How to Set Personal Goals

Many people set personal goals. However, a good chunk of this population never fulfill them. Here is a good way to achieve your goals, rather then just making them "dreams".

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. The most dangerous word in goal setting is 'someday'. This word also has similar friends, but the list of these words would be too exhausting to mention here. These words are not conducive to goal achieving, they are words that only help in goal building. What good is making more goals if you do not achieve any of them? Instead, when talking or writing, exchange the word 'someday' for 'ONE day'. Most people don't like to be called liars or hypocrites, so when you set something in stone with words or in writing, you force yourself to take it more seriously.

2. Many people have goals that are not out of reach, but missing goals in between. If you want to make a million dollars, you can't just say "ONE day I am going to make a million dollars". How are you going to achieve this? What methods or strategies will you use to maximize your earnings to achieve the goal? Having a goal of making a million dollars is fine, but you better have adequate steps in getting to this feat otherwise you'll never end up putting any good effort into achieving it. For example, if you want to buy a 1963 Gibson Les Paul, you'll need to save money. So, a more reasonable goal at this point would be to take extra hours at work or write more articles on eHow.com to start saving money for the Les Paul. This puts things in motion and you'll be that much closer to getting your hands on that dream guitar.

3. Don't let people bring you down. In my experiences, for every one person who supports you when you are trying to achieve something that is seemingly impossible, there are three people who think you are being stupid. Then again, these are the same people who find satisfaction in negativity because they themselves do not have the gumption to do what YOU are doing.
   
   Forget them. Focus on the positive.

4. Make an immediate investment into your goal -- big or small. For example, if you want to buy a guitar to learn how to play, go to your local Guitar Center or other music store and buy some books on the subject. Buy a book of your favorite guitar tabs and then buy a book about its history. That gives you something to read now, and something to look forward to later. The book of guitar tabs also gives you more incentive to stick with your goal because you already put forth the $18.99 to buy sheet music. If you don't follow through with your goal, it will now actually HURT you by wasting that money. When something directly affects us, we are more likely to react to it.

[TheMoreYouKnow]

on 10/7/2008 you should look into motivational speaking! good article.