Learn to set and Keep Goals

As I write this article I write it knowing that setting and keeping goals is my own personal weakness. I have a definite sense of direction and work diligently but I know that if I wrote my goals down and followed a systematic plan to accomplish them I would do much better. When you break your goal down into a list of steps tp follow to get where you want to go you will do much better. Good intentions are just that but they must be accomplished with some sort of a detailed plan. The plan serves to keep you on track. You should follow the steps but don’t end up being a numbers cruncher. You need to step back every once in a while and make a realistic assessment of where you are and what you need to do in order to get where you want to be. This keeps you from losing sight of reality by just being too task oriented

Now you have a clear understanding of why goal setting is so important and it is time to actually set goals that will lead you through the next year or so of your life. This is where you get to take an honest look at your unfulfilled dreams and put them down on paper as goals that you are going to actually work toward accomplishing. You need to think backwards from where you desire to be to where you are and list the tasks necessary to get you there.

You need to set your long term goals first of all and wrap everything else up around them. They are the priority. Your short term goals will have to be flexible because there will be times that you will have to change them to meet some need or to adjust to unexpected circumstances.

Decide what you want the end result to be and then shape your life around it. For example if your long term goal is to be a millionaire write it down. You will have to set some timelines next. You will have to break that goal down into time increments and work to achieve them. If your overall goal is to become a millionaire you will have to have $100,000 at some point in life. You will have to have $300,000 at some other time. You will have to keep track of the times that you need to reach these smaller goals in order to remain on track. Determine the actions necessary in order to reach your goals. You will have to take a look at where you are in relation to accomplishing your long term goals and make an honest assessment. It will be necessary to make mid course corrections. Whenever we launch a vehicle into space the small rockets on the exterior are constantly making small corrections in order to keep it on course.

It is imperative that you establish a time line for accomplishing your goals in life. Timelines serve as something that will keep your plan on track. They are like the lines which keep you on the road at night. You need to establish timelines for the minor goals that you have established. This is the greatest single thing that you can do in order to get where you want to go.

Now that you have a rough list that represents your biggest aspirations, go down each list and write down how many years you think it might take you to actually accomplish each of those goals.. In order to be effective, goal setting must be very specific so you know exactly what you are aiming for. For instance, a goal to lose 100 pounds is specific but "lose weight" is not.

These goals must also be measurable, so determine how you will measure success. For instance, our 100 pound goal could be measured with weekly weigh-ins on one scale. So must you do with any goal that you set. Assign specific dates to your goals in order to stay on track with the things that you want to accomplish in life

Remember that you will have to change your outlook and adjust your course frequently. If you have set a goal too high there is no harm in taking it down. Goals should be realistic most of all. There is no sense in setting goals so high that you can’t accomplish them The Good Life