Category Archives: Self-improvement

Dave McGarry’s 2011 Goals

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Wow, I did not realize that I would have had such a response from my post yesterday but I appreciate all the feedback. Anyway, as I was saying yesterday I do not set resolutions but set goals for the year. Also, I said that I would be sharing my goals for the 2011 fiscal year and I will later this week but today I want to share with you the process I go through in case you would like to set up goals instead of resolutions. Below you will see the process.

The first thing I do when I set my goals for the year is, I break them up into specific categories. The following categories are the ones I use. Feel free to use all these for your goals or pick 4 or 5 to start with.

  • Business
  • Financial
  • Physical
  • Mental
  • Spiritual
  • Relationships
  • Family
  • Lifestyle

Now, I go through each catagory and come up with four goals for each one. From there, I then go through the list and pick my top ten goals for the year. Next to each goal I mark the corresponding symbol from each category.  Ex.) If I say work out 4x a week, I mark a (P) next to the goal. I do this for each of the ten I listed.

Once I have my top ten and they are marked with the corresponding symbol, I then go back and look to see which areas I am focusing more on and make sure that sits well with want I really want to accomplish for the year. Sometime it will take me a few drafts to get my goals refined but it is well worth it in the end. If you are new to goal setting don’t get overwhelmed by it. These are your goals, so just start by setting some up and you can always go back later and change them, which I will be writing about later this year.  If you are stuck and want more info on how I do this send me an email and I will help you out.

Coming up part 2 of Dave McGarry’s 2011 Goals. I will be reveiling my goals for the year! See you then!

Coach Dave

New Year’s Resolutions is a waste of time

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It is the 3rd of January and most of you may have already broke your New Year’s Resolutions. I am not trying to be negative or a Debbie Downer but the reality is, most people who set New Year’s Resolutions never see them through more than a few weeks. The reason I believe is simple. You see, when you set a resolution you only have one part of the equation and are missing the second and most powerful part to making the resolution stick. Today, I will give you the second part of the equation and this time around setting a New Year’s resolution will not be a waste of time.

Several years ago I decided that I was done setting New Year’s resolutions. I came to the realization that I, like everyone else, fall into the same trap and dismal disappointment of falling back into my bad habits. This got me thinking to myself, why is it that some people seem to have more success than others when it comes to achieving something that they set out to do. Well, being that I love to study successful people I came to the conclusion that, successful people do not set resolutions but set high goals for themselves. Now, you may be saying to yourself, “what is the difference between a New Year’s resolution and a goal?” Well, this is where the second part of the equation comes in. Goals typically have a “why” behind it, as where resolutions, in my opinion only have a “need to stop doing something” in it. Sure, you want to quit eating out to lose weight, but why do you want to lose weight? By defining “why”, you give yourself a strong reason for changing a behavior. I know you still are saying, “well I had that in my head as the reason for my resolution.” Good, but goals need to be written down and need to be set up in such a way that you have it specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely (S.M.A.R.T Goals).

Now if you have bought into my theory of setting goals,instead of resolutions, here is what I want you to do next.

First, I want you to write down ten things you want to accomplish this year.
Second, I want you to write down below it why you want to accomplish it.
Finally, set a time table as to when to accomplish it.

I will be sharing with you some of my 2011 goals this week. Until then, get rid of the theory of setting New Year’s resolutions and start setting up S.M.A.R.T goals for this upcoming year!

To your Success,
Coach Dave

Dave’s Top Ten Learned Lessons for 2010

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Hey everyone! It has been almost two weeks since I have actually posted something on the site and it was done intentionally. I wanted to take the remainder of the year to reflect and plan for the exciting year ahead. 2010 has been a year of growth for me, I have learned many new life lessons this past year and today I want to share them with you. So, without further ado, “Dave’s Top Ten Learned Lessons for 2010!”

In no particular order:

1.) Change will occur – Whether you want to change or not, it is inevitable that change will happen. It might be a slow gradual change or it might be fast and sudden. Embrace it and realize that nothing lasts forever. Sometimes change can be for the best. For me, being thrown into starting my own business was the best thing that ever happened to me.

2.) Save for a rainy day – My wife’s parents and my parents always told us both to make sure you save for a rainy day. They preached how you never know when some unforeseen circumstance might occur that you may need to tap into some savings to keep things running smooth. Well, thank you so much much mom and dad for instilling that trait into me. Having that safety blanket has given us the ability to not worry about finances if something unforeseen happens.

3.) Have your fiscal house in order – This is different than saving for a rainy day in the sense that if you are leveraged to the hill with expensive cars, houses, fun toys, etc… the saving that you put away will be blown through in no time at all. If you have debt know the difference between good and bad debt. Having a credit card with 29% interest is not good. Having depreciating assets that do not generate you cash flow are not good. Increase your financial IQ and learn how to make your money work for you.

4.) Have a back up plan – As I mentioned earlier change will occur and one day you might wake up and find yourself asking “What next?” Make sure you have a back up plan in place. Always, keep networking and making sure that you are building your “well” before you need it!

5.) Faith – This past year I have grown tremendously in my spirituality and faith in God. Having that belief allowed me to get through some of the tough times I encountered this past year. All I can say is “Believe!”

6.) Family and Friends are everything – I have some of the greatest family and friends in the world. When times were tough for me my friends were there to give me support and reassurance. My wife, whom is my best friend, has been such a huge supporter and as I say, “A Rock” for me as I venture into my own business. I am very thankful also for my mother who has always instilled in me that “I am a winner and winners never quit!” I want to thank all my friends and family for your support! Also, one more thing and that is something I learned a few years back from listening to Jim Rohn speak and that is do not be lazy when it comes to managing your relationships with friends and family because they are your life support when times get tough!

7.) Cherish the moments – I was listening to the radio and a new George Strait song came on the radio that talked about life is not the breathe you take but the moments that take away your breathe. Wow, that hit home with me and made me realize all the amazing moments in my life I have experienced and the future moments that I know are ahead of me!

8.) Life is a journey – I read somewhere when you are in a rut you need to start a gratitude journal. The goal is to write down all the great things you have accomplished in your life and then everyday start writing down all the things you are grateful for that day. Doing this exercise made me realize that there will be times when things seem tough and not going your way but when you look at the big picture you experience and do some amazing things! As the great Jim Rohn says, ” You are either in a crisis, coming out of a crisis, or in a period of great things happening!” Life is a cycle and enjoy the journey!

9.) Money isn’t everything – I know this is a shocking statement coming from me but the biggest lesson I have learned this past year is that the focus of life should not solely be on making money. Don’t get me wrong money can create many opportunities and make life easy, however, it should not be how you judge success. If you hate what you are doing then all the money in the world isn’t going to change that. Focus in on doing what you love and judge your success on the contribution you make to society.

10.) Never quit – It is so easy to quit when things get tough. Far too often we give in too soon. We are an instant gratification society and when we don’t things quickly we give in. If you ask any successful person who created something big they will tell you that they had to overcome leaps and bounds to succeed and as I venture into my new business venture I have made it my modus operandi to “Never Quit!”

I hope that you are able to relate to some of my lessons and maybe even take one thing away from them to implement into your life and career this upcoming year! I truly believe that this is going to be a great year! I look forward to sharing with you more of the exciting things I have in store for 2011.

What has been holding you back?

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Hello everyone!

Welcome to another edition of “Open Blog Friday.”

Today I want to briefly talk to you about barriers. This post probably is more for me than anyone else but I know there are many of you who struggle with some of the same things I do. I guess what I am trying to get at today is, what are the thoughts that you have in your mind that are holding you back? Do you believe that anything is possible with hard work and determination or do you believe that you could never achieve that because of reasons such as, I do not have enough money, enough time, enough resources, etc… I know first hand how these thoughts can creep into your head and how destructive they can be, but if you want to be successful you need to develop mental toughness. Many of us work on being physical tough but we do not focus on challenging our brains to be mentally tough.

Here are some ways to train your brain to be mentally tough:

Set a goal to do something that is totally opposite of what you are currently doing. An example might be to learn how to set up a fully functional blog. For those of us in the fitness area we typically focusing in on learning about Anatomy and Physiology, so getting into the tech world will challenge your brain to learn something new.

Volunteer to speak. People rate public speaking as the second most fear to dying. Get up and speak in front of crowd and you will see that you develop courage and mental toughness.

Become a “What’s Next Kinda Thinker.” When something goes wrong try thinking about what can you do now or think okay what is next for me. Always, be looking forward and leave the past behind.

Finally, get around the right people. If you constantly are surrounded by people who do not believe anything is possible and are always negative than you will not grow and will more than likely get sucked into their negative state of mind. Get around people that cause you to think and grow.

If you are having troubles moving forward take some time and think about what is it that is causing you to not move ahead. Embrace it and then you some of the above strategies to become mentally tough!

In health,

Coach Dave

Do you have a plan for 2011

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I have a simple question for you today and that is. “Do you have a plan for 2011?” I am referring to a specific, detailed, goal approach to having a better year personally and professionally in 2011. I know what you are saying, “I have my goals for next year up here in my head.” Sorry, that does not work. If you really want to have a great year in 2011 you need to take some time over the next couple of days and reflect on what you accomplished this past year and what you want to accomplish next year.

Every year I use a technique that I learned from the great Jim Rohn. What I do is, I take all my journals and goals that I have written down and review them. I ask myself the following questions:

Why do I write that down as a goal?
Did I accomplish it? If not, why not?
What areas of my personal life do I want to work on?
What areas of my business career do I want to grow?
What are my income goals for the next year? 3 years? 5 years?
How do I become more?
What people do I need to meet and network with to achieve my goals?

Those are my top 7 questions that I ask myself before I begin to set up my plan for the next year. And yes, I write it down!

So, take the next couple of days before the holidays and reflect on what this past year has been like and set up your 2011 plan.

I will be sharing with you my 2011 predictions and my plan real soon, so come back to see the big things I have planned.

P.S. If you need some coaching on this I am available to help. We all need someone to help us from time to time and now is a great time to get some. Click here to join my coaching program.