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Goal setting is the
most important of all personal improvement
ideas. Goals give you a sense of purpose and
direction, a process to keep score, and the
confidence that only comes from knowing where
you're going. When you have goals, you develop
an almost mystical ability to achieve them. You
begin to develop that insatiable desire to do
whatever it takes, to develop whatever you need,
to achieve your goal. Occasionally, most people
have thought about changing or improving. Some
even go to the extent of buying a
self-improvement book, but few ever complete it.
Many people dream
of becoming, of succeeding, but very few will
ever realize their dreams because they never do
anything about it! "To have…you must become!"
might aptly describe the Number One reason that
the majority of people will never reap the
rewards - they never pay the price - they never
take their dreams and establish goals. If you
have a goal, something to strive for, you can
become whatever it takes to achieve the goal.
The value of goals
is evident in the world of sports. Can you
imagine a football game without a goal post?
Without goals many people play the game of life,
running up and down the field without ever
scoring. Most people spend more time planning
their two-week vacation than they do planning
the other 50 weeks of the year. Unfortunately,
it's the other 50 weeks that really count in
moving us toward our life-goals.
When goals are not
written and specific, when we have no plan, our
"defense" is our own self-image, self-doubt, and
procrastination. When your goals are clearly
defined, problems become "opportunities for
solutions," and determination becomes our
dominant characteristic. Our attitude becomes
positive and confident. Goals help us to
overcome obstacles to success.
In life, you cannot
always decide what will happen to you, but you
can always decide how you will react to what
happens. There are many reasons for success, but
only three for failure:
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We only fail
when we stop learning from our "setbacks."
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We fail when we
give up and stop trying.
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We fail when we
start "justifying" our failure by pointing
the finger of blame on some one or something
else.
Goal setting helps
you to concentrate on success, or how you can
achieve goals. It is entirely possible for you
to be busy and working hard instead of smart.
The secret of the really successful person is
that they work smarter, rather than harder. They
concentrate on the "end of the field," on the
touchdowns, rather than the first downs.
The only
determining factor in achieving the end result
you want is you! It's deciding what results you
want; making sure they're big enough, high
enough, and tough enough to stretch you, to
force you to grow to reach them. When we stop
growing and learning, we start failing.
In the final
analysis, the responsibility for improving
yourself and achieving all the things you want
from life lies on your shoulders. Start today by
examining who you are and who you want to be.
Set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic,
goals and goals with a Time limit (SMART goals)
in order to get you where you want to go.
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