This is an experiment. The thought pattern behind this post is to see how many people I can persuade to come to this blog post. You are here reading this now, so I must have done something right.

Would you do something for me? Leave a comment right now at the bottom of the page. I would like to know you stopped by and would also like the chance to see what website you have for me to look at (please keep it family friendly). I will have to approve all comments, so you won’t see your comment right away.

You want to know how I got you to come to my weblog, specifically this post. What I did was get you to say yes in your mind. When you read the sentence “Do You Want to Learn How to Get People to Do What You Want Them to Do?” you thought to yourself, “Yes I would like to find out.” It raised your interest and here you are.

The secret is to find a question that 99% of people who read it will say yes. Then ask them to do something they may have not have said yes to before they read that question.

Would you do one more thing for me? Send an invite to everyone you can with the question. “Do You Want to Learn How to Get People to Do What You Want Them to Do? Great! Then You Will Want to Read This Blog Post.” And in the body of the invite, paste the URL: http://roberttgasperson.com/articleblog/2009/03/15/do-you-want-to-learn-how-to-get-people-to-do-what-you-want-them-to-do-great-then-you-will-want-to-read-this-blog-post/

They will probably laugh at the length of the URL. Maybe that will make it more enticing.

Thank you for dropping by and inviting everyone you know to participate in this experiment. Don’t forget to leave a comment. I’d like to hear what people think.

Update 3-16-2009: Seems my little experiment was a total bust. I think it was my question. Everyone saw right through it, believeing it was just a money making ploy. It was actually a traffic building ploy, and just me seeing if this yes mindset really worked. I think that the answer to the question was yes, but most people thought in their minds that it was a scam so that put them back into a no mindset. I will have to ponder on this a little more. Feel free to comment if you have any insights.

By now, you should have spent a good bit of your time figuring out what your Long Term Goals are. You should know where you want to be in 5 or 10 years. Now is the time to start setting smaller goals to get you to those larger Long Term Goals.

What do I mean?

If you just set and try to achieve those Long Term Goals without a plan, you will most likely fail. There are just too many things to get in the way of those dreams. If you don’t have a plan of action, a planned out route of how to get there, then the task of that Long Term Goal will be overwhelming.

Let’s create that road map. Pick one of your Long Term Goals. Now think about the goal. How might you be able to get there?

Since this is a roadmap, write down all the different ways you might be able to get to that long term goal. For most goals there are usually several ways to get to the same point.

• Let’s say you want to get out of debt.
  • You could get a second job
  • You could get a higher paying job
  • You could spend less than you earn
  • You could file bankruptcy
• Now, you could travel down several of these roads, even at the same time. But you need to figure out where the landmarks are on those roads.
  • Let’s say you want a second job
    1. You have to update your resume
    2. Choose employers to apply for
    3. Go fill out the applications / Provide your Resume
    4. Attend interviews (This one would be a different step for each interview)
    5. Wait for a response
    6. If no one offers you a position go back to step 2
  • You could also spend less than you earn
    1. Find out how much you spend
    2. Find out how much you earn
    3. Figure out where you can stop spending money
    4. Stop spending that money
    5. If that is not enough Sell your expensive car and buy a used car (or refinance the expensive car. This may be more cost effective. You’ll pay more in the long run, but your monthly payments will be less. Also, you may start to break down more often while you still have payments due).
    6. Move to a smaller house. Renting can be cheaper than owning. You will loose the equity you could have in owning a house, but the landlord is responsible for repairs and you can move out without worrying about selling.

These small steps are your short tem goals. These are the goals you should have to get to the long term goal. You can break the short tem goals down into even shorter term goals. This is where you plan out what you are going to accomplish everyday to achieve the next step on your roadmap.

Sometimes you need to have a dream. If you don’t have a dream, you won’t get very far in life, or at least you won’t feel like life is worth living. I believe that in most cases, people have more than one dream. Most people have several dreams. Usually people dream of a successful career and dream of finding that special someone and settling down and having a family. Some people have dreams about getting out of debt. Some have dreams to travel. Whatever the case may be, these dreams are (or should be) considered your Long Term Goals.

How Do You Set Your Long Term Goals?:

1. Get a Pen and Paper
2. WRITE THEM DOWN! Sit down and write down everything that you want to accomplish before you die. Don’t leave anything out. This could actually take a while and maybe several sheets of paper. As you think about them, keep adding to this list.
3. Weed out the impossible ones. Cross through the ones like “Be the first person to set foot on Mars.” Unless you actually are an astronaut and NASA is really planning to send a man to Mars in our lifetime; that is pretty much an impossible feat. If you don’t want to cross them out, at least move them to a different list called something like “If the Chance Ever Shows Itself” Those crazy dreams should not be dismissed, but rather put on the back burner for dreams that you can actually do something about.
4. Write a time period next to each of your long term goals. This time period should reflect when you hope to actually accomplish your goal.
5. Start writing your Short Term Goals for each of the long term goals. We will discuss Short Term Goals in the Next Episode.

Dare to Dream. You only have one life, so don’t put those dreams on hold just because life gets in the way. We will find a way to make those dreams come true.

Leave a comment. What are your Long Term Goals?