Setting Your Goals for 2009

"We are what and where we are because we have first imagined it."
- Donald Curtis

We start the new year with grand promises to ourselves. We
list new things that will make our life great when they will
be done. As the year approaches to the end, we realize we got
a lot done, we kept certainly busy, but somehow what did got
done was not on our list, and what was on our list didn't get
done. Sounds familiar? Where did we go wrong? How can we do
it successfully this time?

Set the Right Goals

Make sure the goal you are working for is something you really
want, not just something that sounds good. Maybe you set a
goal to get a certain job, but deep down you just don't care
that much about that job. It's hard, but you need to dump these
type of goals.

You know you set the right goal when it seems impossible, but
at the same time you are as excited thinking about the possibility
of achieving it, as a child asking for a piece of candy. Good
goals stir you emotionally. They even scare you. They challenge
you to push beyond your limits.

Prioritize

You don't need a lot of big goals simultaneously. Fewer is
better. If you want to succeed in achieving your goals, pick
just two or three at a time, and stick with them until they're
complete. Try limiting yourself to one major personal goal and
one major professional goal at a time.

These main goals should be something that, if you were to
accomplish them this year, would make you feel the year was
well spent.

Focus

There can be no compromise between reaching your goal and not
reaching your goal. You either reach it or you don't. What's
more, usually the two roads that lead to achieving your goals,
and to "not" achieving your goals, travel in opposite directions.
If you want to achieve your goals, you must refuse to accept any
circumstance that leads to "not" achieving them. So get used
to saying NO - a lot.

Chunk it Down

When you have a big goal, it might happen to feel stressed and
overwhelmed. This encourages you to procrastinate. The feelings
of stress transforms in positive focus when you are working.
It feels bad only when you are not working.

To achieve a big goal, chunk it down into smaller pieces or
projects. Then get to work on the first piece. When you've
completed all the tasks in the first piece, break off another piece.

No Alibis

It's so easy to make excuses for not working on a big goal.
I don't have the clarity I'd like. I am not as motivated
as I should be. I don't have the perfect tools. But alibis
cannot be used for goals. As Napoleon Hill puts it: "The world
wants to know only one thing - have you achieved success?"

All of those excuses will go away if you just say "screw it"
and get to work anyway. Start off by tackling some small
piece of your goal, and you'll be too busy to hear the excuses.
In about 15 minutes you'll feel relaxed and productive. And
you'll also feel great for making progress toward your goal.
Start with whatever you have at hand, and better tools will
be found along the way.