caroline's advice is very similar to that of Jim Rohn who advises using numbers and answer boxes to keep in touch with reality.

How many phone calls have you made to promote your product? A number fits into the answer box or cell. Excuses do not. Numbers give you a clear picture. Words can too easily be hijacked by defensive rationalisation.

Check the numbers in your life and start getting a clear picture of how you are doing. Use that Excel spreadsheet to get you back on track .

Caroline has written a book called Life Audit to express her approach to life over the last two years. I have already ordered my copy from Amazon. The question is: "Will I have time to read it?"

Jim Rohn would certainly suggest that you and I write down the number of books we have read each month. If the number is zero, we should pick up a book immediately.

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About the author John Watson is an award winning teacher and fifth degree black belt martial arts instructor. He has recently written several books about achieving your goals and dreams. They can be found on his website http://www.motivationtoday.com along with a weekly motivational message and books by other authors

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Introduction to this article (if required):

Many of us fail to achieve our goals or dreams because our time is hijacked without us realising it. We need to keep track of how we are spending our time. We need numbers and details rather than emotional excuses. Then we can get a grip on our lives and take charge. This article looks at the ideas of Caroline Righton on this topic as expressed in a recent TV interview.

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