How To Set and Achieve Your Goals

This is again time of the year when many promises are done and goals set. As you may also have experienced, most of the promises get broken and goals not reached. Here’s quick guide on how to set and achieve your goals to make this year great.

Why Would You Set Goals

Clear, long and short term goals are one of basics of success.

Goals give you clear filter on choices you have in life. Goals give you great deal of motivation and energy when you’re facing adversities in your life.

Without goals it doesn’t really matter what you do or where you go. If you don’t have goals you’re just a “wandering generality” as Zig Ziglar say.

How To Set Goals

With the goals you must start from the “biggest” – lifelong goals. Sometimes this is called vision. Once you have that you can cascade it down all over to daily to-do list. Without it you will get stuck in daily pressures and emergencies without clear guidance for your life.

There is a great exercise how to set this lifelong goals in book of Stephen Covey: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Imagine, it is your funeral and lot of people gathered to say goodbye. There will be four speakers who will talk about you. Someone from your work, from your family, a friend and somebody from your community.

Now try to write down these 4 speeches as you would like to hear them. Write them down as you would like those 4 people talk about you once your life is finished. This will tell you what your goals in life should be.

Once you are clear on your life long goals you should set your goals for shorter periods. Brian Tracy gives this easy and effective guide on how to go about it.

How To Set Goals by Brian Tracy

1. Decide exactly what you want

2. Write it down

3. Set a deadline on your goal

4. Make a list of everything you need to do to achieve your goal

5. Organize the list into a plan

6. Take action on your plan immediately

7. Resolve to do something every single day that moves you toward your major goal

How To Set Goals by Zig Ziglar

Here’s 5 steps program for setting goals inspired by Zig Ziglar

Step 1.
On a clean sheet of paper write everything you want to be, do or have in 1, 5, 10 years from now – you decide. Put there EVERYTHING from learning to play guitar to being president of your country.
Everything you want to be, do or have in your life.

Step 2.
Answer these four questions, all of which must have “yes” answer
(if it doesn’t cross this goal out)
i) is it really my goal?
ii) will reaching this goal take me closer to my mission in life?
iii) can I emotionally commit myself to start and finish this goal?
iv) can I see myself reaching this goal?

Step 3.
Will reaching this goal (remaining after Step 2) make me:
i) happier ii) healthier iii) more prosperous iv) win friends v) give me peace of mind vi) make me more secure
vii) improve my family relationships

Step 4.
Put your goals into writing and prepare a plan
how to reach those goals

Step 5.
Start working on reaching your goals – today!
TODAY is the first day of the rest of your life so you better start.
Not tomorrow, not next week, not someday.

How To Achieve Your Goals

There are couple principles that you must stick to in order to achieve your goals:

1. Have your goals written down and visible to you every day

2. When writing your to-do list make sure items there are related to your goals

3. Don’t try to make all changes at once. Do it in many small steps

4. Be consistent. Do something everyday to achieve your goal

5. Tell people about it. Imagine you want to write a book. If you tell many people about it, what will happen is, that every time you meet somebody they will ask you about a book. This will create positive pressure on you to achieve your goals.

Once you will do all this, next time somebody will ask you why you do this or that, you will know the answer. Next time you face difficult choice in life, you decide with ease as goals will help you eliminate good – so you can choose the best.

Recommended reading:

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