If you have a goal or burning desire and are feeling blocked or frustrated in your pursuit of that goal, I have a couple of ideas on how you might get unstuck.

First, take out a clean yellow pad and write down your top 10 goals for the next year in great detail. Now arrange your list according to your priorities and pick the top three — only three.

Take those top three goals and expand your thoughts about them and how you will feel once you have achieved them. Ask yourself whether you can enjoy the journey you will go through in the process of working toward those goals.

Reaching a goal can leave you feeling very empty if you can’t enjoy the journey. Life is precious, and the relationships we have with others and ourselves truly determine our riches.

Second, write down these magic four questions, one after the other, then write them down again, but separately at the top of a blank page. Now you have a template for this exercise as you work on your three goals.

The magic questions:

• What do you want your life to look like a year from now?

• What challenges do you face in making that happen?

• What commitment do you need to make to face those challenges?

• What price will you pay if you don’t make those commitments?

Third, take your top three goals and fit each under the four questions.

Write, rewrite, expand and condense, but work on the details as much as you can until you are satisfied with the result.

Take the condensed form (maybe one or two lines) of each goal and print it carefully and clearly on one side of an index card. On the flip side of the card, write your condensed list of the commitments needed to make you work through your challenges in achieving that goal. Develop one index card in this manner for each of your three goals.

Now take your cards and get them laminated, put them in your pocket and refer to them regularly throughout the day. Each card will have different commitments on the back, but every card will have the same three goals.

Be sure to put duplicate cards in strategic places around your house, car and office.

Here’s a secret: Once you have developed your cards and continue to review them mentally, even repeating them aloud regularly, you will start to see a phenomenon take place. It’s called “The Law of Attraction” and has to do with how you attract the physical manifestation of things into your life based on your thoughts and intentions.

What are your intentions? I suggest you will know a great deal more about yourself in detail once you have completed this exercise. I also suggest you will get remarkable results and ask that you e-mail or call me with your experiences.

When working on the exercise, be as specific as you can, write and rewrite your goals until you feel you have it down, then start putting it to work. Be sure to include measuring criteria such as time frames. No negative thoughts are allowed, no ifs and maybes. This is about your mind-set: Are you “willing to do whatever it takes”?

It’s your frame of mind that will make it happen. Try it; what have you got to lose? You have a heck of lot to gain. What are your intentions?

Very special people

From time to time I’m going to share the names of some very special people, people I’ve had the privilege of knowing. These people have uncommon commitment, vision, talent and heart in their ongoing contribution to their fellow man, and they do it every day.

I have two VSPs for this week:

• Ken Futch at kenfutch.com. Ken is a wonderfully funny and insightful speaker and has a most interesting life story as depicted in his book, “Take Your Best Shot.” He’s a genuine person with expertise on turning situations into opportunities. I told him he didn’t have to shoot himself in the head to get attention; after all, there were plenty of bad guys who wanted to do just that when he was in Vietnam.

• Rob “Waldo” Waldman at yourwingman.com. This guy squeezed himself into a fighter cockpit in spite of his claustrophobia and flew 65 combat missions in Iraq. He is a high-energy speaker on trust, leadership and performance. Waldo has a motor that won’t quit. He’s the typical overachiever, working 15 hours a day. And how many Jewish fighter pilots do you know?

Both of these guys are combat veterans, both have great talent, and both have overcome enormous challenges while making significant differences in people’s lives. Ken and Waldo set examples for me, inspire me and put the bar at a pretty high level. I’m proud to know these guys; I have much to learn from them.

In closing, I challenge you to be a talent scout. Always be on the lookout for people who inspire and motivate you, people who touch others’ lives, people you can look to as your role models. When they ask the proverbial questions “Why we are here on earth? What is life all about?” one answer that would not be a bad choice: “We’re here to make the lives of our fellow man better.”

Jerry Stein, motivational speaker and executive coach, can be reached at jerry@careercoach.com or (770) 988-0500. Go to careercoach.com for more info and sign up for his free newsletter.