There’s an art to the setting of your goals

Goal setting is the art that makes everything else achievable. It gives you energy, focuses your talent and structures your time.

In order to be successful, you must be goal orientated. Once you have set goals, you have a script for meeting opportunities.

Success often begins with the mere existence of a commitment to improving yourself. Unfortunately, very few people make that commitment.

Do you have set goals? Have you written them down? If so, what is your written plan, both short-term and long-term, for achieving them? You cannot expect to achieve what you are not even sure of.

You must have focus. You can’t shoot blindly and expect to hit anything.

To be successful there are three basic rules:

1. Write down your goals. You need to be able to visualize what you want to achieve.
2. Be realistic. Realistic goals must be made in order to reach them. This doesn’t mean you can’t dream, but don’t sabotage yourself by setting goals that are never attainable. Be honest with yourself and your abilities, but don’t sell yourself short.
3. Set deadlines. Once you have set goals, you will need to prioritize them. Don’t spend all your time setting goals and never getting started on achieving them. Deadlines must be set and honored. Write down your time limits. Make sure you have dates set and then abide by them.

Brace yourself, you might fail. There are no guarantees that you will succeed the first time you try goal setting. Since you give yourself more than one chance at everything else, remember to do the same for goal setting. It will be well worth the effort and as with anything, more practice will increase your ability.

Now that you have set your goals and met your deadlines, you have succeeded. However, many times once a goal has been met, you self-destruct. For example, you set a goal to lose 15 pounds by a certain date. You set up your diet and exercise plan and then you meet your goal by the designated time. However, two months later you have gained all the weight back, plus five pounds.

What went wrong? Your goal was good, however, it was not complete. Your goal should also include a plan for maintaining your objectives.

Don’t get discouraged; simply adjust your goal to include maintenance.

Whatever goals you are setting, from weight loss to time management, you can succeed. Make your commitment to setting goals and you are on your way.