Simple steps to achieving your goals

We all know that ‘goal setting’ is very important, but remember that setting your goal is only one of the steps on the journey to actually achieving it...

To set a goal you need to decide what it is that you want to accomplish and – this is the important bit – write it down. It’s as simple as that. You have set your goal by writing it down. Goal setting is easy.

But you want to achieve that goal, don’t you? Ah, now that takes a little more effort. That takes application and action.

Much has been written on the importance of goals and their relationship to success and happiness. As entrepreneurs, I am sure most, if not all of you already know the importance of taking action to achieve your goals.

But how many of us practice this on a daily basis?

To help keep me focused on achieving my goals, I follow a simple seven-step outline. Practice this and I believe it will help propel you towards the success to which you aspire:

1. Write down your goal

Get your goal out of your imagination and on to a piece of paper. This then becomes a statement of intent. The process of writing down your goal forces the subconscious to accept the commitment you have made to work towards your target.

It has been suggested that you should write your goal out not just once, but once every morning to keep you focused throughout each day.

2. Set a deadline

Set a target date by which you will complete your goal.

If your goal is a larger, more complicated challenge, break it down into smaller steps and determine a deadline for each separate step. Put these important dates into your diary or computerised planner.

3. Work on your mindset

You can begin to work on your mindset long before you tackle your first goal. Develop a positive, “glass-half-full” approach to every aspect of your life, including your thoughts about how you will achieve your goals.

Read inspirational books, hang out with other motivated people, and believe in your own abilities. Work on your own attitude at every opportunity. This should remain a lifelong process.

4. Develop your skillset

It is very possible that a new goal will necessitate learning a new skill or will require some form of personal growth. Figure out what new knowledge you will need, or what new skills you will have to develop. Find the best source for gaining this knowledge and invest wisely to develop the assets you need.

5. Take the first step

It is important not to procrastinate. The moment when real action is required is often when many goals fall by the wayside. You don’t need to wait until everything is just right. Get started now and make adjustments as you go along. Take that first step.

If you wait for the moment when everything is in perfect alignment you will never get started. This first step is always the hardest one to take. Once you have made a start the next step will be slightly easier, and the one after that easier again. Try to make your first step an easy one to commit to. This will encourage you to make it as soon as possible, so you quickly begin the journey towards achieving your goal.

6. Continue to completion

The path to the ultimate completion of your goal is unlikely to be a straight and simple one. Do not give up when you encounter the first or any subsequent obstacles.

Always keep the end result in focus, maintain your excitement and enthusiasm, and keep moving forward. See each difficulty you meet as an opportunity for learning and growth.

Commit to doing at least one thing every day that will move you a little closer towards your goal. Do not halt this forward progress until your end result has been achieved.

7. Reward yourself

When you complete your goal it is important to reward yourself for this achievement. Look back over your accomplishments and enjoy the satisfaction that success brings. This will train the subconscious mind to focus on activities that produce successful results.

Once you have enjoyed your reward, set your next goal, making it bigger and more challenging than the last.

We can all have goals, but to be a ‘top-achiever’ you must be focused. You must know, understand and follow these basic skills for setting and attaining your goals every time. I wish you good luck with whatever goals you set – may they be achieved in the finest of style.

until I found these tips, I was struggling with my goals. No matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t making significant progress. Hopefully you will find some of these tips valuable and get some hints on how to achieve your goals.

Everyone wants to fulfill their dreams and goal setting looks like a pretty intuitive thing.

But there are two main things going on:

First, it’s a game of psychology. You just need to know how your brain plays tricks on you.

Second, there are strategy and techniques that will help you.

Most people abandon their goals because they mess up the psychology and they don’t know the effective strategies and techniques.

So, achieving a goal becomes hard.

And what do we do will stuff that’s hard? We abandon it…

Actually, I like to say that:

Achieving a goal is simple, but it’s not easy.

But you can make it easy if you have the right mindset and a good set of effective techniques.

Let me share some of the most powerful stuff I have discovered so far…

1. Be grateful for your progress so far

Few people know that this is the keystone habit for achieving goals.

This is simple but crucial and that’s why it’s my number one.

This may seem familiar to you…

I would set a goal and plan some action. Then I would not do the action for some reason.

Then I felt guilty because I didn’t do what I wanted to do.

This causes negative emotions.

Subconsciously and even on conscious level, I would lose confidence that I can achieve the goals I set (no matter what the goals is).

This is the basis for procrastination and lack of progress. We just don’t have the confidence that we can make it.

Who want’s to feel bad all the time?

Nobody. That’s why we just throw out the list with goals. It may lead you to negative emotions.

Gratitude fixes all this.

Be gratefull

Just take it easy on yourself.

If you create a daily habit just for a few minutes to express gratitude for the progress you achieved so far, you will gain huge confidence.

The trick is powerful because you can’t be grateful and feel negative emotions at the same time.

After you do this, you will see two things will happen:

1. You will start to see progress with your goals;

2. You will want to set and achieve more goals because it feels great and you start building more confidence.

This leads to the next tip:

2. If you set fewer goals, you will achieve more in the long term

This is another mistake that may stop you.

If you focus on fewer goals, you will achieve much more.