Is It too Late to Set a Goal?

How would you feel, if you were able to fulfill all the goals you set last year, and see all your dreams came true? 

Would it have made any difference on you and the life you are living today? 

If yes, then what difference would that be? 

Would you have:

• Made more money?
• Saved your marriage?
• Get a scholarship? 
• Built your own house?
• Get the wife/husband of your dreams?
• Be your own boss & business manager?
• Be rich and now financially free? 
• Gotten more friends and prestige? 
• Be grand master of yourself?

Well,

We all have goals in life that we love to fulfill. 

Each one of us wants to achieve something, whether great or small, at some point in our lives. 

We have deep-seated hopes and dreams for the future and a burning desire to accomplish some great feats.

Such a burning desire to achieve greatness is stitched into the very fabric of our society, woven into the core of who we are, deep down inside. 

It's emblazoned in our DNA, genetically pre-dispositioned, not just for mere survival, but also with a yearning passion to thrive.

But why do we find it so hard to achieve our goals in life?

It's not easy achieving your goals in life. That much is certain. 

...But couple that with our insatiable thirst for instant gratification and our proclivity to run on the seemingly endless hedonic treadmill -- where we're always reaching for something better than we have today -- it's no wonder that we get frustrated while trying to achieve great things.

Now, is it too late to plan? 

Is it too late to set one achievable goal for the next few months ahead? 

A living dog is better than a huge-dead-lion 🦁.

When failure rears its ugly head and we suffer the ridicule of public humiliation, it's no wonder why we find it so hard to achieve our goals in life.

But giving up on a goal just to ease the moment is the worse mistake one can make.

Don't sacrifice the future to gratify the moment. The future could be tomorrow or next..

And if you don't plan for it, how will you get what you really want? 

Have you given up on your New Year's Resolutions already?

It's never too late... Start now.

Don't give up! Try these tips to keep and achieve your goals this year...

How to set actionable goals — goals that meet it's fulfillment

To accomplish your goals, you need to know how to set them, or the realization of your dreams may be out of your reach.

1. Be realistic

2. Be specific

3. Make a plan

4. Get others involved

5. Write them down

6. Visualize your success

...and Be ready... be ready to make the sacrifices!

1. Be realistic

Have you ever noticed that after setting a goal, most times, you find yourself not even trying?

Do you know why?

It happens because we set unrealistic expectations or goals for ourselves.

Don't set yourself up to fail.

Don't say that you're going to make a billion dollars in 12 months if you're currently heavily in debt.

Don't plan to wake up three hours earlier than your usual wake-up time — at once — if you are not used to it, or done it before. 

Don't fix twenty-six things to do the next day, if you know that all you can accomplish is just three. 

When you pick goals that are realistic, not only are you more likely to achieve them, but you can also develop some momentum in the process. 

It's exciting to accomplish a goal that is currently out of reach, no matter what that goal is.

Once you get there, you're fueled by the zeal and enthusiasm of reaching your goal.

2. Be specific

What do you intend to achieve? When and How?

Being specific will make it easier to measure whether your are reaching your desired goals or not. 

So you can't just say you want to be rich. It doesn't work that way.

If you have money goals, they need to involve a specific amount of money. 

For example, you intend to have a one million dollar net worth in the next 24 months, you plan to be earning $20,000 per month in the next 12 months by building up a service business, or anything else for that matter. 

But you need to be acutely specific about it.

When you get specific about a goal, it materializes. 

It moves from the abstract into reality. To do that, it must be written down. It must move from your mind to a piece of paper or a screen. 

• What do you want to achieve? 
• What does your life look like at that point when you reach that goal? 
• Who are your friends? 
• What are you doing during the day? 
• What habits do you have? 
• What time are you waking?

These are just samples of what you need to put in place so it'd be easier to measure whether your are reaching your desired goal or not.

If you want to reach your goal,  then,  be specific. 

3. Make a plan

You will agree with me that it's going to be pretty hard to do any kind of resolution without some kind of plan. 

Yet you might still wonder — How does a plan helps one to achieve a specific goal? 

Planning involves a conscious awareness of our actions and the ability to overcome some of the bad habits that might try to stop us on the way. 

Planning allows you to breakdown the process into distinct steps, doing a little bit each day towards the attainment of your dreams. 

It also helps you to describe the goal and your life in a great deal of detail.

For example, If you plan to lose 50 pounds in the next 12 months, describe what your day looks like by the time you reach that goal. 

• What's your waist size? 
• What kinds of clothes are you wearing? 
• What time are you waking up to work out? 
• What types of foods are you eating or avoiding? 

When you take a moment to write down the meaning that you're associating with your goals and dig deep, you will be willing to sacrifice everything for it to come true.

4. Get others involved

I won't say much here, but just imagine this scenarios:

You are trying to stop a particular habit (maybe alcoholism, smoking, drug abuse, or others) and most of your friends are aware of your decision and the struggle to make a permanent change.

Whenever they see a cigarette in your two fingers again, they we pressure you to smash it away, and most times, you did just that... 

How easy will it be to continue on your resolve? 

You already know the answer.. Right? 

Truth is, whether this means grabbing a buddy for the gym or just having someone check in with your progress, make sure others are aware of your resolutions. 

This should help give you motivation to actually do them.

5. Write them down

Do you have goals that you have written down? 

The physical act of writing down a goal makes it real and tangible. 

You have no excuse for forgetting about it. 

But how should you go about writing down your goals? 

One system that have worked very well for me, is using more of action words. 

As you write, use the word "will" instead of "would like to" or "might."

For example, look at these two statements:

"I will reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year," 

and

"I would like to reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year."

Which of them would you say will be more effective?

 The first goal statement has power and you can "see" yourself reducing expenses, the second lacks passion and gives you an excuse if you get sidetracked.

So frame your goal statement positively. 

If you want to improve your retention rates say, "I will hold on to all existing employees for the next quarter" 

rather than 

"I will reduce employee turnover." 

The first one is motivating; the second one still has a get-out clause "allowing" you to succeed even if some employees leave.

Post your goals in visible places to remind yourself every day of what it is you intend to do. 

Put them on your walls, desk, computer monitor, basthroom mirror or refrigerator as a constant reminder.

6. Visualize your success

If you don't know what success looks like, how will you know when you have achieved it. 

If you don't have a clear goal, then, how can you put a clear plan in place to achieve it?

Without visualization, your plans may not live out of the paper.

If it is true as they say that seeing is believing, would it not be better to make a mental picture of your success, believe in yourself, and then make it so?

One of my clients was looking to increase their revenue by 50-100 percent in the upcoming year. 

They were very happy that they were setting a big bold goal, but the challenge is the plan to increase by 50 percent is not the same as the plan to increase by 100 percent.

The question is: Which plan are you going to implement?
Or are you going to implement any old plan and just hope?

Hope is not a strategy!

Clear goals allow you to create clear plans, which increase your probability of success

Thanks to the wild-eyed innovations that have sparked the possibility to make the seemingly impossible a reality in our lives. 

Not only have we wished for the moon, but we've also shot for the stars.

Now go forth and make this year the most awesome year ever!

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There is more information about this subject on the free e-book I have prepared for you — plus actionable steps on how to discover your strength, talents and purpose in 30 days — Click Here to get it!