"If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things," Albert Einstein once said. Setting and achieving goals offers a thrilling and fulfilling experience that can help you stay on track to live the life you want for yourself. Once you decide upon your goals and record them, taking action steps will help you reach your goals and achieve your dreams.
Goal Setting
Before you can follow your dreams, it is important to map out your goals with measurable steps. Oakland University recommends performing a self-assessment to determine what your goals are. Take time to think about your priorities, dreams and desires for your life, and write them down. You can organize your ideas in a notebook, blog or journal and decide which goals are most important to you. Evaluate your current circumstances, and be realistic when setting your goals. Keep in mind that you can set longer deadlines for difficult goals.
Measuring Goals
Once you set your goals, create small steps that you can perform each day or each week to help you achieve your goals. Make your steps and your goal measurable so you can track your progress. Ask questions such as "How much? How many?" and "How will I know when I've achieved my goal?" to ensure you have a measurable plan of action. You can also set deadlines for your goals to keep you on track and motivated.
Action Steps
Action steps are tasks you perform that contribute to the accomplishment of your goal. Action steps can be big or small, ranging from making a phone call to running a marathon. To create action steps, look at your goal and think about what you need to do to reach it. Set a task of one small action you can do each day that will help you reach your goal. If you have large action steps, such as running a marathon while training for an ultra marathon, break up the large steps into smaller tasks, such as running 50 miles a week or 10 miles five days a week.
Follow Through
Completing your action steps is vital to fulfilling your goals. The action steps are often where goal accomplishing falls apart, states according to Oprah.com personal growth expert Mike Robbins, in the article "Is Your Attention on Your Intention? How to Create the Life Your Really Want." You can stay on track by recording and tracking your action steps, checking off each task you complete. If you fall off the bandwagon and miss some steps, do not get upset or blame yourself; instead, simply start back completing your action steps.
Tips for Success
Surround yourself with positive people, and strive to maintain a positive attitude as you work on accomplishing your goal. Create a system for keeping track of your action steps and goal, such as an online tracker, blog, journal or collage. You can also use social websites to set your goal and write out your action steps. Post a visual to keep you motivated for your goal, whether it's a picture of you at a smaller weight or a picture of the beach you are saving your money to visit on vacation.
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