If you want to accomplish anything in life, setting goals is going to be the first step. From losing weight to career success to making a business profitable, life is really all about having the right goals.

Unfortunately many people are not setting goals for themselves in their life, which explains why so many people never achieve their true potential. Actually, one of the main reasons that people are not setting goals today is that they really don’t even know where to begin. So, if you are ready to start learning how to set goals, here are six essential tips to keep in mind.

Tip #1 - Start Dreaming and Write Down Your Dreams - First of all, if you want to set goals you are going to have to take the time to do some dreaming. If you have no dreams, then it will be difficult to come up with goals for your life.

Sadly many people have actually lost the ability to dream in their life and subsequently their motivation for achievement. So, to get yourself started, take some time to dream about things you want to do, who you would like to be, or even about what you would like to have. Once you come up with your dreams then actually put those dreams down on paper.

Tip #2 - Ask the Question, ‘Why?’ - After you have come up with your list of dreams, then you need to wait a bit and take another look at all the dreams on your list. As you look over those dreams, ask yourself why this dream is important to you.

If you can’t even come up with a good reason to have this dream or a few sentences to describe why this is important to you, then it probably is not even a dream and it definitely will not become a goal. So, if you can’t answer the question for a specific dream, you’ll probably want to cross it off your list.

Tip #3 - Is it really YOUR Goal? - Sadly many people actually have dreams that were placed there by other people. This is why it is so important to figure out whether it is really your goal or a goal that someone else in your life wants you to go after. When working on setting goals, if the dream and goal is not really yours, then it can be crossed off your list.

Tip #4 - Figure out How the Goal Will Affect Your Life - You are on the right track now. The dreams you have left on your list now need to be reviewed. This time you need to determine how these dreams are going to affect your life. When you accomplish these goals are they going to make you more happy than what you are now?

Are these goals going to cause an improvement in the relationships you currently have with people? Will they cause an improvement in security with these people? Is it going to have a positive outcome on your financial affairs? If the answer is no they won’t them cross those goals off your list because if you know the outcome of that goal isn’t going to make a positive reaction in your life then it’s going to be hard to stay motivated to accomplish it.

Tip #5 - Categorize Your Goals - By now your list should be narrowed down to real goals, instead of just desires and thoughts. At this point you need to categorize your goals into sections, depending on how long it should take you to reach them.

You will have long range goals that will take more than a year to achieve, short range goals that should take less than a month for you to achieve, and intermediate goals that will take anywhere from a month to a year to achieve. Remember, you should have big goals, and you should also make sure to have goals in every category so you are constantly working towards goals in your life.

Tip #6 - Plan How You Will Achieve Your Goals - After you’ve established what your goals are, you need to plan how you will achieve them. You should always be working toward your goals, even if it’s simply taking small steps in the right direction. Be sure not to overwhelm yourself when trying to reach those goals.

It will take some time management and motivation on your part to plan and complete these tasks, but it will be worth it. Create a chart with the activities you plan to do to help you achieve your goals, and as you perform those activities mark them down on your chart. This will help you see the achievements you are making as you get closer and closer to achieving your goals.

By: Kale Jones

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 at 8:10 am and is filed under Goal Setting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.