How To Achieve Goals In 9 Steps

Hey guys and girls Today let’s talk about how to achieve goals as the new year begins because as we all know, people start setting goals and resolutions. It’s a great time to sit down and think of what you want to do and achieve for the year but often do we set new goals but never reach them? This happens to us all because after the first few weeks and months we lose the motivation and drive to stay committed. So we need to find ways that we can keep you motivated and focused on reaching your goals.  There are a number of steps I’ll be using to reach my goals over the coming year so lets get down to the steps we can use to achieve what we want this year.

1.Write Down Your Goals

The simple action of actually writing down your goals is a small way to boost our chances of reaching our goals. The process of writing our goals down makes them more real, more tangible. So when you read and see your goals on actual paper. They’ll be real as opposed to just being forgotten in your head. Even your brain will focus more and remember more when you write things down so it’s a good idea if you really want to get started.

When you’ve written down your goals. Stick the piece of paper somewhere where you’ll see your goals every day. Maybe on your door, on your mirror in the bathroom. Wherever you decide to put it. Make sure it stands out and catches your eye so that you don’t get use to it and stop paying attention to it.

How many goals should you write down? That’s up to you but don’t write down too many or it’ll just turn into another list. Write down 3-5 and when you go through the year and you think you can do more then write down a few extra ones. Make it manageable so that you can focus on a few goals and not overwhelmed with many goals that you won’t finish.

If your having problems finding some goals to write down. Here are the 5 key areas of life for you to find goals for.

2.Specify And Explain

Why do you want to achieve your goals? Be specific about your goals and why you want to reach them. Explain why you want to reach your goals in as much detail as possible. For example, compare

“I want a new job”

to

“This year im going to get my dream job as a enter job title here. It will be 5 minutes away from my house so I won’t have to drive to and from work hours every day and so that I won’t get stuck in traffic. I’ll enjoy my work so much and give enormous value to my company and our customers. I’ll feel so fulfilled giving my best every day and I’ll be appreciated for the value I create. I’ll get paid $xxx,xxx for the work I love doing and I’ll also have the option to work from home whenever I wish…….”

Can you see how being more specific and explaining is just so much better. It’s more attainable. It’s clearer to see what you want and then you know what to look for. Your mind will focus and it will find ways to achieve that goal.

3.Actionable steps

Break your goals down into easy action steps. Don’t break them down too much or you’ll be overloaded so somewhere in the middle best. Make your action steps fun. Say to yourself “How can I achieve this goal and have fun at the same time?” Maybe get your friends to join you.

4.Time Targets

This is a a very simple step but it’s very important for you and your mind. Set a time target on each of your goals and make sure you achieve them in that period of time. This will help your mind focus and also to make to procrastinate just a little bit less .

5.Involve Your Family and Friends

Get you friends and family involved. This way they’ll help you, they’ll be watching you, giving you feedback and advice. They are there to give you encouragement and be there to push you when you won’t push yourself. Find a friend that has the same goal as you and help each other achieve the goal. It will make it a lot easier to reach your goal then. Another reason to tell your family and friends is that if we tell them, we’re less likely to just give up because our family and friends are expecting us to achieve our goals. They’ll hold us accountable and it’s a positive push to keep going and get to the end.

Maybe even involving your family and friends will help them to set and accomplish their goals.

6.Make A Mind Movie

Creating a mind movie is a cool way to remind yourself about the goals and life you want. It has to do with the law of attraction. Anyway the guy who created Mind Movies will talk about them better than I will. If you want to create a mind movie you can make a free video at Animoto.com.

7.Incantations

Tony Robbins talks about incantations which are putting affirmations and physiology together. Use positive affirmations but express those affirmations with your body. Use all your energy and body when doing this. This will condition your mind to believe and go after whatever you want.

Doing incantations are really powerful and it’s a lot better than using affirmations on their own.

Here is a little video on Tony and the audience doing incantations

8.Technology

Technology is an amazing asset we all have the ability to use. So why not use it to help us achieve goals. Here are a few technologies I use:

• ReminderFox Firefox Plugin – This is a cool firefox add on that reminds me of events or tasks every time I open up my firefox.
• Mobile Phone – we carry our mobile phones around everywhere with us so why not use it to help us. Every phone will have a calendar, note pad, timer, count down, reminder feature and other tools we can use to remind us and keep us on track day to day.
• Google Calendar – if you have your action steps written out. You can enter them into your google calendar to remind you of your action steps and you can also choose to get emails and SMS messages send to you about your events and tasks.

There are so many technologies that can help us, remind us and keep us on track to get to the end of our goals. So use whatever you have available to you.

9.Set Targets And Rewards

Setting targets or milestones is important. You need to see progress being made or else you’ll think you are getting nowhere. Set reachable targets for maybe every month. Then when you reach your targets get a friend or family member to reward you when you hit a target. I’d prefer to get someone else to reward me with the reward I want instead of giving the reward to myself because I wouldn’t be able to wait and id give myself the reward too soon.

Just set targets and remember to reward yourself so you feel good about going after your goals and getting rewarded makes you commit just that little bit more and like the process at the same time.

When you’re writing down your goals. Write down big and exciting goals that will motivate you and get you up in the morning and remember to write down why you want to achieve them.

Oh, and don’t worry if don’t want to use all of the steps on the list. Use as many or as a few of these that will fit your lifestyle to help you in 2010 but using them all will compound on each other and you’ll boost your ability to achieve your goals a lot more and a heck of a lot faster.

Happy goal setting….

Related posts:

1. My Top 4 Goals For 2010