12 Steps To Set And Achieve Any Goal
I recently read Goals! book by Brian Tracy. It is one of the best books I have read on goal settings. I was just super-impressed by the concepts and ideas presented in the book.
After reading the book, I bought a journal and wrote down all my goals for this year and made some action plans on achieving them.
To all the people who are having trouble setting the goals, here is the list of 12 steps mentioned by the author to achieve any goal:
#1 Have Desire
What do you really want?. Take your time. Sit in a quiet place and think what do you really want. Do want to have great relationships with your family and friends? Do you want financial independence? or Do you want a promotion or job opportunity?. Whatever it is. Go deep inside yourselves and think what you really desire.
#2 Believe Your Goal Is Achievable
“ The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams — Eleanor Roosevelt”.
Believe that your goals are achievable. If you do not believe in your goal then that goal is never achievable. So understand that to achieve anything you need faith and belief in your dreams. Whatever may be your desires, believe that those desires are achievable.
#3 Write Your Goals Down
Now write down your goal in the present tense. If your goal is to earn 50000 rupees per month, write down this in present tense as “I earn 50000 rupees per month”. Like this, write down all your goals and desires in the present tense.
#4 Determine Your Starting Point
Let’s assume your goal is to achieve financial independence. Now calculate all your assets, debts, investments and find out your net worth. This is an important step.
Before achieving any goal, we should know where we stand in terms of achieving them. This step gives you a clear idea. Do not skip this step. Sometimes finding our starting point can be embarrassing or we do not like where we stand in terms of goal path. It’s ok. We have to start somewhere so do not skip this step and find your starting point.
#5 Determine Why You Want It
Now think about all the things you can do or get when you achieve a particular goal you desire. The feeling of happiness, or the feeling of satisfaction.
If your goal is to become financial independence, thinks of all the reasons why you want to be financially independent. You can go on a vacation, start a new venture or provide your family with all the things. Whatever may be the reasons, think of them and write those reasons.
The “why” is the anchor to the goal. Many people always think about “how”. How to do that? or How to achieve it?. But more important is why you want to achieve it. This why-list provide the anchor when feel like quitting your goal. These lists remind you of all the beautiful things that could happen upon achieving your goals.
#6 Set Deadline
Deadline is very important in any projects. From construction projects to software projects there is always be a deadline within which we have complete the task.
So set the realistic deadline. Do not set I will be financially independent in a year from now when you have 300 rupees in your bank account. Set a realistic deadline and if you are not able to achieve a goal within that period, no problem.
Due to some factors, we are not able to achieve our goals within the set deadline. Then we have to change our deadline and work on our goals.
When writing your goals as mentioned in step 3, add the deadline to those goals. Here is an example:
“I earn 50000 rupees per month by December 31st, 2019”.
#7 Identify The Obstacles In The Way
Identify all the obstacles in achieving your goal. Ask yourself, what are your favorite excuses, rationalization, and justification for not achieving your goal?.
Whatever may be those obstacles, write them down and find the solution to tackle them.
#8 Determine The Additional Knowledge And Skills You Need
Determine the additional knowledge required to achieve your goals. Determine people who have achieved the goals you want to achieve and approach them. Find from them the skills and knowledge they acquired to get to those positions. Now acquire that knowledge. So, learn those skill sets required to achieve your goal.
#9 Determine The People Whose Help You Need
Now find the people whose help you need to achieve your goals. It might be your parents or your spouse or your friends. Approach them and ask them for their help in achieving your goal.
#10 Make A Plan — Put It All together
Now take a journal and write actionable plans to achieve your goals.
If your goal is to get in shape this year. Now you need some actionable plans. Join the gym. Put your workout cloth by the side of your bed so that when you wake up the next morning, you should be reminded to go to the gym. So in these ways, make all the small and actionable plan and support plan to achieve your goal.
Make daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly plans. Make planning a habit and you will be surprised how easy it is to get things done when you plan it.
#11 Visualize Your Goal Continuously
Before going to bed and after waking up in the morning, write down all your goals in a sheet of paper every day. By doing these, your goals should be imprinted on your subconscious mind.
By visualizing these goals and feeding them to your subconscious mind in these ways, our mind tries to attract the situation and events in our life through which we can achieve these goals.
#12 Never Give Up
Goal setting is a difficult task at first. We do not believe our goal can be realized. We will be skeptical. That’s ok. There will be a lot of obstacles when we start our journey. Do not lose your hope and never give up.
The people who achieved in this world are one who dares to dream big and hold on to their dreams in difficult times.
NEVER GIVE UP.
To know better about goal setting, check out the Goals book by Brian Tracy.
Thanks for reading.!!!
