Hundreds of people have talked about the importance of goal setting. Thousands or even millions of people know that setting goals can help you achieve more success in your life.

That’s because goals push you to become better and force you to surpass your limits. Goal setting forces personal growth. But if goals are so important and have so many benefits, why do so many people struggle to achieve their goals?

Here is what you should do if you would like to accomplish your goals:

1. Set goals that are original

You shouldn’t have second-hand goals. This means that your goals shouldn’t be based on the expectations of your parents, teachers or society’s norms. Many people think that they have goals but they only try to fulfill the desires of their surroundings. As a result they can’t hold these goals for a long period of time and they give up.

When you set a goal, you should focus on setting one that truly brings you emotional satisfaction as you are trying to accomplish it. Of course this doesn’t mean that your goals shouldn’t be somehow similar with the goals of other individuals. But you should try to set up goals that are originally yours, not goals that are inherited.

Accomplishing goals that aren’t 100% derived from your heart won’t bring you happiness.

“A goal properly set is halfway reached.” – Zig Ziglar

2. Your goals should inspire you

Goals shouldn’t be a simple promise or weak wish. They must be something that pushes you to do whatever it takes to succeed. They must represent your passion.

Your passion and desire is what inspires you, motivates you and leads you the right way. It’s the only thing that can keep you on track and drive you to try harder every day.

3. Focus on one goal at a time

Multi-tasking is simply harmful. Achieving big success while splitting your attention to 2, 3 or even 4 things simultaneously is quite impossible. If you work on many things at the same time, you will find it harder to accomplish them. In the best case, your results will be pretty average in all of them.

On the other hand, if you would focus only on one goal, this leaves the additional stress out of your way and lets your brain become more focused. You will be amazed when you understand how powerful your brain is, when you are 100% focused on one goal.

4. Set high goals but be unrealistic

There is a big contradiction here. A lot of people say that you should settle for less and don’t be unrealistic. On the other side, there are some people who say that you should set extremely high, unrealistic goals because this will motivate you more to succeed.

Both of them are right and both of them are wrong at the same time. I think that the best approach is to find the golden spot between these two beliefs. This means to set goals that are high and push yourself to your limits while they are also accomplishable within a specific timeframe.

Being realistic doesn’t mean that you should settle for less and stay mediocre. It seems that you should set a goal that’s hard to achieve, but not impossible.

For instance: If you say that you will make 1 million dollars in the next month from a side business while you are working as a taxi driver, it’s impossible to achieve that. On the other hand if you say that you will make 1 million dollars within the next 2 years, it’s still hard and requires a lot of effort, but it’s not impossible.

Don’t settle for less and don’t be mediocre but also don’t set a goal that is impossible to achieve. The latter will make you really disappointed and that’s not something that you want to happen. Instead, set demanding goals and progress with small steps. Try to gradually become better and set bigger goals. The magic word here is: gradually.

The greater danger for most of us isn’t that our aim is too high and miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” – Michelangelo

5. Have idealistic goals

Set your goals in accordance to your ideas and values. Your goals should be created based on your emotional, ethical, educational and financial aspects. They should be based on your personal ideas and on what kind of person you are today. In this way you can have a result that will be emotionally satisfying.

6. Have specific goals

Your goals must be specific! I can’t really stress the importance of this. If your goals are not specific and if you don’t have a deadline, you limit your potential in an extremely high degree.

If you want to become rich, specify how you will do it. “I will become rich” isn’t a goal. It’s a wish. Wishes rarely come true. The only thing that comes true is specific goals with deadlines. Instead of saying “I will be rich” your goal should be “I will open a clothing business and I will make $150,000 per year in the next 2 years“.

If you don’t have a specific goal, you won’t be able to march towards its accomplishment.

7. Your goals should be flexible

Many people make the mistake of trying to accomplish a specific goal without trying to recognize better opportunities as they go. If your goal is to become financially independent until the next year you should concentrate in achieving your goal regardless the method or ways that you will use to do it.

You should be able to understand which things don’t help you anymore and don’t bring a nice return on investment. Stick to the methods that work for you.

8. Visualization

Countless people have stressed the importance of visualization and meditation for succeeding in life. Visualizing your goals can help you focus on your final destination. It can also keep you motivated. When you imagine a situation and think of it like it is already a reality you somehow “trick” your subconscious mind to believe that it’s reality.

In this way your subconscious mind acts in a way that helps you make your desire a reality. It gives you ideas, motivation and energizes you to try harder to achieve your goals.

If you have never heard of the importance of subconscious mind programming you should know that many successful people use it. Napoleon Hill, the author of the famous best-seller Think & Grow Rich, has written a lot about the power of your subconscious mind.

Does this thing really work? Well, Napoleon has spent his entire life studying hundreds of multi-millionaires like Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie. If a life-time of research indicates that it can be done, you won’t lose anything if you try it.

You will notice the results on your own. However you should know that it’s not something that happens instantaneously. It needs time to reprogram your subconscious. How much time does it need? You can’t know for sure as it depends on every individual, his life experiences, beliefs and many other factors. Don’t quit no matter how long it takes. It might take months but it will definitely be worth the result.

If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” – Jim Rohn

9. Speak about your goals everyday

If you don’t believe in yourself and your abilities, no goal can be achieved. When you affirm your goals every day, not only to yourself but to your surroundings, you are still programming your subconscious mind.

Of course, many people will doubt you and try to bring you down, but then it comes to how strong your desire is. If you have a strong desire to succeed, no one will ever bring you down. If you believe that it can be done, you will eventually do it! Believe, even if others don’t believe.

10. Write them down, write them down, write them down

Studies have proven that people who write down their goals have more of a chance to accomplish them. On the other hand, the ones who only have their goals in their minds seem to be less successful.

People who don’t have a written list of goals are more likely to quit or lose focus.Sure, many individuals might accomplish their goals without writing them down. But over the long run, writing down your goals is more beneficial because it keeps you accountable.

It’s also another way of re-programming your subconscious mind. Think about it, the more times you do something the better you get. For instance, the first time you try to play a guitar you will naturally be awful. After 2 years of repeatedly playing guitar you will have become a lot better.

The same happens with your goals. The more times you remind your brain that you have to accomplish them, the more you will work to achieve them.

Thank you for reading my article! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below!