How to achieve a goal?

A new year is on  and may  be you want to set a goal and achieve the same. First of all let the goal be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant to your situation, realistic and time-bound.  Set your practical goal well beyond what you think you can accomplish.  Write it down in the present tense and the reasons for wanting it.   Writing reinforces thoughts and gives more power to your intentions. Write down too how you would be feeling after achieving it. Also bring to your mind all the past achievements including even your  small wins.  Do list down all your personal strengths that will help you in achieving it.  Decide to analyze your past mistakes and learn from them. Record your goal in an index card and review them twice each day: once just before sleeping and once just after waking up. Once you have set the goal, think about what you can do to accomplish your goal and stay focused on track.   Suppose you want to become the GM of your corporation, list down all your plus points that will propel you to that position. From now to the time limit you have set to achieve the target, note down what you want to achieve at each interval of time.

We all set goals and start in right earnest. But the procrastinator in us fails us.  Hence work towards your goal each day; ask yourself, ‘what can I do today to get one step, however small, closer to achieving my goal?’ Do not lose focus and believe in yourself regardless of how others think. If there are different ways to reach your goal note them down too. ‘I will save 5000 bucks each month’ to buy a million dollar house after 10 years or ‘I will reduce my weight by a Kg a month’ to shed off 10 kg in an year.  Fix deadlines for each step and do not give scope for procrastinating. Close your eyes and visualize your goals as already achieved. Do this often.  No one can tell you exactly what you should do to achieve your goal, but you can seek guidance from those who have done already what you want to do. Learn from the experience of others and incorporate useful hints. Seek help from other people, books, audio, or video programs.  As you go along, believe always that you will achieve what you want and if you stop believing you will certainly fail in your attempts. You need to monitor your journeys with benchmarks or milestones. If you have not reached where you planned to reach, hasten your steps, bring in additional work, time and resources to catch up.  

As you move forward, be careful about your internal communication. Remember whatever you say inside affects you physically, emotionally and mentally. Is your past, limiting beliefs and perceptions a real stumbling block along the way? Start a new positive internal dialogue. Recall all your wins however small they may be and fill your mind with the same. Unless you are passionate about your goal, you will slowly run out of fuel and stop dead on your way. Recharge your batteries and refill fuel tanks with renewed decisions and vigor. Evaluate your journey so far and make the required changes and contingency plans to meet emergencies and setbacks. Let your eyes and ears be open for new opportunities and options that come up along your way. Sometimes they may, unintentionally, lead you to where you want to go.

Some steps may seem less exciting than others but make sure to keep going until the end!  Always stay in a good mood when you pursue your goals; it is  proven goals get finished 2 to 20 times faster when you're in a good or great mood. Imagine your goal getting finished 20 times faster! How easy it will be to focus on a good mood! Things don't always work out as you had planned. Stick to your goals, but be flexible. Often, something will work itself out in a different way than you expected, but that doesn't necessarily make it bad. Don't share your goals with people who might wear you down.

When you're trying to reach a new personal or a professional goal it often means changing what you've been doing so far in your life. And it's so easy to slip back into your old ways - often without being aware of it. Suddenly you realize that you've forgotten all about the goals you set.  No one can achieve them for you without continuous action on your part. You are the only person responsible for achieving them. Make small successes on your way.  Success breeds success - but if you're not careful, perceived failure breeds further perceived failure. Dr Maxwell Maltz was the first person to explain how your self image controls your ability to achieve any goal you set. Keep motivated as you work towards achieving your goal and manage your time well. In general, you will not do anything that will not progress you towards the desired goal. You can find time management tips and vital motivational tools  from self help books, and articles. Good luck!