Well, I think we can agree that we don’t want to be just anywhere. We want to be where it is we want to be, and we want to know for sure we’re there.

Creating personalized easily recognizable and undeniable road signs, landmarks, and mile markers, to help you recognize where you are on your journey is imperative. Those same signs will also tell you exactly when you have arrived at your destination. It is important to understand that the terrain itself will look different than the map you have created. The map is the overview; the terrain is down in the trenches, it’s through the woods, and over the boulders.

Imagine how easy it would be to achieve your goal if you had already been there a few times—if you knew the terrain inside and out?

Do you think that would be helpful?

Like the smaller, less prestigious competitions I used as stepping stones on the way to the Mr. America contest, the achievement of your sub-goals and tasks will provide much (not all) the measurable evidence you need to know you are moving toward your goal and not going in the wrong direction or even going backwards.

Without evidence of advancement, the terrain begins to look unfamiliar and sometimes even hostile, and you can wind up frustrated, discouraged, and lost, or worse yet – ready to quit.

On a personal note, I have been asked on several occasions, “What was your body fat percentage when you were in top shape for a contest?” I can only guess when I give them an answer. I really have no idea. I never once measured it.

My evidence procedure was almost completely visual. I had to see what it was I was after. Visually I knew whether or not I was on target with my progress for a particular competition. I could have been measured at 20 percent or 2 percent body fat, but if I did not like what I was seeing in the mirror, it would have meant absolutely nothing.

Get clear on the evidence you need to see, hear, or feel along the way to achieving your objective.  Get familiar with what others have experienced and used as road signs and mile markers along the way to achieving a similar goal and then flavor it with what will resonate with you.

-The Achievement Mentor