How to Set and Achieve a Goal

Before we go through the process of goal-setting, perhaps it is worth considering for a moment exactly why you would want to set a goal in the first place. The answer is simple and straightforward: goal-setting works. Super-successful and highly effective people regularly set goals – without exception!

The human mind and autonomic nervous system can be thought of as a goal-achieving mechanism. Modern psychologists agree that it possesses all the right characteristics. Just let that thought sink-in for a moment or two: you already have an inbuilt goal-achieving mechanism. All you need to learn is how to utilise it – and that is done through the process of goal-setting.

Setting SMART Goals

Before I started using goal-setting as an integral part of my own success strategy - and really began achieving significantly improved performance - I always thought I had goals. But the truth is that I didn’t: unless you have your goals properly quantified, planned and written down, you don’t really have goals at all. You may have aspirations or whims, but you don’t have goals.

The following little acronym can be very useful in getting your goals properly quantified - your goals should be SMART! Here is a brief overview of the process:

S - Make your goals 'specific' - Know exactly what you want to achieve.

M - They should be 'measurable' - You need to know where you are and how you are progressing.

A - Make them 'achievable' - This doesn't mean easy but with the right amount of stretch.

R - Make them 'realistic' - They should not be based on circumstances or good fortune.

T - You should 'timetable' your goals - Which means you will also need to do the planning.

One time, I heard Jack Black, of Mindstore International, speaking on this subject; and he said a number of really interesting things about the process. The first of which was about the 'achievable' and 'realistic' part of the process. He said that we should not allow our big dreams to be constrained by this part of the process. What he meant was, when it comes to thinking about your personal mission, allow yourself to dream big & I am absolutely sure he was right.

The second really interesting thing I remember him saying was related to writing the goals down. Make sure you write your goals down & make sure you display them somewhere you can see them regularly and often - this will help you to keep, at the forefront of your mind, what you have decided is really important. Now, whenever you have to make a decision relating to what to do with your time in the future, you will be equipped with the necessary information to ensure you make a good decision. If you keep yourself goal-focussed, you will automatically make good decisions.

But something else - that almost seems like magic (it's not magic of course) will begin to happen. You will apparently begin to attract people and circumstances to yourself. In actual fact, what will be happening is that you will be recognising opportunity for what it is! Opportunity surrounds us, everyday of our lives but we often fail to recognise it simply because we have not focussed our minds upon what is really important to us.

However, if you follow this procedure properly, you will be amazed at the effects you can produce in your life. Ok, now let’s consider the achievement part.

How to Achieve a Goal

In Wallace D Wattles classic book The Science of Getting Rich, he says that this is where ‘most people meet shipwreck’ - I think he was absolutely right!

You may read all manner of things about The Law of Attraction that seem to suggest that all you need to do is imagine your goal and put enough emotion into it; and, hey-presto, somehow the object of your desire will manifest itself. Personally, I don’t believe that universe operates entirely in that way. To achieve your goal, you need to put in the appropriate amount of effort.

If you can sit down and make a plan to achieve your goal, breaking it down into individual steps then your should certainly do it: create that plan and then you can get down to the serious business of achieving it by committing yourself to taking at least one step toward that goal every day.

If your goal is a really big goal, so much the better. But you may not actually be able to plan your way to it – you may simply not be able to work out the route. In that case, you need to make a commitment that you will stay in motion. Every day, you will take at least one step toward that goal – some days they will be big steps and some days they will be small steps, but everyday, you will take some step toward your goal.

Even though you are unable to plan the route in advance, the way will open up to you if you make that commitment and follow through with action. Nothing is more certain that that you will achieve your goal if you will follow this simple little method. Notice, the steps you take may not be simple, but the method of achieving your goal is simple.

Don’t let the simplicity of the method interfere with your acceptance of what needs to be done. If you follow these principles, you will become a goal-achiever - and it is exactly the same procedure for setting a business goal and setting a personal goal. You will begin to set and achieve goads you did not think were possible for you to achieve. You will become unstoppable. So go to it: get your goals quantified, written down and planned; and then commit to taking the appropriate action, every day, until you have achieved them.

Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com

Will Edwards is a published author and Founder of White Dove Books; the internet's leading Personal Development website. Get your free copy of 7 Little-Known Goal-Setting Tips here Download - 7 Little-Known Goal-Setting Tips

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