by Elliott Kosmicki

Famous speaker Jim Rohn said, “If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. What ever good things we build end up building us.”

Goal setting is definitely not easy. Every goal you want to achieve must begin as a thought. So the first thing to do is think about it. Look at your situation and decide what goals make sense for you.

The steps below are an outline for you - remember to keep it simple!

Your steps to making goal setting easy:

1. Set Realistic Goals - You know your limits, push them slightly.

2. Make a list of objectives - The details here are important.

3. Prioritize your tasks - First things first.

4. Define Your Time Frame - Give yourself time to achieve, but not slack.

5. Cross the finish line - Traveling the road is pointless without getting to your destination.

Make Reachable Goals

Figuring out your personal, financial, educational or business goals take a lot of thought on your part. Consider what you want to accomplish and journal notes along the way - even if you think it’s a small detail, it could be a critical part in your decision making later on.

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.” - A quote by Henry Ford.

Take a while to think things through. If you watch a word-worker make furniture, they might say “measure twice, cut once.” If they don’t do the measurements - and then fall short, the furniture will take much longer to complete because they didn’t do the measuring right the first time. They have to use more material, more time measuring again, all which will make the goal more difficult to obtain.

If you set your goals too high, you might be setting yourself up to fail. You want to challenge yourself with the goal, but give yourself enough slack so you don’t get disappointed - all without making it too easy on yourself!

Write a List of Supporting Tasks

Give yourself definite goals and subgoals. Set aside time for each goal during your planning stage. Give yourself concise notes about how you think you’ll reach each goal and subgoal.

Prioritize Your Tasks

Be honest with yourself about what you have to do in order to accomplish your goals. Make sure you know exactly what you’ll be willing to sacrifice in order to see your goals through. Keep your goals in order of which is most important - first at the top - and only focus on that before you move onto the next!

Set a Time

Work out your time frame. Make sure you have a realistic one. You don’t want to be looking 10 years down the road, upset at yourself for not staying focused! You’re the only one who can decide when you can reach your goals, and it’s only you who can make yourself succeed. Like the first step, Make Reachable Goals, you have to make a real time frame for every goal. Remember, challenge yourself, but don’t make it so hard that you quit.

Follow Through

Besides thinking and mental planning, this is probably the most important step. If you don’t follow through, you aren’t going to achieve your goals. You can’t let yourself give up on you! If your goal is to lose 20 pounds, you can’t allow yourself to stop at 19. If your goal is to ace the big test coming up or get a promotion at work, don’t stop until you’ve achieved it!

About the Author:

The author, Elliott Kosmicki, is a motivational blogger who founded Becomng.com - the personal development blog for those who can’t live without the web. Share your story and find other personal goal setting posts from Becomng.com.