Successful Goal Setting: 4 Secrets You Need to Know

Ambition is the strong desire to do or achieve something through determination and hard work.

It’s in our mundane nature to hold high hopes in what we want most in life, but we seldom ever see anything cross the line from dream to reality by sitting back waiting, hoping, wishing. The fuel to ambition is action, and action is taken in the steps of goal setting.

Everyone wakes up with a to-do list or a mental outline of what they’re aiming to accomplish in the next 24 hours and 9 out of 10 times they include all the mediocre chores and responsibilities of life such as running errands, paying bills, doing the laundry and don’t include anything to get you from where you are now to where you want to be. I’m not saying put your responsibilities on hold and drop what you need to do to survive to chase dreams. But, you should set aside time each day to work towards your bigger goals or you’ll be stuck living a life on repeat, a life with that unfulfilled feeling you get when you rest your head on your pillow at night and dream of the life you want. You can have that. You can make that dream a real world thing with the right course of action.

But what if you fail? Let me fill you in on something. Goals fail because of four reasons: vagueness, procrastination, blame, and lack of higher purpose.

You want to buy a house, but what kind of house? How many rooms? Where? When? Have you started a savings plan towards the cost of buying a home? Are you blaming outside forces for not having the money or time to work towards it? What does it mean to you to move into this new house?

We can want with all our hearts, but while these four things are present, a goal will only be a thought and nothing more.

So how do you go about successful goal setting?

Start SMART.

Smart goal setting is literally all in the name.

Specific: clear and well-defined.

Measurable: precise amounts and dates.

Attainable: not just the possibility, but the belief in the possibility of attaining.

Relevant: Reflects on the direction you see yourself going in life.

Time Bound: creating and meeting deadlines.

Write it down.

Seeing it in writing makes it all the more real and you can kiss any excuses of forgetting about it goodbye. It’s focus time! Kick out words like maybe, might, try… any words that creates the possibility of it not happening because they are poison. and replace it with will. “I will have a four bedroom house with two bathrooms and a spacious yard.” These sound more secure and capable because you will obtain it.

Take Action.

While keeping the end game in mind, it’s not your main focus in the present moment and that’s where people mess up. The actions you need to take require a step by step plan, something that you can work towards daily, right here, right now. Create your action plan. Research areas you’d like to live in, compare prices, set your price range, put aside 10 percent of your paycheck. There is a process that leads to the big picture, you have to establish it and work at it.

Maintain Motivation.

There is no overnight formula. It’s going to be a long road, but you will complete the journey if you don’t give up. Find your motivation. When things get hard or seem hopeless, don’t throw in the towel. Keep fighting. Remember why you started and what you’re sacrificing if you give up. Failure is only an option if you let it be. So stay motivated and keep the faith. You’ve got this!