How to set goals- The art of making your dreams come true!


The skill of setting goals is not that easy for everybody but by following these few simple steps you can make it more achievable. Why not give it a go? Lets look here at how to set goals, or in other words, the art of making your dreams come true!

Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed.
― Paulo Coelho “The Devil and Miss Prym”

self-discipline

Setting goals

1. Decide what it is you really want
What are your dreams? What would you like to achieve?

Deciding what you want is the first and the most important step. Finding your direction and aim is essential for your success. You will not get too far if you don’t know where you going!

Think of a ship leaving harbor. Think of it with the complete voyage mapped out and planned. The captain and crew know exactly where the ship is going and how long it will take—it has a definite goal. And 9,999 times out of 10,000 it will get to where it started out to get. Now let’s take another ship, just like the first, only let’s not put a crew on it, or a captain at the helm. Let’s give it no aiming point, no goal, and no destination. We just start the engines and let it go. I think you’ll all agree with me that if it gets out of the harbor at all, it will either sink or wind up on some deserted beach—a derelict. It can’t go any place because it has no destination and no guidance. It’s the same with a human being.”  -Earl Nightingale in “The Strangest Secret”

2. Write down your goals

Writing down your goals helps to make them more real and clear for you. You should keep the piece of paper with your written goals somewhere close so you can revisit it often, ideally re-read every day to remind yourself where you are aiming. That way you will have something to work towards every day.

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3. Tell someone about your commitment

Tell your friends what you are planning and share your dreams. Confiding in someone you know your goals seems to increase the likelihood that you will stick at them. By doing that you really commit yourself to give your best until you get what you want.

4. Break your goals down

Everybody has big dreams and it is good thing but to achieve them you will need to take some more time. To avoid discouragement, you should break your big goals into few small ones that are easier to fulfill. Smaller goals can be achieved quicker and keep you motivated to continue your path. Write them down and set up due dates.

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Breaking those big goals down helps you to be more specific. Instead of setting up very general goal, it makes you to be more precise and direct when thinking about your aims. Having few smaller goals makes each of them easier to achieve and therefore puts you a great mood and gives you a feeling of success after every small achievement. It also makes it more likely that you will stay on track towards your bigger goal.

5. Plan your first step, then the next one

Thinking about your goal and planning the first step will really help you to get started. Planning is very useful skill and very important for success. You need to start somewhere. Plan the first step, do it, check if it feels right. Maybe you need some adjustment to your goal, do in in the next step. Then plan the next one, then next … until you done with it.

6. Keep going, don’t get discouraged

downloadEvery failure is a success in making! Embrace your every failure and learn your lessons for future (check my post Embrace your failures). Keep your motivation high, use discipline and strong desire to drive you forward (check my post Discipline vs motivation- what is more important for your success) . Everybody failed in something in their life. The difference between a winner and a looser is that a winner didn’t stop, didn’t get discouraged by it, but used it as a lesson to be learned.

If the first plan which you adopt does not work successfully, replace it with a new plan; if this new plan fails to work, replace it in turn with still another, and so on, until you find a plan which does work. Right here is the point at which the majority of men meet with failure, because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail.” -Napoleon Hill  “Think and Grow Rich”

7. Celebrate even small successes

Celebrating even smallest successes gives you satisfaction from your achievements and gives you that necessary fuel to continue. Learn from your victories, adjust your way and look for the new challenges, next goals or projects 🙂

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30 day test

Try this 30 day test described by Earl Nightingale in his great book “The Strangest Secret”

For the next 30 days, follow each of these steps every day until you have achieved your first goal.

First, write on a card what it is you want more than anything else… Write down on a card specifically what it is you want. Make sure it’s a single goal and clearly defined…

Carry the card with you so that you can look at it several times a day. Think about your goals in a cheerful, relaxed, positive way each morning when you get up, and immediately you have something to work for—something to get out of bed for, something to live for…

Second, stop thinking about what it is you fear. Each time a fearful or negative thought comes into your conscious mind, replace it with a mental picture of your positive and worthwhile goal…

In addition to maintaining a cheerful, positive outlook, give of yourself more than you have ever done before. Do this knowing that your returns in life must be in direct proportion to what you give.

The moment you decide on a goal to work towards you immediately are a successful person. You are then in that rare and successful category of people who know where they are going.”

 

I hope you enjoyed my tips for setting goals. Please let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

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