Back to Home Page
Goal Setting
I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.
-- Henry David Thordeau
When we set goals we become more focused on what we want and we get excited about the thought of achieving the goals.   Goals are important because they: 

Place urgency on our priorities
Motivate us to act today
Provide a time we can look toward our achievements

Get Out Your Pencil

Goal setting pushes us to use talents and achieve dreams that have a deadline.  Napoleon Hill, in his classic work Think & Grow Rich, believes that goals are only effectively pursued when they are in writing because writing them down makes them tangible.  Once you get the goal down on paper, you can visualize the finished product and better plan the action step needed for its completion.

Don’t Confuse Your Goals With Dreams and Wishes 

Dreams, wishes and desires always remain just out of reach until we clarify what we want and put it to paper.  The following 4-steps will help with the clarifying process:

Identify the goals

Be Specific

Good Mechanics

Implementation (action)

What you need is a logical thought process that will guide you to implementing your goals.  If you follow this process, much like moving through a flow chart, you will have written in front of you your entire strategy for creating your specific goals.

Process For Implementation 

Motivation: Why?
Knowing why you want to pursue your goals creates a sense of direction and focus.  Working with purpose will increase both your confidence and your motivation.

Objectives: What?
What is best defined as determining a future objective, a complete picture of what you want on a specific date in the future.  Be specific, time-framed-not someday, write your goals on paper and have measurable results.

Strategy: How?
“If these are my goals, how will I accomplish them?”  Identify the approach and details needed to complete the goals.  This would involve identifying the tasks that contribute to the accomplishment of what we want.

Time Frame: When?
When is choosing the best dates in your day planner for implementation.  If you start to get discouraged by the size and date you put on the goal:  Don’t try to tackle the entire goal; work only on the intermediate steps – and only one step at a time.