Summary: (http://www.littlethingsmatter.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/06/iStock_000016570201XSmall1.jpg)How would you like to increase the odds of achieving your goals? Whether you desire to lose weight, create financial independence, build a healthy marriage, or raise responsible children, the formula for achieving any goal is the same. Here are 10 tips in sequential order that will help you increase the odds of achieving your goals: (Each link is one of my related lessons.) 1. Identify what’s important to you! (http://www.littlethingsmatter.com/blog/2010/01/12/was-napoleon-hill-wrong/) The only goals you will succeed in reaching are those that are truly important to you. If a goal is not meaningful or significant to you, you will quit when faced with obstacles. Take 30 minutes and make a list of the things that are truly essential in your life; those that you highly value. Then highlight the most important points on that list and set your goals. 2. Learn from those who have already achieved “your” goals. Once you are clear on what you truly want to achieve, your next step is to learn what you need to know. The best source of knowledge will come from those who have already reached goals similar to yours. Identify people you respect and admire, who have achieved the goals you desire, and learn as much as you can from them. 3. Determine the person you need to become. (http://www.littlethingsmatter.com/blog/2010/02/17/who-do-i-have-to-become-to-get-what-i-want/) Far too often people focus on what they need to do to achieve their goals and fail to consider who they must become. To accomplish something you have never accomplished before, you must be willing to do what you’ve never done before; go where you’ve never been before; become someone you’ve never been before. As you learn from those who have achieved “your” goals, pay as much attention to their personal attributes and characteristics as you do to what they did to realize their goals. 4. Put together a plan. (http://www.littlethingsmatter.com/blog/2010/02/15/how-to-put-together-an-action-plan/) After learning from and studying those who have been successful in reaching similar goals, your next step is to put together your plan. You need to clearly outline what you need to do and when, step-by-step, and then reduce those steps into daily activities. Knowing exactly what you need to do every day is critical to achieving any worthwhile goal. 5. Ask, “Am I willing to pay the price required to achieve my goal? (http://www.littlethingsmatter.com/blog/2010/04/29/the-uncomfortable-path-to-success/) After you complete your plan, be honest with yourself and determine if your goal is important enough to you that you will discipline yourself to do what’s required each day to achieve your goal. One of the biggest reasons people fail to reach their goals is because they are not willing to do what’s required over a sustained period of time. How about you. 6. Allocate the time required. (http://www.littlethingsmatter.com/blog/2010/02/02/my-top-time-management-tip/) Your next step is to block out the time necessary each day to work your plan. If you are like most people (and that includes me), you will need to give something up that’s less important so you have the time to achieve what’s more important. Blocking out time each day to work your plan is vital. Success comes from consistent daily action! 7. Get started. (http://www.littlethingsmatter.com/blog/2010/06/25/the-power-of-personal-initiative/) Once you have learned what you need to know, divided your plan into daily activities, and blocked out time each day to do the assigned tasks, it’s time to Work Your Plan. Start tomorrow! When the time you’ve blocked out arrives, push yourself to do what you know you should do without any further delay. It’s time for action. You could continue to study dozens of books, listen to CDs, and interview successful people (all helpful), but the greatest,
