How To Set and Achieve Goals

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By Charles Alvarez , Contributor, the Price of Business Show. *
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There is a powerful seven-step process that you can use to set and achieve any goal you can imagine for yourself. As Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, wrote, “What- ever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

Step One. Decide exactly what you want in each area of your life and then write it down in clear, specific language. Writing your goals on paper moves you into the top 3 percent of living adults.

Step Two. Set a deadline on your goal; if necessary, set sub- deadlines so that you can always measure how well you are doing and how fast you are moving toward what is most important to you.

Step Three. Identify all the problems and obstacles that stand between you and your goal. Select the biggest obstacle or road- block and make a plan to deal with it or remove it as soon as possible.

Step Four. Identify the people, groups, and organizations whose help or cooperation you will require to achieve your goal. Determine what they might accomplish by helping you. Anyone who wants to achieve large goals must have the help and support of many other people. Who are they?

Step Five. Identify the additional knowledge and skills that you will need to achieve your goal. Remember, as Les Brown, author of Live Your Dreams, says, “To achieve something you have never achieved before, you must become someone you have never been before.” Select the one skill that can help you the most in the achievement of your biggest goal, and make a plan to acquire that skill as soon as possible.

Step Six. Take the answers to the first five steps and organize them into a plan of action. Make a list of every step that you will have to take to achieve your goal. Organize the list by priority and sequence. Organize parallel activities and sequential activities. Put time lines on each part of your plan. Commit the entire plan to writing and review it regularly.

Step Seven. Take action on your plan immediately. Do some- thing every day that moves you in the direction of your most important goal. Never miss a day. As Robert Schuller said, “By the yard, it’s hard; but inch by inch, anything’s a cinch.”

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