The first step in reaching your goals is to make a list of what you want to accomplish. This is the time to think big! Is one of your goals to go back to school, change jobs, buy a house or a car, or even go to Hawaii? One of the best quotes I found on goal setting is “A goal without a plan is just a wish”. Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900-1944) Each of the next five steps will help you develop a more successful plan to achieve your goals. For this article let’s assume your goal is to buy a house. The second step is to visualize the outcome. Does the house you want to buy have two, three or even more bedrooms?
Is the home you hope to purchase in the city, in a small town or in the country? When you visualize the outcome, you have a clear picture of the goal you are working toward. I recently set a personal goal to paint my house. Once I visualized the outcome of a fresh coat of paint, I was a step closer to achieving my goal. The next step is to determine a realistic time frame to achieve your goal. If you are going to buy a house, when setting a realistic time frame, you will need to ask yourself several questions. How long will it take you to save the money to buy the home? If you are currently renting, you may need to consider when your lease expires. If you set a time frame that you originally see as manageable, don’t be discouraged if you have a setback or two along the way. When you are attempting to reach a bigger goal, this is not unusual. The key point is not to abandon your goal.
I keep lists of all the goals I have set over the past fifteen years. One of my own goals was to buy a house but personally it took me almost eleven years to reach the goal. It may have taken eleven years, but I never gave up the goal! The next step is to take action! Once you have set the goal, visualized the outcome, and developed a realistic time frame, it is important to take action. In our example of buying a home, you would want to investigate some low-cost/no-cost classes on home buying. You could also begin to read the real estate section of the newspaper to check on interest rates and articles pertaining to purchasing a home. Any information you learn throughout the process will be beneficial. Your action plan may also include visiting prospective neighborhoods and talking to real estate professionals.
When you take action, whether it is daily, weekly, or monthly, you are getting closer to reaching your goal. The final step is to celebrate your success. When you look back and you have reached your goal, it is important to recognize the hard work that went into planning and working toward your goal. For our example of buying a home, celebrate with your family or invite several friends over to share your success. I also have found journaling your success to be another way to celebrate. Reaching our goals does not happen overnight but when we visualize the outcome, determine a realistic time frame, take action and celebrate our success we can achieve the goals we set. Good luck with your goal setting!
Permission is granted to reprint this article when the following contact information is included. By Nancy J. Alauzen, All Is In Attitude, 2009. Nancy is a Workforce Development expert with a passion for recycling and the environment. For more free articles go to http://www.nancyjalauzen.com
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