Now that we have set our dreams and goals, we can move on to getting them going. It's actually easy to set goals, but the challenging part is making them happen. This is the where a person either triumphs or fails.
Like with winning the lottery, some of us wait and hope that we can achieve our goals without doing anything, and because of that, we get no closer to our dreams. It doesn't work that way! We have heard of people who soar from one project to another, in the process achieving their goals and living the life they want. And we ask ourselves, "How do they do it?"
These, I believe, are what we can learn from their secrets:
HAVE A CLEAR PURPOSE
It's simply not enough to say that you want to be happy. For a dream to become a goal, it must always, always be specific. You have to write down exactly what you want out of life. While it's fun to daydream about becoming wealthy, it takes courage and hard choices to decide exactly how much money you want and how you are going to get it.
BE TOTALLY COMMITTED
Actor Harrison Ford started in show business playing bit roles in different movies. At one point, a director told him he would never become a star. But the determined Holywood wannabe was stubborn enough to persevere. Right now, he's one of Holywood's highest paid stars. Once your goal is clear, emotionally commit to achieving it. Never, never look back.
REITERATE YOUR GOALS
Review your goals daily, if possible. Once you've defined each goal and committed yourself to accomplishing it, start talking about it! Recite it, post a written statement on the mirror, review it at the end of the day. Talking about your goals makes them emotionally real and powerful. When others see you are vocal about your goals, they can also help you attain it.
WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS
This is the key rule in setting goals. Get a journal, put down your goals on the very first pages, and set them according to importance. The more you write down your goals, the more you will see how motivated you are about achieving them. Journals might seem old-fashioned these days, but let's face it, they help a lot. There's simply no other alternative if you want to be conscious and aware of what you want.
RECORD YOUR ACHIEVEMENT
Whenever you fulfill a goal, go write it down in your journal. This is a form of self-empowerment - you have a visible reminder, a catalyst, that can motivate you to achieve more. Think of your journal entries as medals that you can hang on to. Think of them as ways to make you feel prouder of yourself. Helen Keller, despite being deaf and blind, regularly wrote her achievements in her journal. She eventually became one of the world's best examples of people who attained their goals despite the overwhelming odds.
CREATE A WELL-DEFINED PLAN
Architects don't create buildings simply by standing before a vacant lot and telling the workers to put some cement here and some steel rods there. They work according to a blueprint they created. In the same manner, you need a specific blueprint to turn your goals into reality. Set dates, devise techniques, formulate habits, and prioritize steps.
WORK ON YOUR GOAL STEP BY STEP, DAY BY DAY
Question: how do you eat an elephant? Answer: one bite at a time. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," the philosopher Lao-Tzu wrote. Goals are achieved not in an instant but by devoting a few minutes of your time and some your energy every day. If you want to write a book, devote a chapter of a page a day. If you want to be the next Tiger Woods, then practice every weekend. If you want to become the happiest person on earth, then smile at everybody you meet every single day!
REVIEW AND EVALUATE
Every now and then, find some quiet time to evaluate the achievements and accomplishments you may have made. See how far you are progressing. Never be afraid to review your goals. Evaluate whether you are still 100% committed to them and re-commit to accomplishing them. This part of what corporate and personal development expert Stephen R. Covey, in his runaway bestseller The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, calls "sharpening the saw."
Have you heard of Billy Crawford? A mere seven to eight years ago, he was a simple Filipino youngster, of the minor faces in a smorgasboard teen show on Philippine television. But Billy dreamed big - really big! With his Filipino-American looks and cool voice, the young man set out on conquering the international music scene. He wrote his goal, packed his bags and left the Philippines to go for it.
He went through a disappointing runaround in the U.S. West Coast, but his talent was later noticed by a producer who bravely ventured to establish him in the music business. Billy Crawford is now one of the hottest young artists in the industry. "I still can't believe all that I've reached right now," the twenty-something guy told reporters during his recent visit to Manila.
Dream big - and write it down. The path to happiness and achievement is paved not just with good intentions but also with goals - workable, specific and well thought out.