If you want to attain success in life then ability to set goals is a must. The goals should be effective. This is to say that they must be realistic. Once you have set your goals you are motivated to attain them. When you realize your goals your self-esteem and self-confidence boosts up. It charges you for the next assault. Goal setting is an activity that requires skill. Only then you can set right kind of and reachable goals. Many factors have to be considered while setting goals so that you keep focused and eventually avoid frustration.
While setting goals you can categorize them into two parts – Short term and long-term goals. There are some things that are very important to you and must be attained in a short time. They form part of your short-term goals. So decide what are the goals that are very important to you and put them in the category of short-term goals. Prioritize your goals in accordance with their importance. You can thus break down your major life goals into smaller parts making it easier to attain them. You have to evaluate your progress each day.
Remember, journey of a thousand mile begins with a single step. Listing your major lifetime goals is a wise move. You have to set a time frame for attainment of these goals. This will keep you motivated and will rub off any lethargy that may set in.
Monitor your progress each day. Revise your list every day as you may be ahead or may be delayed in achieving your goals due to unexpected events. Setting up a time frame prevents you from wasting your time and helps you stay focused.
Skillful goal setting helps to minimize stress. You set only those goals that you really want to achieve. These goals are important for your success and happiness. Keep in mind that your goals are realistic. They must be based on careful evaluation of your strength and weaknesses. Unrealistic goals are often the cause for frustration and stress and they ever remain wishful dreams. You feel good when you have realized your important goal and are working towards its attainment. So always set attainable goals.
Setting goals is a first step towards being successful in life. Once you attain a short-term goal, there is a sense of accomplishment. You get a shot in the arm. You taste success even though it is small. It motivates you to aim higher. Whatever skills you have picked are naturally utilized in attainment of the next goal. It supports the maxim that success is a journey and not a destination. Ultimate success is a series of small successes. Success in attaining smaller goals is a step towards attaining bigger goals. So get ready to climb the ladder of success!
What to do if you encounter failure in attaining your first goal? Don’t quit. Just review. Look where you have made the mistake, learn from it and move ahead. As long as you learn from your mistakes there is nothing to worry. Failure is the pillar of success. Use this learning to avoid mistakes when you are working towards your next set of goals. Incorporate the unachieved goal into your new set of goals and start working. It should be a challenge for you now. Thus you should have an attitude of a sportsman. Time to time review your entire goal setting skills so that you set appropriate goals and avoid disappointment. Always keep sight of the bigger lifetime goal to be achieved.
If you are overwhelmed with frustration go back to your plans. See to it that your goals are realistic. Reset your goals and start working. Never quit. Keep your focus on your most important goal.

The literature, which supports the effectiveness of proper goal setting, is overwhelming. I must emphasize however the words ‘proper goal setting.’ The small percentage of people who do set goals, do so incorrectly which is why over half of people who make New Year’s Resolutions abandoned them after three months. One of the biggest problems for people in the goal setting process is that they fail to set measurable goals. Take for example the following list of some of the most popular goals set by people.

• Spend more time with family.

• Get in shape

• Have more fun

Proper Goal Setting requires your goals to be measurable.

These are all great ideas but they are not goals. Remember when you went to the family reunion and someone had set up the volleyball net. Slowly more and more people made their way over to the court while you rallied and played around. After a period of time, rallying gets boring an inevitably someone says, “let’s play for real.” Suddenly the game changes. Now you have people getting in their ready stance, positioning becomes important, people start diving for balls and arguing whose ball that was that just landed in between them. What changed to make people behave differently? The ball is the same, the court is the same, even the people are the same. What changed was the fact that now you are measuring. Now as you count points, effort matters. At the end of the game there will be a winner and a loser.

The principle is true for all areas of life. If you really want to change something then you must measure it. Another way to look at this is whatever you measure, you focus on, and what you focus on you change. When you engage in goal setting, you have to set goals that can be measured.

Lets take a look again at the goal ‘Spend more time with family.’ How are we going to measure this? How will we know when we have reached the desired amount of time to deem ’successful’? We need to break this down and ask ourselves, what does this goal look like? I once had a goal setting session where I set a goal resembling ‘Spend more time with family.’ My family helped me out by defining it for me. This is what they said:

• Stay off the computer between 5:00pm and 8:00pm

• Take my wife on a date every other week.

• Once a week have a one-on-one with one of the kids.

Now I had something I could measure. At the end of a few months I could even give you a percentage of how I had done. My family was not looking for perfection here but improvement. If I could show my family that 80% of the time I had done what they had asked, they would certainly determine that to be successful. My family really helped me out that day in my goal setting process.

What about the goal ‘Get in shape’ what does that look like? Last I checked ’round’ was a shape but I don’t think that’s the shape you are talking about. If this is one of your goals you have to break this down into something you can measure. Is it a certain weight you want to reach, inches you want to lose, a cholesterol number you want to get to, a blood pressure reading you want to lower? After you have defined what ‘Shape’ is then you have to set some measurable goals that are going to get you there. They might be things like exercise for 45 minutes three times a week, or stick to my meal plan everyday, or cut out all junk food. Make sure you goal setting is as practical as possible.

Now let’s take a look at the last goal to ‘Have more fun.’ Again, how will you know when you have reached this? Last time I checked there was no such thing as a Fun-Meter, which you could hook yourself up to and get a reading. First of all what activities are fun for you? Once you determine that then do some goal setting to motivate you to do those activities more often. Lets say hanging out with friends is what really gets you jazzed, then set some goals for times with friends every month. You might want to set aside two Saturdays each month for entertaining guests and designate one weeknight as movie night where you go and check out the latest movies. Goal setting in the areas of things like time with friends may seem a bit weird, but if it helps you build some new habits, it is worth it.

The secret is to make your goals measurable otherwise they are not really goals at all but rather good intentions. But if you take the time to find a way to measure your goals and create the supporting steps to help get you there, in no time at all you will experience incredible success in your life. Remember that your goal setting must be measurable.

Setting goals has its own special magic. When we transform desires and fantasies into tangible ideas and goals and commit them to paper we are taking a powerful step toward attaining what we want in our life.

New Year is the traditional time for setting goals. As we anticipate a new year anything can seem possible. As the year rolls on and reality sets in, these goals so often disappear into oblivion. By the time mid-year arrives, our goals are often long forgotten.

Yet mid-year is a great time for planning and reflecting. Setting mid-year goals can be a powerful way to take stock, refocus and renew our commitment to the goals we have.

Here are 8 tips for a powerful mid-year goal setting session:

1. Get yourself a goal book

If you don’t already have one, go out and buy the best, brightest and most appealing writing book you can find. This goal book can become your planning place, your anchor, a reference point, your doubt processer, an evaluation place, your bright ideas holder, your dream catcher, your inspirer and your celebration place. Revisit it often.

2.Revise your goals

If you have written goals earlier in the year take them out and work though them one by one. If not, think back to the mental goals, hopes and dreams you had at the beginning of the year.

Ask yourself:

* What have I achieved so far this year?

* What has changed in my life since the beginning of the year?

* Are the goals I had then still relevant for me now?

* How far have I come with each of my goals?

* Where do I need to go from here?

* Am I prepared to put in the effort to achieve my goals?

* What might stop me?

* How will I overcome this?

3. Rewrite your goals

Write or rewrite your revised goals for the rest of the year into your goal book.

Make sure you keep your goal-setting SMART.

SMART stands for:

SPECIFIC

Vague, unclear goals, without focused energy are likely to go no where.

MEASURABLE:

We need to know where we are with our goal setting process. By breaking our goals into small, measurable tasks we can congratulate ourselves each time we take a small step. This is uplifting!

APPEALING:

Boring goals tend to fizzle out long before they come to fruition. Our goals need to hold special energy and excitement for us. That way our passion will keep us going when we feel like giving up.

REALISTIC:

It’s pointless setting goals that are so far out of reach that they seem unattainable. This is setting ourselves up for failure. To achieve our goals we need to be able to believe in the possibilities we aspire to.

TIME LIMITED:

Open-ended goals can lack power. By setting goals with time limits we are committing our energy to working toward making active steps.

4. Set up mini goals

Take your main goal and ask yourself:

* Realistically, is it possible to achieve this goal by the end of the year?

* If not, how far can I get towards achieving this goal by the end of the year?

* What are all the steps I need to take from here to achieve this?

* What are my next 3 steps?

* What are the next 3 after that?

5. Work out a time line for the rest of the year

Ask yourself:

* What do I need to achieve 1 month from now in order to be on track to achieve my goal by the end of the year?

* How about 2 months, 3 months, 4 months, 5 months and 6 months from now?

Take out a large sheet of paper and divide it into 6 parts for the 6 remaining months of this year. Write the tasks that need to be done in each segment.

Transfer these into your goal book as a month-by-month action plan.

6. Write a positive statement

Write down a positive statement that reflects where you hope to be with this goal at the end of the year. Write this in the present tense as if it is already achieved.

For example:

“It’s 31st December and I’ve successfully saved $5,000 and I’m off to Hawaii for a glorious holiday for 1 week.”

7. Visualize your achievement

Spend some time creating a rich fantasy about how it will be when this goal is achieved. Use your imagination.

* What it will feel like, look like and be like.

* What will you say about this achievement?

* What will others say to you?

* How will you feel about yourself?

* How will you celebrate?

Bring your emotion into this fantasy. The more real and compelling it seems the more

energized you will become as you move towards this outcome.

Our imagination sets the blueprint for our future successes. All successes happen in the mind first. We ‘grow’ into our successes through using the power of our imagination. The clearer the blueprint the more natural it will be when we achieve our goals.

7, Revisit your goals often

Your goals need to be kept warm and alive. Read through your goals regularly – at least once a week. Try to do something towards your goals every day. Spend some time every week writing in your goals book.

Lists are a powerful means of reflection.

Try listing:

* What I’ve accomplished so far is…

* New possibilities are…

* Things that are blocking me from moving forward are…

* My advice to myself is…

* The positive outcomes I see for the future are…

8. Reward yourself

Keep track of your progress month-by-month and take pride in each and every step you take. As you achieve your mini goals, reward yourself well. Each acknowledged, successful step creates the impetus for the next successful step.

Happy midyear goal setting. And don’t forget to enjoy the journey!