|
A few of us “dreamers” can fantasize about the time when we are going to make millions of dollars, take strolls around our 10 bedroom homes, send our kids to Harvard and vacation in the Alps. The problem is not that we dream, but we have no idea on how to get to our final destination. The process of turning a dream into reality is by defining your goals and learning how to achieve them. Set Lofty but Attainable Goals Many people might be afraid that they are setting a goal too high. Let us say that you want to earn 100K this year. You are currently taking home around 50K a year. To double one’s income is a hefty goal and it is possible you might not make it. By the end of the year you poured over your records and found that you only made 85K. Should you be depressed because you didn’t achieve what you planned too? NO! You just made an additional 35K! Setting a big goal raises the value of the consolation prize (i.e. 35K). "The ability to set realistic goals and work toward their attainment contributes to successful learning (White, Hohn, and Tollefson, 1997)". In other words, set goals high but still with the possibility they could be attained. In the last example of earning 100K by the end of the year is difficult but attainable while 1 million dollars by the end of the week would not be. The key is to challenge yourself with something that will require all of your resources but not to discourage or trick yourself with something that simply is not going to happen. Make your goals attainable. Goal Attainment is About Self-Image The achievement of goals also depends on your self-image. If you feel that you are a competent professional/ business owner and believe in your abilities then you will set loftier goals and be more likely to stick with them. However, if you have low self-esteem and don’t believe in your abilities there is a higher likelihood you will give up before any real progress is made. Achieving your dreams is about believing in yourself and making it happen. Tenacity, consistency, persistence, faith and creativity are words that can be used to describe how people achieve their goals. Develop a Strategy The key to achieving goals is to design a feasible strategy to make it happen. Let us say that you want to make 100K this year publishing articles. To make this kind of money you have to develop a method to achieving your dreams. Thus the strategy may be to focus on the quality of articles, the amount of articles written and increasing the places where these articles are posted on the internet. Turn That Strategy Into Tasks Now that you have developed a strategy it is necessary to determine how you are going to fulfill this strategy. Each day the author plans on writing 4 articles, proof read each article twice before posting, spending an hour a day finding new places to post his/her articles too and will begin a reading program on the online publishing industry. The total amount of time to be spent on writing or associated type work will be 10 hours a day. At this point you are really doing a wonderful job. You have taken a dream, molded it into a goal, determined a strategy and know how you are actually going to achieve this strategy. Each day you set upon your work to achieve your long-term goals through the completion of individual tasks. To gauge how well you are doing you can set monthly, quarterly or yearly goals. These points in time are called “milestones” that indicate how much you should have accomplished at each point. Once you reach a milestone it is a good ideal to look at your overall strategy, measure your success and make changes as necessary. DREAM + GOALS + STRATEGY + MILESTONES + TASKS = SUCCESS Murad Ali, a two-time published author, writes articles and offers advertisement space for businesses. Visit http://www.thenewbusinessworld.blogspot.com
Related Articles -
Goals, dreams, business strategy, tasks, success.,
| 
