People who are successful are usually working towards a goal.
It’s fine to dream, but if you only dream and never do anything to make your dreams come true, then your dream is just a dream. I’m going to go through some steps to help you accomplish your goals and make your dreams become a reality. These tips can apply to both personal and professional goals that you would like to set in your life.
Write It Down
If you want to accomplish a goal, it is going to help if you find a way to keep yourself accountable. Write the goal down in clear language. For example, if you are a business owner, you may want to increase your sales. Write down something like, “My business will generate 10% more sales this year than last year.” Notice that I said “will” instead of “want” or “hope”. When you write down a goal, you need to believe it will happen in order to be fully committed to seeing this goal come to fruition. By writing the goal down, you make it tangible.
Break It Down
It can help to break down your ultimate goal into smaller subgoals. For example, let’s say you want to save up for a vacation this year. Break it down by months and weeks on how much you would have to save to reach your goal. Or if you are building your own house, give yourself timelines for each step. How about that degree you are working on? If you want a 4-year degree accomplished in 3 years, make semester goals and a list of the number of credits you will need each semester, including summer school, to accomplish that goal. Smaller steps will eventually get you to that big goal. Don’t forget to celebrate each time you hit the mark on those subgoals.
Surround Yourself With Positive People Who Support Your Goals
You should really pick your friends wisely if you have goals you want to accomplish in life. It can be human nature for some people to want to level you down to where they are. For example, if you have lost 10 pounds, as planned there will always be that co-worker that is going to tempt you with junk food and make fun of your accomplishments. Then there are those that will say, “Wow, you are looking great! How did you do it? I want to be like you”. It will be a constant battle if you choose to surround yourself with people who don’t support your goals.
Use Failure As A Motivator
The list of famous people who used failure as a stepping stone is long. Thomas Edison was told by teachers that he was “too stupid to learn anything.” To make matters worse, he was fired from his first two jobs for not being productive. Before he invented the lightbulb, which by the way has revolutionized the world to this day, he failed 1,000 times on that invention. As you know, he never gave up but instead used failure as a motivator. Albert Einstein’s teacher said that “He would never amount to anything.” The list of famous athletes that didn’t make the cut for lower level teams are some of my favorite success stories.
We can all learn and be inspired by these people. I know they have personally inspired me. If you want to achieve goals, you will inevitably fail at one point or another. What is going to matter most is how you deal with failure.
You may have heard the story of the donkey who fell in the well. When the farmer saw the situation, he decided that it would not be worth it to try to get the donkey out of that pit. So the farmer got his shovel and began to bury the donkey in the well. With each throw of dirt on the donkey’s body, the donkey shook it off and used the loose dirt as stepping stones. Soon there was enough dirt in the well for the donkey to walk out free. Be like the donkey when it comes to failure. Use each throw of dirt in your face as a stepping stone to get you closer to your goal.
Never Quit – Keep Going
When I was a freshman in high school, I decided to be a runner. I joined the cross country team and wanted to be good at it and win races and set records. My first cross country meet was an invitational with about 200 runners in my race. I finished in the back 10 or so places. To this day, I can still smell the corn stalks that the race course went through and remember the beet red feeling on my face, along with my labored breathing. I felt like a complete failure when I crossed that finish line.
I trained all year after that race, on my own without a coach, even on all the holidays and through snowstorms. The next year, I won that same cross country invitational. I went on to hold school and city records. I continued on to be on the women’s Olympic development program through USATF and a sponsored athlete through Brooks as an adult. I’m certain even today when I compete, that people around me are more talented, but they can’t control how hard I will work. The moral of the story is that it is easy to quit. It’s harder to keep going, but the rewards will be worth it. Don’t let quitting be an option to you reaching your goal.
Final Thoughts
There are things you can do to accomplish your goals, both in business and your personal life. I’ve gone over some tips that will help you reach those goals. Make sure to write your goal down, break your big goal down into subgoals, surround yourself with positive people who support your goals, use failure as a motivator, and never quit.
You are ultimately the only person who will be standing in your way of achieving your goals. If you want to achieve your goal badly enough, then you will get there. Your attitude towards failure and also in believing you can reach your goal is everything. I hope that these tips will help you reach all of your personal and business goals this year. Happy goal setting!
Please share your thoughts and comments
What type of goals would you like to achieve, personally or professionally? What has gotten in your way of achieving these goals? How will these tips help you live your dreams? Share with us in the comments below.
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Thanks so much Kayla for sharing your insights with us! These tips are great for us Mompreneurs who consistently set new goals for ourselves, personally and professionally!
To contact Kayla directly, visit: https://ourstart.com/
Kayla Watson is the website manager at OurStart.com. OurStart is a lifestyle blog that focuses on topics like pregnancy, parenting, family, and marriage. When she is not writing, Kayla enjoys spending time with family and friends, exploring cute cafes, and feeding her unhealthy stationary addiction.