To be sure, many of you have set goals before. Many of you have failed to achieve those goals. There may be a reason why those goals went unachieved. It might be that you did not have a specific plan of action to accomplish your goals.
Setting a goal is only half of the process. The other half is much more important in my view. The other half of the goal setting process is to create the plan for achieving that goal. Please do not overlook this all important step!
Now I don’t know you, but chances are that if you just set a random goal, it will probably not be achieved. Why is this? Let’s say that you want to go somewhere that you have never been to. You know what the destination is but now you need the map. The map is your plan for attaining your goal!
Creating your plan is very simple. After you have written your goal down, break it into smaller chunks. Call these smaller chunks goals themselves, if you wish. These are scheduled activities that you will do over a period of time. It can be days, weeks or even years, depending on the goal.
It is alright if your goal plan is not perfect at this point. Sometimes we do not know every step of the way and we have to figure out our plan as we go. That is perfectly alright. Just write down what you do know you need to get done. It may be vague, it may be incomplete. Your plan should be flexible and you will be updating it as you go. Each task completed will move you closer to completing your primary goal.
Basically, your goal should just be a series of steps. These are the things you need to get done in order for you to accomplish your goal. It is like cooking a nice dish, say lasagna. The goal is to make it, but the ingredients and what you do with those ingredients are your plan.
Creating a goal plan is frequently overlooked, and many people discipline themselves to write their goals every day but create no plan! So make sure you take the time to decide where you want to go (your goals) and then create a plan that will tell you how to get there!
Many of us have more than one goal we would like to achieve. Sit down and really think of a goal plan for each one. Start doing the little tasks that you have written down and soon you will be accomplishing your goals and therefore achieving your dreams!
