‘Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.’ – Reggie Leach

At any given time you are either working to achieve your own goals, working to achieve someone else’s goals, or achieving nothing at all. In the best case scenario, you might be achieving your own goals and someone else’s at the same time. If you don’t know exactly what your goals are, there is a good chance you are either achieving someone else’s goals, or procrastinating!

Goals work by focusing your attention towards a specific outcome or standard of behaviour. When you can see the difference between what you want to be doing, and what you are doing now, your goals remind you to act differently and take on different challenges. When you have a goal with a measurable outcome and an associated timeframe, you can plan the small steps you will need to take to get from your present situation to your desired one.

Setting and achieving a goal requires more than just waking up one morning and deciding you want to be an
astronaut. You need to separate the real goals from the things that you would like but are not prepared to work hard to achieve. It is important to make sure that your goals fit with what you value the most in life so that you are not putting your ladders up against the wrong walls. Otherwise, you may find yourself setting goals that you forget about and do not achieve. Alternatively, you may set and achieve goals and then discover that what you thought you wanted actually creates unhappiness in your life.

Ten steps to creating a powerful goal:

1. Develop a strong desire to achieve your goal. Allow yourself to really feel passionate and excited about it. Think of all the ways you will benefit from achieving the goal. Also think about all the things you will miss out on if you do not achieve your goal. The fear of losing what we already have is often a greater motivating force than gaining additional pleasure.
2. Once you have considered all the reasons why you have to achieve your goal, write them down. Make sure you have a powerful ‘why’ in place before you even consider what you have to do to get there.
3. If you do not have belief in yourself, you will sabotage your efforts before you even get started. Strengthen your beliefs until you become convinced that you can and must achieve this goal. If you are having trouble believing you can do it, try reading success stories about people who have achieved similar goals.
4. Once you know that you can achieve your goal, write down where you are now, where you want to be when your goal is achieved and a deadline for achieving the goal. Working out where you are now is necessary for breaking your actions down into small steps so that you don’t get overwhelmed. The deadline should be believable (if the task seems impossible you won’t feel motivated to even try), but a bit daring. Your deadline should be close enough that you have to extend yourself past your comfort zone.
5. It does not matter if the deadline arrives before you achieve your goal – sometimes things just don’t fall in to place as perfectly as we would like. It has been said that there is no such thing as an impossible goal, just an impossible deadline. If you reach your deadline and the goal has not been achieved, it is simply a case of extending your deadline. At least you will be part of the way there.
6. Identify the obstacles that are in your way. If you work on reducing the obstacles as you work towards achieving your goals, you will achieve them twice as quickly.
7. Identify the resources you will need along the way. You may need to read books, talk to people, complete some
   market research, or do some study. If you will need the assistance of other people, identify those from whom you may need help in the future. That way you can keep in contact with them even if it is too early to ask them for
   assistance.
8. Make a plan by developing the steps you will need to take to get from where you are now to the successful
   completion of the goal. You can make the plan as detailed or simple as you like, but make sure that each step is small enough to keep you motivated. If you have the knowledge or resources to create a highly detailed plan now, you will find it a great asset.
9. Take action immediately. Never leave the site of setting a goal without making a start on the first step towards its attainment.
10. Work on strengthening your beliefs and perceptions so that your actions are supported by positive thoughts. There is no point in failing to achieve your goal because of negative thinking – all you will do is provide yourself with the evidence that your faulty thinking is correct. Writing and rewriting your goals as often as possible helps
    to strengthen the belief that they are attainable, and allows you to retain your focus.

Goals are very powerful when there is a strong ‘why’ attached and a definite deadline. When I was 20, I decided I wanted to buy my own home. The only trouble was I didn’t have enough deposit. The cheapest house I could find in the area required a $30,000 deposit and I only had $10,000. Not to be beaten, I set myself a goal of earning $20,000 in two months. At the time I had been earning around $45,000 a year. I calculated exactly how many clients I would have to work with in order to achieve the income I needed, and then set to work.

With my goal burning, miracles seemed to happen. Clients were appearing out of the woodwork and money started flowing. Then things went wrong. When I initially calculated the number of weeks until the property settlement, I failed to take into account the fact that Christmas landed right in the middle. With all the public holidays in the way, it looked like I was not going to achieve my goal. But I refused to give up and finally earned the last $5,000 two days before the house was due to settle. When I presented the cheque to the conveyancer I had $30 left in my account!

When we set a goal we tend to get exactly what we ask for.

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