One of the few limits on how much you can achieve is how much time you have. Because everyone has exactly 24 hours a day, high achievers typically have strong time management skills. Time management skills are closely related to goal-setting skills, and can be learned with a reasonable degree of effort.
Making Wishes
The prerequisite to setting a good goal is making a good wish. Spend some time soul-searching to dig what you really want out of your heart. Goals set for you by the expectations of others seldom have the power of goals that you have made your won. California State Polytechnic University recommends visualizing the achievement of your goals with great clarity and intensity. The more clear and intense your vision is, the more powerful of a motivator it will be, and the faster you will work to achieve it.
Screening Goals for Realism
Once you have created a wish list, you must undergo the painful process of filtering out unrealistic wishes. Eliminate any wish that is unethical or impossible. Remember, however, that just because a goal is difficult doesn't mean it's impossible. One way to avoid eliminating a desire is to define it in terms of something that is within your control. Instead of trying to win the Boston Marathon, for example, determine to run a marathon within a certain time by a certain date.
Strategic Planning
Specifics is the main difference between a wish and a goal. Categorize your wishes into short-term, medium-term and long-term. Decide exactly how you will proceed from where you are now to where you want to be. Your wishes defined the "why"--now determine the how, what, who and where. Decide what you will have to learn to achieve your goals, and how you will obtain this information. Make schedules and set deadlines. Once you have done this, you will have turned your wishes into goals.
Setting Priorities
Prioritizing is one of the most important time management tools in the goal-setting process. Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of "The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save Time in Our 24/7 World," recommends noting your most important priorities every day, but leaving room for them to change in response to circumstances. Stephen Covey, best-selling author of "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," advises making a distinction between what is important and what is urgent, and doing your best to spend most of your time on important matters to lessen the occurrence of urgent matters. Studying every day, for example, will eliminate the need to cram for an exam the night before.
Focusing
Eliminating distractions while working on your goals will help you achieve them in far less time, asserts Hohlbaum. Avoid multitasking if circumstances allow--focus on one project at a time, and complete as much as you can before you move onto something else. Make a practice of politely refusing requests and invitations that distract you or waste your time.
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