4 Secrets to Achieving Big Personal Goals

Did you know that less than 3% of the world’s population regularly sets personal goals? Earl Nightingale, of the true pioneers of the human potential movement, would refer to most people as “ships without rudders, subject to every shift of wind and tide” because they never set personal goals for themselves. Although just about every one you meet would LIKE to drift into a rich and successful port, the chances of actually finding their way there are about a thousand to one. The three percent, though, who take the time to chart their course and set personal goals manage to accomplish more for themselves in just a few years than most people accomplish in a lifetime. Here are 4 primary keys to setting and achieving goals: 1. It’s important to first focus on setting very specific personal goals. Unless you can say in one sentence exactly what it is you desire, you probably haven’t clearly defined your goal. Saying you want “happiness” or “better relationships” or “more money” is not a goal – that’s a general condition just about everyone out there wants. You want to get very specific on exactly what the achievement of this personal goal looks like. 2. If you set too many goals, you won’t arrive anywhere. Remember, a ship can only sail to one port at a time. It’s all well and good to keep a running list of your personal goals and desires, but it’s important that you choose ONE that you want more than all the others. It might, in fact, be the foundational piece to achieving other personal goals on your list. 3. Then, it’s not just about personal goal setting – it’s about consciously and actively working toward the goal achievement. Sometimes, people have very loft visions of what they’d like to have or do or accomplish in their lives, but they have no idea how to achieve those dreams. Sadly, most will stop before they even begin to try. It’s important to recognize this one thing: Any goal ever realized in the history of mankind did NOT come with a blueprint! Every goal ever accomplished began with just one step. And one step after that. And another step after that. You don’t have to know all the steps – just take the steps you know to be most apparent, and the path will continue to unfold before you. 4. Lastly, you’ll have more success achieving your personal goal when you introduce accountability and daily tools into your goal-achieving course. Earl Nightingale is well known for keeping a daily list of just 6 priorities in his pocket, each priority related to his primary personal goal. He would start at #1, and would not move forward until #1 was completed. Each evening, he wrote a new list, sometimes moving items from that day’s list to the next day’s list. The point, however, is that he stayed on course and true to his goal every single day. There are many goal achieving tools on today’s market to help you stay on course and plot your action steps as you go. One such tool, The Success Diary – is actually built on the Nightingale premise, and offers both a yearly dated journal and an undated journal with “five goal oriented actions” to write in for your daily activities. Additionally, the hardbound journal offers affirmations, encouraging tips and advice, and “month in review” pages to assess your progress. Whatever you personal goal may be, a daily “tracker” of this nature will keep you more focused and committed to the end result. You’ll find, too, that as you continue to take steps toward the goal that events and circumstances will begin to support you in your effort – you might find that goal becoming reality much faster than you first thought!