7 Ways to Get to the GOAL!

Most people are not serious about setting goals. Until you get serious about setting goals:

Most people do not come from families that are goal oriented and goal setting is not often taught in a classroom, so most people do not realize that goal setting should be a part of your normal existence. Some people simply fail to understand the importance of setting goals. Others fail to set goals out of some kind of fear. Many others fail to set goals because they have allowed themselves to become lazy. Typically only 3% of people will adhere to a strict goal setting/action oriented plan, but what happens to the other 97% of us out there?

Fear can be a powerful motivator…or in this case, de-motivator. What is the fear that is holding you back? Fear of failure? What about the fear of success?

Who’s afraid of success?? Maybe it’s a fear of commitment? Fear of accountability? These are all hollow fears. To sit down and write your goals is one of the safest things a person can do, especially when that person wants to accomplish those goals.

Most people are caught up in Laziness and it keeps them from setting real goals. Here’s a quick rule of thumb: Those who do not write down their goals, do not take the time to consider their goals, and do not take 5 minutes out of their day to review them, are lazy.

So you, my friend, are the lazy 97%. Here are 7 steps to get your butt into gear and become the consistent 3% that has clearly defined goals and follows through on their dreams and desires:

Most people think they are thinking all the time. Most people are wrong. It’s one of the most difficult tasks we can make an effort to do, but thinking critically will help to expand your mind, question your surroundings, and facilitate your own personal growth. Most people let others do the thinking for them. Don’t take your mind for granted.

(it IS true that if you don’t use it…you will lose it)

We can and MUST control our own thinking. What gives you the ability to create success, wealth, happiness, and everything you’ve ever dreamed of is inside of you…what’s also inside of you is the urge to do none of those things, which can lead you down the road of unhappiness to nowhere special. Our minds are no different than a growing and healthy crop of plants. If you plant luscious crops, protect them, cultivate them, give them sunlight and water, they will yield great food for thought. If, on the other hand, you plant mediocre seeds, forget about them, and neglect them, weeds will grow, your mind will become a jumbled mess, it will become hungry, angry, distraught, and everything but efficient. Your mind doesn’t care what you plant inside of it; it simply works with what you give it.

If you can create a vision for what it will feel like to satisfy your dreams and desires, you can make them happen. Vague wishing or hoping for some undefined feeling or results to occur does not create drive…or results! A person must have something worthwhile that they are working towards. A burning desire for something for which you create a mental picture is one you can hear, taste, feel, smell, and see; it’s something REAL.

That really is the only way to create drive, motivation, or the energy to get moving. Do this: List some things, ideas, situations that you desire very much, but do not currently have. List or think of three personal desires and three professional desires.

Now ask yourself why you have failed to achieve them. The chances are, you have not yet tried very hard.

Maybe you don’t quite understand your desires, your wants, or your dreams. Do not feel like the outcast if this is you. This is very common. Most of us do not inherently know what we want out of life. Some of us never try to understand ourselves and so some of us never understand our desires.

You must decide what you really desire out of life. You must create a burning desire for what you want. Then, once you decide what you desire, you must take the next step and write it down!

Many people ask, “Why write it down? I already know it.” Writing it down makes it REAL. When it’s only in your mind, it’s an intangible idea. When you write it down, you can see it, you can feel it, and you can measure it. Written goals are a higher form of commitment than imagined goals. Written goals are easier to remember than imagined goals. Written goals can be crossed off when they are completed!

That goal sitting there is challenging you! Once you can cross it off, you show life who’s in charge. Another thing is, how can you review goals that are not written down? That’s virtually impossible. How can you revise goals that are not written down? That’s extremely difficult.

There are 7 days of the week and sometime is not one of them. With a date, your desires become goals. Without a date, your desires are simply a dream.

Without a sense of urgency, you may never accomplish your goals. Setting a time frame for completion puts a slight fire under your soul. Time frames allow us to track our progress. We know when we haven’t reached our goal and we must punish ourselves for that. We know when we have completed our goal and we must celebrate those wins! For larger goals, you can set smaller milestone goals to help you get there. Every Professional Basketball player had to pick up a basketball for the first time. A journey of 1,000 steps starts with that one first step. If you have to, make each step a goal with a clearly defined timeline for completion. Before you know it, you’ll have completed that 1,000^th step!

Change is inevitable in all walks of life. That includes our changing dreams and desires. Your dreams will change and grow faster the more you approach them. Your dreams have no finish line; there is no mountain peak to life. Your dreams are a journey with a common vision. Embrace your changing dreams. Because of this change, however, we must constantly review our goals and evaluate how we want to adapt them to our new lives, if at all. Try carrying your goals with you everywhere you go. That’s a great way to be constantly reminded! Write them down on a 3X5 notecard in your wallet or purse. Put your goals in a JPG image and make it your smart phone background. Write them on a sheet of paper and tape it to your ceiling so you see it every morning. Whatever you do, do something that will constantly remind you of your goals and your desire to achieve them!

When you begin to THINK, you begin to CHANGE. Just like review, we also have to revise our goals.

Revise your goals whenever circumstances change.

Revise your goals when you have accomplished one of your goals.

Revise your goals when you miss a “date to be accomplished”.

Revise your goals when a new desire is created.

Sharing your goals is also a higher level of commitment. It makes you not only accountable to yourself, but also to those you have shared your goal with. Share your goals with people that will help and support you in your journey towards that success. Not all goals need to be shared with everyone, but by sharing your goals, you can create a group of productivity and support. At the very least:

Share your goals and encourage others to share their goals with you. By understanding each other and where each one of us wants to be, we can often times find ways to help each other get there.

The point is: don’t settle for less than what you’re capable of and I would probably be correct in stating that you’re capable of way more than you’re already accomplishing.

Do this: write down a goal RIGHT NOW that can be accomplished TODAY. Take action on it before tomorrow. Look at it tomorrow.

Write down another goal and do it again! Keep it up! This one exercise will dramatically change the fruits of life your actions yield.

Write this down and keep it somewhere you will see it regularly: