So you have some goals, but you just can’t seem to achieve them. You’re frustrated, right? Well, why is it so hard? Do only a few lucky people get to achieve their goals? No…It’s all about creating a logical plan and executing it.
There are three big reasons why people fail to achieve their goals:
- They never set achievable goals to begin with.
- They have no plan.
- They never take any sort of logical action.
Do you think Steve Jobs and Bill gates were just lucky, or did they have a plan? You better believe they had a plan – a long, long-term vision. And then they worked hard and took a series of logical, actionable steps to achieve them. They didn't just ‘think it.’ They ‘did it.
How To Achieve Your Goals
Over the years I have achieved many of my personal goals. And in all cases this is the methodology I used. It’s tried and true, and I assure you, it can help you achieve your goals as well. There are four basic steps:
- Set achievable goals.
- Strategics and plan.
- Take action.
- Review your progress regularly.
Let’s go through them one at a time.
Set Achievable Goals
You can climb the ladder as fast as you want, but it’s going to be a giant waste of your time if you get to the top and realize you’re leaning against the wrong wall. You will need to get this step right to ensure that you are not wasting your efforts on goals that you do not truly want to achieve. We as humans have a tendency to try to bite off more than we can chew, and this usually causes us to feel frustrated and annoyed.
Because we only have a finite amount of time, it’s foolish to attempt to conquer the world in a day. Yeah, you could set goals to be the best guitar player, basketball player, football player, lose weight, be financially savvy, earn $10,000 and join the public speaking club all at the same time. But does that sound logical or achievable? Not to me it doesn't How can you excel at anything when you are juggling everything?
So the first key is to figure out a few (1 to 3) things that you truly want. And make sure you truly understand why you want these things. Otherwise you’ll just lose interest.
Strategize and Plan
Here are the basic strategies you will need to employ to keep your motivation burning and your progress on track:
A) Paste up your goals where you can see them every day. – Without reminders, you will likely forget about your goals and become easily distracted by other stimuli. So print them out 10, 20 or 30 times and paste them up in the most prominent, visible areas around your house, office, etc.
B) Create a visualization board. – For most of us, our mind sees the world in images and we remember images more clearly compared to text and numbers. A visualization board is basically a large bulletin board filled with clear images of what you want to achieve. This added visual stimulation can help invoke powerful emotions that will constantly drive your motivation.
If you want to lose weight and get back down a few pants sizes, put an old photo of yourself up on the board. If you want your blog to start making a thousand dollars a month, find a few success stories online of people that have achieved that goal and stick it up on the board. You get the idea. Position the board right next to your work area so you can see it while you work toward your goals.
C) Form a small mastermind group. – A mastermind group is your support group. And believe me, this group is a vital entity to your success. The group can consist of any amount of people (at least 2), but the important thing is that everyone in the group must share similar goals. It doesn't help much when you are trying to lose 30 lbs and other members in the group have goals of setting up their own company.
A mastermind group helps to hold all its members accountable. This will help you maintain consistency in taking action even when laziness gets the best of you. Be sure to meet with your mastermind group at least once a week.
D) Create a daily action plan with actionable tasks. – Bullet points A, B and C help you to sustain the desire and motivation to achieve your goals. This will ensure that you will not give up halfway though and fall backwards on your rear end. But you also need a real, actionable plan that you can follow every day until you actually do achieve your goals.
Every morning, brainstorm for tasks that will help to bring you closer to your goals and write them down. Try to create three small actionable tasks each morning and complete them before you go to sleep. Make them a priority and fit them into your schedule. Whether you complete them or not makes a big difference in whether or not you will succeed.
If you find it hard to generate the small daily tasks or an actionable plan that will bring you closer to your goals, seek out a mentor, search online, or purchase a book on goal setting.Breaking down your goals will help you avoid the feeling of being overwhelmed. When you are creating your action plan, keep the short-term tasks in mind instead of obsessing over the long-term end result. Obsessing over long-term results just creates stress. It is far easier to think on a short-term task-related basis. And as long as you complete your tasks, the results will take care of themselves. For instance, if you want to write a book, don’t obsess about completing the book (long-term results oriented), just focus on writing a page or two a day (short-term task-related) and soon you will have your book completed.
E) Set a deadline. – You will also need to set a deadline for your goal. A long-term goal without a deadline will not instill any sense of urgency in you. And defining a deadline also gives you something to look forward to.
Take Action
This step doesn't need a long explanation. Just take your daily action plan that we created above and DO IT! More than anything, successfully achieving any goal hinges on the simple act of making a decision to absorb yourself fully in the process of getting things done – actually taking action.
