Goal setting is an important tool for anybody who wants to improve themselves. However, goal achieving is often a neglected part of the personal development process. Plenty of people set goals (just look at New Years Eve), but few of these goals ever come to fruition. Why is that?

Why goals fail

Lets face it, were often full of enthusiasm when were dreaming about what we want to achieve, but gradually the feeling fades and were left back at the start dreaming.

Goals fail because not enough thought and effort goes into achieving them. Setting the goal is only part of the journey, you must put in a conscious and consistent effort into burning the goal into your mind.

Thankfully, theres plenty you can do to improve your chances of turning your dreams into reality.

Set excellent goals

Many factors go into creating an effective goal, and its something Ill be writing about in more depth in the future. Here are a few key points:

• Be specific - The more specific the goal, the better. Exercise more is not specific, but Exercise every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning before work for twenty minutes is much better. Doesnt that sound less like a dream and more like a plan?

• Set a date - As plenty of people have said, a goal without a deadline is just a dream. Giving yourself a reasonable deadline can help stop the Ill start it tomorrow syndrome that can creep up on you. A deadline promotes action, and helps you prioritise your tasks. Would your boss ever give you a big project to be completed whenever? Didnt think so.

• Commit to paper - It sounds simple, but its a step some people can miss. Write your goals down. This not acts as a form of commitment, but it stops you from forgetting them too!

Plan how youll achieve them

Once youve got your goals, you need to plan how youll achieve them. This process is really down to personal preference, but a good start is to write down the first concrete action you can take toward achieving your goal. If you like to think further ahead, you can write down the next three steps, or a more detailed plan for anything complex. Its really a case of finding out what works best for you. Dont be afraid to experiment with different methods until you find something that works.

Mind-mapping can be a great help at the planning stage, and its often beneficial to write down as many ideas as you can at this stage. Always go for quantity, and never throw out an idea when youre mind mapping. The important part is to create a safe environment for your creativity, so you dont want to stifle it by throwing out ideas at an early stage. Some ideas that sound bad may even turn out to be useful once youve had time to think about them. Once youve got all your ideas, you can start to review them and put them into a coherent plan.

As an example, if I had a goal of increasing traffic to my blog Id want to get as many ideas as possible, and then create an easy to follow plan in small steps that I could complete every day. This might include posting on certain days, contributing to relevant forums on a daily basis etc.

If youre stuck at this part, dont worry. Solutions have a habit of appearing when youre least expecting them, so as long as youre constantly reviewing your goal (as covered in the next section), youll do fine. Just make sure you have some paper handy for when the answer arrives!

Review your goals regularly!

Once your goals are committed to paper and planned out, you need to make sure you review them on a regular basis. Reading and re-writing your goals helps to galvanise them, and creates the drive and momentum that will push you to achieving them. Read your goals every morning and every night, and review them every week.

Do what works for you. Write your goals on an index card and carry them around, record them to a tape and play it whilst driving to work, write them on a huge poster and stick it to the ceiling above your bed! The important thing is to really hammer them into your brain. Goals that get forgotten dont get achieved, so make sure youre regularly topping yourself up.

Dont be afraid to tweak things if theyre not going as well as youd like. Modify plans as regularly as you need to, because even if things are going well, you will almost certainly learn new things that will help you achieve your goals even faster.

Summary

To summarise if you want to achieve your goals, use the following methods:

• Set Excellent Goals - Write down your goals, and make them as specific as possible. Give yourself a deadline to help you prioritise your actions.

• Plan how youll achieve them - Once youve written your goals down, make a plan as to how youll achieve them.

• Review your goals regularly - Review your goals and plans as regularly as required. Burn them into your subconscious!