The Small Steps Needed To Reach Your Goals

You have to know as specifically as possible what it is that you want to achieve. You also have to believe that you can achieve your goal as well.

To reinforce your goals you should write them out, as detailed as possible, step-by-step. Keep your written goals close to you and take action everyday. Monitor your progress periodically and celebrate your successes, no matter how small.

Writing clarifies thought and helps break the whole into parts. Writing also helps bridge and integrates the conscious and subconscious minds. This is why so many instructors insist you write something down, possibly many times. It is the same reason many of us had to write something so many times on the chalkboard growing up. Once you have written, “I won’t hit anyone,” a hundred times on the chalkboard, you get the point.

Of course, you cannot have any goal in mind without knowing what end you desire. When I started this book, I knew I wanted to publish it. If I had gone into it without thinking of publishing it, it would not have got finished. You have to know as specifically as possible what it is that you want to achieve. You also have to believe that you can achieve your goal as well. For example, I may want to be on the best sellers list, but that is not really a goal as much as it is a wish. I have to publish a book to have any chance of that occurring. My primary goal would be to write a book first, then get it published second.

Making and keeping small commitments to ourselves help us to establish an inner integrity that gives us the awareness of self-control. It also enhances our courage and strength to accept more of the responsibility for our own lives. One of my commitments was to write at least an hour each day while writing or researching for this book.

It does not have to take a lot of time each day to act on your goal. In just a half hour each day, you will find yourself progressing a lot faster than you think. Considering that most of Americans spend far more time watching television, a half-an-hour is not much time. In fact, many people could do this during lunch, or before work. It is a small price to pay to chase your dreams. Dreams only become reality through action.