How to Accomplish a Goal

Everyone has dreams. Whether they are big or small, they have vast importance in our lives. However, the procrastinator in all of us doesn't have to win. The Little Engine That Could was on to something with the whole "I think I can" mentality. With just a little bit of planning, accomplishing a goal is a simple task.


Steps
Setting Goals
1. Start working toward your goals today. Ask yourself, "What can I do today to get one step, however small, closer to achieving my goals?" Stay focused and believe in yourself even if others do not believe in you.


2. Set a realistic but challenging/inspiring goal. Take a big dream, like "I want to be famous," and break it down into smaller, more manageable steps, like "I want to star in a science fiction movie," "I want to go to three auditions a week," "I want to move to another city" and "I want to save $5,000 so I can move." Make the goal big enough to challenge and excite you, but not so big that you hesitate to take the first step.


3. Define and describe your goal. Write down when you want to achieve it. Write down the reasons why you want it. Write down what it would feel like after you have achieved it. Figure out exactly what it will take to get it. Be realistic about the time things will take. Many people don't allow themselves enough time, and give up too soon.


4. Make a list of your personal strengths in relation to your goal. For instance, if you have a healthy eating goal you might want to consider strengths such as your level of commitment to eating healthily, or the fact that you enjoy cooking and experimenting with new recipes or even that you are an excellent cook. The list of personal strengths you can draw up is endless.


5. Make a time line. Draw a horizontal time line with a dot at each end. The left end represents now, and the right end represents a point in the future. Specify what you want to happen and when, from now until then.


6. Plan ahead. Once you've broken down your goal into pieces, write down the steps on a piece of paper to make sure you have everything thought out. One of the worst things that can happen is you're almost to the point of your goal, but you're not sure what to do next. Also, give yourself deadlines for each step. Otherwise, you'll end up procrastinating and never achieving your dream.


Getting Started

• Visualize

Close your eyes and imagine yourself accomplishing your goals. Where are you? How did you get there? How do you feel? Do this often. Don’t get swayed easily with the noise and happenings going on outside. Put your attention on what you are trying to achieve. Remember the goal, and you will have control over the discomforts and difficulties. A good way to visualize is to practice self-hypnosis.

• Brainstorm ideas

Are there different ways to reach your goal? Write everything down that you can think of in three minutes, no matter how silly or impossible it may seem. For example, you could go to acting school, or maybe you could land a spot in a reality show that would get you started.

• Ask for guidance

No one can tell you exactly what you should do to achieve your goal, but one of the best sources for guidelines is to ask those who have done what you hope to achieve. Learn from the experience of others without trying to imitate them.

• Seek help

Find the information, skills and knowledge that you need from other people, books, and audio or video programs. Speed up your learning process by emulating what other successful people have done. You save time and get results faster. Self-hypnosis audios are a powerful way to help you get fast, permanent results.

• Be positive

Always believe that you will achieve your goal. As soon as you stop believing, you have already failed.


Moving Forward

• Draw on all your past achievements that are relevant to your goal

No matter how small you perceive your achievements, list them anyway. It could be something small, such as joining a healthy eating mailing list, to coming home from work late, yet preparing a tasty nutritious meal for your family in under 30 minutes. Once you review your list, you will be amazed at how all those small achievements soon add up, and how much you are capable of doing.

• Leverage the power of small wins

Bring to mind the small wins you have achieved in your life. Let them give you the feel and the motivation of a conquerer.Let these motivate you to set higher and hitherto unreachable goals,and the courage to achieve them.This will help you win many a battle in your life and ultimately the war.

• Learn from mistakes

Making mistakes should be a subject at school to teach all children how to learn from them, instead of trying to avoid them. In the pursuit of a goal, you are likely to make some mistakes. Don't see them as bad or get angry. They are important to correct you and to lead you to success.

• Create benchmarks or milestones

A benchmark is something you can use to measure your progress and know you're on track. For example, you can write "The first stage of reaching my goal will be done when I'm in the Entertainment section of the newspaper!" or "I'll know I've reached my goal of being famous when I'm a guest on Oprah."

• Listen to your internal dialogue

What you are saying inside affects you physically, emotionally and mentally. Is your defense system inside trying to make you stick to your past, limiting beliefs and perceptions? Take over and challenge your inner critics. Monitor any excuses you might be making in relation to your goal. For example, saying, "I don't finish work until late and won't have time to cook!" You must recognize that if you are truly passionate about your goal, it is up to you to make time.

• Be passionate

Striving toward a goal without passion is like a fire which slowly runs out of fuel to burn. Get excited; this will mean that you will love what you are doing. Methodically check your behaviors against impassioned dreams developed as a child. Always share the child within amongst your potential peers. This empowers the Law of Attraction that shapes the dreams of the child into the creative force of the adult.

• Revisit, evaluate, and if necessary, adjust your goals

Keep a written record of your goals in a place where you'll remember to read them every day. They'll change and adjust over time as your life does, so keep them up-to-date.

• Make contingency plans

Never forget about the problems that might come up on the way, and prepare for them. Positive thinking is important, but preparedness is better than being shocked or devastated when obstacles appear.

• Consider new opportunities and options that come your way

Sometimes, things have a way of unintentionally leading you exactly where you want to go.

• Persevere

Now that you have the momentum going, don't let it stop! Some steps may seem less exciting than others seem, but make sure to stick to your plan until the end! Avoid distractions and stay focused. Don't allow yourself to be distracted by other energy consuming efforts.


Tips

1. Don't forget the words of Lao-Tze: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
2. Be true to yourself. Your goal won't be nearly as sweet if you achieve it by doing things you're not proud of.
3. Put it in writing. Writing reinforces thoughts. Even if you are the only one to see what you've written, writing down your goals can give more power to your intentions.
4. Always stay in a good mood when finishing your goals (get your mind right and smile). Not that it's the law but science has proven goals get finished 2 to 20 times faster when you're in a good or great mood. Imagine any goal you want, getting finished 20 times faster! How easy is it to focus when you're not in a good mood? Don't get tricked into slowing down!
5. Make sure you find community. Other people with goals, whether or not they are similar to yours, can act as a great support system. Talk to them daily. If you can't see people in the flesh, then try an online community like where people set goals and hold each other accountable
6. Make sure, your goal is SMART:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Team-oriented
• Time-related

Warnings

1. 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. Keep an open mind.
2. Don't share your goals with people who might wear you down. Nevertheless, conversely find someone close to you or a coach who will play the devil's advocate role - as learning to challenge yourself in new ways can help you to improve and get closer to your goals.
3. Do not be tempted to squeeze a square peg into a round hole. If something doesn't fit or it doesn't feel right, try a different approach.
4. Every coin has two sides. Don't be rigid in accepting or rejecting any advice.
5. Oftentimes, when people get good at accomplishing goals other people will try to sabotage them in some way. In psychology, it's summarized like this: "Dysfunctional people hate seeing healthy progression of character in others." Don't let these people get you down.