How to achieve what you want?
We all know how important it is to set concrete goals - without them we can’t set priorities or chart our progress or measure our successes and failures.
You may have noticed, however, that knowing about the importance of setting goals doesn’t always ensure that we’ll attain the ones we set.
Below are the other eight steps that will help you attain any goal:
• Write it down. Clear, specific goals usually are attainable; vague, fuzzy ones usually are not. If you can’t express a goal in writing, chances are you haven’t spent enough time figuring out what - specifically - it is that you want to achieve.
• Break your main goal into small, specific, easily attainable parts. If your final goal is a promotion, your short-range goals might be to learn accounting, take a management course, make three new business contacts and become more computer-competent.
Setting mini-goals is a good way to keep from being overwhelmed and running out of patience as you proceed toward your larger one.
• Take inventory of your assets. What skills, talents, education, training, personality traits, economic or social advantages, information, experience, behavioral quirks, support from others, promises, debts owed or other assets do you bring to this project? Write them down.
• Take inventory of your liabilities. What skills, materials, education, character or personality traits, talents, experience, information or training are you lacking? Write these down, too.
The more information you have about what you’re up against as you tackle a project, the better you’ll be able to compensate for these liabilities - and we all have some.
• Take a page from your own book - and from others’. What do you have in common with people you know who have achieved a similar goal? What has helped you in the past with other goals? What have you learned along the way that could be helpful this time?
• Set a deadline. Always! It should be realistic and reasonable, of course - an impossible time limit just sets you up for failure. But not setting a time limit for attaining a goal sets you up for failure, too.
• Keep your perspective. It’s easy to focus so much on one goal that all of your other duties and responsibilities seem tedious and trivial by comparison, but never allow any goal to become your only one.
“I was so busy taking courses and otherwise trying to convince my boss that I was ready for a promotion that I let my whole department fall behind and missed two or three deadlines in a row,” confessed a friend not long ago.
Finally, give yourself credit for baby steps and forgive yourself immediately if you falter along the way. No ones perfect and everyone stumbles, the main thing is getting back up 
You wouldn’t withhold encouragement and praise from a friend until she had accomplished every piece of a particular goal, after all; you would cheer her every step of the way, celebrate her small victories and forgive her immediately if she faltered in her efforts.
So treat yourself with the same kindness and compassion, because what we all need when we’re working toward a goal is a loyal friend to stand beside us - and what we all need even more is to learn to be this kind of friend to ourselves.
If you found this article good, feel free to browse through the rest of our site or visit Neil’s site below..
Until next time,
Dennis Cheesman
————————————— Today’s Sponsor —————————————–
Neil Shearing - The “Internet Success Private Members Site” One website. with everything you need to succeed online.
——————————————————————————————————
