Do you wake up every day bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to take on the world and enjoy the next challenge?

Does your level of happiness stay constant regardless of whether you are headed into a hectic work-week or if you are loading up the car for a very much anticipated vacation?

Do you remain cheerful, upbeat, and positive regardless of what is going on at any given point in your life?

Most people - if answering honestly - would have to say "no" to at least some of those questions. Very few people are able to truly stay in touch with a high level of happiness as they travel down the often bumpy road of life. As much as that point of view can be understood, it still begs the question: What blueprint are you creating for the rest of your life?

• When a very young child does not get their way, and they throw a temper tantrum, do we simply concede and then give that child what they want so that they will stop crying?
• When a spoiled teenager gets into trouble at school or with their friends, do we continue to give them special treatment, thus adding fuel to that fire?
• When a troublesome employee or co-worker makes waves at work, do we bow to their will so that they will stop causing trouble?

The answer to each of those questions is, of course, No. Why, then, do we allow our lives to follow the same self-destructive pattern that we do not encourage in others?

By allowing our level of happiness to be dictated by the circumstances that are going on in our life at any given time, all we are doing is sending ourself the message that our happiness depends on the circumstances!

Sure, it would seem easier to be happy when you just won a million dollars than when you can't even afford to pay your rent. However, by conceding that fact, you are saying that a certain level of financial abundance is needed in order for you to be happy.

In another example, most people would agree that whenever they are involved in a successful relationship that their relationship status is part of their level of happiness.

Again, that makes sense. However, by saying that your happiness is due - even in part - to your relationship status means that you are also saying that you will always need to be involved in a successful relationship in order to be completely happy.

What about your career status? Does your job or chosen career bring you great joy and satisfaction? If so, then good for you, and keep doing whatever you are doing!

However, what would happen if it all went away? What if your job was eliminated, your company went out of business, or you became physically incapable of doing the work anymore? If you need your career status in order to be happy, then what will happen when you retire? A lot of retirees suffer from depression for this very reason.

In each of these examples, the point is not to say that your finances, your relationships, your career, or the other circumstances of your life should not be valued. They absolutely should, and they should help you to experience a wonderful life!

You should take pride in and experience happiness as a result of everything in the world that brings you joy or a feeling of satisfaction.

However, true happiness is completely internal, and is something that you should be able to experience regardless of your outer circumstances.

You are a magnificent human being who is incredibly adaptive to the myriad of different circumstances that life will throw at you. Don't sell yourself short by only being happy if your life goes a certain way.

Instead, use your power to find great happiness in life - regardless of what is going on around you.

Do you honestly believe that there is some sort of "cosmic conspiracy" that is keeping you from attaining your dreams?

I mean, seriously. Think about this for a minute.

For years you've had dreams of attaining success in various areas of your life, yet here it is - years later - and you haven't yet accomplished what you've been dreaming about.

Why is that? What's holding you back?

Do you want the answer? Are you ready for the truth? If I tell you, will you promise to then take action on what you have learned?

It's you. You are the only thing that is holding you back from a massive level of success in each and every endeavor that you get involved with. Whether it's weight loss, personal development, career growth, relationship success, spirituality - you name it. What you want to accomplish is irrelevant. You can do it; no matter what it is.

The problem is that you allow yourself to struggle. You allow yourself to look at the obstacles that are in your path, and then you empower those obstacles to actually have the ability to keep you from getting what you want.

Sometimes these "alleged" obstacles are very obvious, while other times they are cleverly hidden in self-limiting beliefs, and misplaced feelings of loyalty or responsibility.

• After all, what parent is willing to give up 2 hours each evening in order to exercise, work on a home-based business, or take a night class when they have children to tend to?
• What highly ethical employee is going to spend evenings and weekends starting their own business, while at the same time living up to their perceived standards of morality with their present employer?
• What type of wife or husband will leave the childcare, the cooking, the chores, or the maintenance of the house, yard, and family vehicles to their spouse so that they can focus on their own personal or professional needs and desires?
• What kind of friend turns down the opportunity to go spend the weekend camping or going to the beach with other friends so that they can stay behind and study, work on their book, update their website, or create a product to sell?

Do you see a pattern developing here? In each of these instances, it is only the individual in question who is keeping themselves from doing the right thing with regard to their own personal development.

• No one wants to be the bad parent who doesn't have time for their kids.
• No one wants to be the employee who left a good employer behind in order to tend to their own future.
• No one wants to be the husband or wife who basically tells their family that they are going to have to take care of themselves for awhile.
• No one wants to be the friend who is unable to "play" because of responsibility fulfillments that will ultimately lead to future success.

No one wants to be the person who actually does what it takes to succeed because doing so means making sacrifices.

Why is it that people are more than willing to make excuses, but they are not willing to make sacrifices?

Think about it.

I have been available to do paid reviews for various products and services for several months, but I have turned down every review offer that I have received until now.

Most of the reviews that I have been offered were for products or services that I either didn't believe in, or I didn't think that my readers would get any value out of. 

When I was offered the chance to review Brad Isaac's Achieve-It! goal setting software, I jumped at the chance. Brad writes a lot of great content on his blog and he has been featured in several of the Today is that Day Link Love editions.

Once I agreed to review the software, Brad sent me a copy of it, along with all of the bonuses that come with it, and I spent quite a bit of time going over all of the materials so that I could provide an impartial opinion about the Achieve-It! software itself, as well as the materials that are part of the package.

My Review of the Achieve-It! Goal Setting Software

Can this software help you to attain your goals? Well, I'll answer that question with another question. Are you going to consistently use the software as it meant to be used?

If so, then yes, this software has some great value. However, if you think that the software itself is going to do the work for you, then obviously that is not the case. The Achieve-It! goal setting software is a great tool, and as with all personal development systems, you still need to apply a consistent effort.

The program itself is set up in such a way as to really help you to hash out what you want to accomplish. The interface takes you through a process that includes:

• Choosing goals to accomplish over the next year, over 5 years, 10 years, and to also set goals that you want to accomplish more than 10 years from now.
• Choosing the time frame in which you want to accomplish your goals, using a very intuitive calendar system that is easily navigated.
• Listing the initial as well as the on-going action steps that will be required for you to accomplish your goals.
• Listing the benefits to goal accomplishment, as well as potential pitfalls that might stand in your way.

You are encouraged to really take your time during the initial set up of the software, because the brainstorming of what you truly want to accomplish is something that few people actually do - with or without the assistance of a software program.

The process of listing your goals is very much guided for you by the software. There is an initial step that is actually called "brainstorming," and then there are further steps that you can toggle back and forth between, including:

• Defining your goals
• Refining your goals
• Managing your goals
• Planning the accomplishment of your goals

To me, one of the really valuable things about the Achieve-It! software wasn't even the goal setting interface, but rather the integration with Microsoft Outlook that allows the software to help keep you on track by automatically integrating with the Outlook calendar. There are 3 Outlook integrations that include:

• Exporting your goals to your Outlook calendar
• Exporting your goals or your goal-achieving steps to your Outlook task list
• Using the Achieve-It! Motivate Me feature in order to have Outlook give you reminders not just about doing your tasks, but to also give you tips or reminders about your time line or your goals in order to keep you on track.

My overall view of the software: Yes, I liked it, and the interface was pretty easy to learn and integrate with Outlook. However, the software itself is useless if you are not willing to consistently use it. As goal setting tools go, it is a great tool. However, you have to do the work.

Bonus Materials

Many people will consider the value of the bonus materials that come with the software as part of their decision about whether or not to buy it, so here is a quick review of those materials as well.

TaskBlaze Pro Software: A neat little application that at first seems like a simple timer, but again, there is an ability to interface it with Outlook that is extremely valuable.

Basically all you do is start the software anytime that you are working on a task that is related to your goals. As soon as you are done working, you stop the software, and the amount of time that you just spent working on that task is instantly and automatically added to your Outlook calendar for that day.

In essence, you get a running list of everything that you are doing towards your goal attainment, which has the obvious benefit of helping you to see if you are not spending enough time working towards your goals.

Kick it In Gear by Igniting the Fire of Motivation! Special Report: A very quick read that includes some valuable tips on finding your motivation, as well as ways to keep yourself motivated and productive.

My favorite was the chapter on how to disable distractions. Most people - myself included - have so many things going on at any given moment that it is easy to get offtrack in the process. Brad has a tip on how to circumvent that issue without actually forgetting about whatever it was that distracted you to begin with.

Audio Recording: How to Build An Unshakable Charisma: As with the special report, there were some good tips included in the audio recording. It comes in 2 parts that total just under 60 minutes in length.

The audio was not "over the top" motivating by any stretch of the imagination, but if you listen to the advice that Brad gives, he does make some great points. 

As I advise in my own writing and products, Brad repeatedly comes back to the fact that in order to excel in any given situation, you need to make a conscious effort, rather than just randomly waiting to see what is going to happen.

He goes over several different scenarios in the audio recording, including one-on-one interaction with others, how to deal with employees, and even how to give a successful speech. Again, the delivery is a little dry, but the advice itself is solid.

Conclusion

Overall I found the Achieve-It! goal setting software and the bonuses that come with it to have value. If you have been looking for some information and/or tools that will help you to take your goal setting to the next level, then this may be a system that will help you out.

One thing of note however, is that if you are going to purchase the software, you need to use it. Use the brainstorming section and the other modules of the system itself to truly define what you want to accomplish, and by what date.

When you read the special report that comes with the software, and when you listen to the audio, actually take notes on the things that you need to remember and take action on. The advice and the tips that are included in the bonuses will not do you any good if you don't:

a) Believe in your ability to succeed as a result of doing them, or

b) If you don't don't consistently take action on what you learn, rather than just letting that knowledge collect dust.

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This concludes my review of the Achieve-It! goal setting software, and I encourage you to visit the links below in order to learn more about Brad Isaac, as well as the software itself:

Brad Isaac's Persistence Unlimited Blog

Achieve-It! Goal Setting Software

Today is Sunday, May 27th, 2007, and I am getting ready to "reach the beach" with my wife for a relaxing day of fun in the sun here in northeast Florida.

However, before I head out, I wanted to give a quick update about some things that are up and coming here at Today is that Day in the next week or two so you can know what to look forward to!

1) The Today is that Day blog is the very first stop on the Blog Book Tour that is coming up in June for the book 'Life on Purpose: Six Passages to an Inspired Life'. I could not be more excited about taking part in the project, and I'm looking forward to giving you all an honest and impartial review of the book.

My book review will be published here at the blog on Monday, June 4th, so be on the lookout for that. Also, the author has published a list of all of the blogs that will be taking part in the blog book tour, and you will recognize some of those names if you have been hanging around Today is that Day for any length of time.

UPDATE: This review has been posted! 

2) Speaking of reviews, on Tuesday I will be doing a review for a very cool piece of software that was created by an individual whose name Today is that Day readers will recognize from previous Link Love posts. I have tons of information on the software to go over between now and then, and on Tuesday I will summarize all of that info so that you can get an insider's perspective on the software. It's cool stuff that will help you out, and I'm looking forward to sharing that information with you.

UPDATE: This review has been posted!

3) Upcoming Content. I have some great ideas for upcoming content and now that the Simply Successful Secrets project has been finished up, I've got some time to start working on new things. Upcoming content will include:

• A post that would initially seem geared towards business owners, but will actually be based on a concept that each and every person can use to create a better life for themselves. At the same time, the post itself will be a duplicatable (is that even a word?) piece of information that all bloggers will be able to use on their own sites to illustrate their value to their readers, and it will help all of their readers as well!
• Starting on June 1st I will be doing a monthly wrap up of posts from way back. I don't see as much value in doing a wrap up of recent posts, because most of the readers will have already seen them. However, present readers may have missed some quality content from awhile ago, or they may just need to be reminded of some of the personal development concepts that were discussed in previous posts.  I will be doing the monthly wrap up only once each month, and I will be highlighting 5-10 posts that I personally feel have the most value.
• More great content! I've got ideas for empowering and life-changing blogs posts falling around me like rain, and I can't even keep up with the flow of ideas in time to write posts about all of them! I do keep notes about things to write about in the future, though, and it is my intention to continue to put together great stuff that is worth your time and helpful to your life.
• Group Writing Projects/Memes - I've been tagged for quite a few memes lately, although in order to respect your time, I have only agreed to take part in the ones that I felt truly had value for my readers. I will be peppering those in with the core content of this site, but as I said, I will only do the ones that will be worthy of your reading time.

This is Volume 16 of the Self Improvement and Law of Attraction Link Love series.

This series will be published weekly and will be comprised of links to quality blog posts that have proven to be extraordinary in their ability to assist, inform, or empower the reader. Enjoy!