Traditional goal setting does not work as effectively as most ‘experts’ would have you believe.
This is because there is one factor, one key, a missing link, which, without it, you’d simply have no motivation to go about doing the things you are supposed to do to bring about the achievement of your goal.
And that is the big picture. What do I mean by the big picture?
The big picture is like a vision. It’s an obsession. A passion. A dream. A big, grand, bold dream that you have for your life.
In other words, it is a purpose. A life purpose.
I know these may all sound like big words to you, but the point here is for you to have an ultimate purpose for all your goals in life. What most people have are goals for material objects or for career advancements or monetary gains.
Most people, and I didn’t say all, merely stop at these ‘bite-sized pieces’, these small goals when it comes to goal setting. They don’t continue on to think about why they set these goals and for what even bigger purpose do they set these goals.
Ask yourselves – why do I want this new Mercedes? Why do I want this big mansion? Why do I want to earn an extra $100,000 a year? Why do I want to have so and so person as my spouse? Why?
Keep asking why. And again, most people would realise that it comes down to a feeling or sense of fulfilment, happiness, of being loved, of being secure and safe, or of being free. Some people would just say, “I just want these things”.
Well, all that may sound good and fine but do you truly think that once you get that Mercedes or that big mansion or the extra $100,000 a year or that person as your spouse, you’d be truly happy, fulfilled, free, secure and alive?
Try and look back at one past goal which you have achieved. Take a look at one milestone which you’ve already gone through. Do you find yourself something saying something like, “And now what”?
Most of us do. That’s because we don’t have that biggest, ultimate, most grand purpose for our lives. The reason why we are born. Some people call it destiny, or phrase it as “God’s place for you in the world”. Whatever it is, don’t think of it as something beyond your power.
This thing called purpose or the big picture is a thing that is both within your power to choose and also outside your power to choose. It is the sum total of all your life choices from the day you were born up to this very day.
The proof that it is within your power to choose is the fact that you’d been making all the choices and decisions in your life all this while, asking for this and that, regardless of whether or not you get what you asked for, to build up an image, a vision or The Big Picture of your life, which is your ultimate life purpose – that reason you were born and the thing that you must fulfill in your life before you die.
Whereas the proof that it is also beyond your power to choose is the fact that you already have made all those choices before in your past and there is little or nothing you can do to alter those choices you’ve made in the past. There are some decisions we made which we can undo, but not without a significant amount of trouble, and there are many decisions we simply cannot undo.
This is the irony of human life and why it is beautiful to be human.
But if you are sitting right there where you are, reading this post, you still have hope. You do still have a chance. Create for yourself a grand vision of your life – why you are here on this earth. Conceive big, bold dreams.
Imagine you are a historian or a scholar studying the history of your life. What would you like to be remembered for? What would you like to be famous for? What would you like to be associated with whenever your name is mentioned?
Write an essay about yourself, as if you were a historian in the future, looking back into your life. Include all the glorious things you have achieved, and even the flaws, the mistakes and huge failures you’ve made. But also include how you’ve transcended these flaws, mistakes and failures. Write about the difference you’ve made to the world, no matter how small (or big) it is.
Have you left behind a wonderful family? Have you left behind a legacy? Have you left behind a successful business? Or simply a happy memory in the mind of a person you’ve helped in a small or big way?
Now, after you’ve done this exercise, you may proceed with your traditional goal setting methods. Create sub-goals out of this big goal of your life. Create the secondary goals to this primary goal. Set the milestone goals that would define your ultimate life purpose.
What this does to you is create a certain insurance or feeling of security, because, although you may fail to achieve your small goals (no matter how bold they seem to be), you’re still on track because you have not lost sight of your ultimate life goal.

It’s another long day, but much is not happening. Your mind drifts and you think about sunny beaches, and the cool breeze. Though this feels great this idea unfortunately will very likely never happen.
Ask a lot of people what they want and you will often hear materialistic desires of ‘I want a yacht’, ‘I want my dream home’, etc. Though many people never get these things, why? All through life we often hear we have potential, but for many that potential is never seen.
Potential means exactly that, potential. Like there is some big power there, but it is in resting state. Kind of like a person sleeping or even a car just sitting there. The needed part is breaking out and utilizing that machinery. Whether a human or a vehicle, you must simply get up and go!
Goal setting comes to our attention, and for those that really don’t understand they would tend to think we are talking about New Year resolutions! No, not that time of year! Goal setting is about consciously deciding what you want. And daydreaming simply does not cut the mustard.
So, what is the difference between daydreaming and vision creating? And how does all of this mix in with goal setting, to the end of getting a result you want? These questions are important ones, and it is great to understand them. After all, clarity is power.
Setting goals is one of the first steps to goal achievement. Achieving a goal needs you to know what you want. One method of peering into that is via a vision. A vision can help focus your mind, and is very real.
There is a place, a space that when you create your vision, you are actually putting that vision to a place to be created. In essence, placing an order so to speak, to God, higher power, the ineffable. We have looked at a daydream. A daydream is simply escaping our conscious reality. Unfortunately day dreaming is not creating anything.
A vision is when you base your desire on reality, and design life as you want it to be. Daydreaming is not really conscious, you can’t really say daydream, and you start daydreaming! However, a vision can be made in such a way.
You can look at the things you want in life, and in your mind, create a vision, which is very real. A vision is an order to the universe. You then move forward with that vision, and soon find at some point, that you are living that vision.
Vision creation and goal setting can go hand in hand. Many people will overlook this important point. In fact many goal setting programs, books, etc, totally forget or don’t know about this important process.
Creating your vision can be much better than affirmations, and also can help you think about if you truly want that thing. Doing your vision creation often and taking action is the only way to materialize your desires.

Are you ready to live a highly successful life, achieve all of your goals, and enjoy the success you know deep down that you really deserve? If your answer is yes then before you go any further you must answer the following searching question.
Just what is your purpose in life? If you dont have a ready answer, dont be too surprised. Even the greatest of the philosophers who have ever lived succeeded only in making this question more profound. Why? Because the answer lies not in simply knowing what is your purpose in life but lies in discovering what is your goal in life. The last one is only possible if you have already gone through the process of goal setting.
Soul searching is actually personal goal setting in its infancy. The only problem is that for many people that infant never grows up into maturity. The person involved in soul searching might dismiss this process as nothing but being sentimental. Without realizing it, the person has just killed the infant, or his chance to flesh out the course of his purpose driven life.
But luckily, soul searching is a recurring process. So the next time you have been given the honor of another visit, be mindful.
Personal goal setting is a powerful tool for setting a course for a meaningful and fulfilling life. The process of personal goal setting in itself is powerful enough so that if you are going through with the process you might think that your lifes meaning or purpose had been found. But it is not. The euphoria is only a result of your self finally realizing that you are on the right track.
For some, the process itself is motivating. Once you have found a way of making this a habit, you will soon realize that achieving your goals that look like impenetrable walls in the past is nothing but a purpose that needs a set of personal goals as the key.
Personal goal setting: what should be set?
Since there is more to life than the four letters that it represents, personal goal setting involves a review of all the aspects of your life, and all of these should have a corresponding goal. But before going to the process of setting up goals, you must have one general goal that encompasses all the other goals. In fact the other and smaller goals should work in the service of this large goal of yours.
1 Career. What aspect of your career do you think needs an improvement? Or perhaps, ask yourself, is it time for a new career?
2 Outlook or attitude. Is there a part of you, particularly on how you perceive things, that needs to be changed?
3 Financial. Do you have a clear projection as to how much you should be earning in a particular moment in your life? This aspect is closely related with career, so better review and come out with a goal with these two side by side.
4 Potential development. Perhaps some of your talents and skills need an improvement, or are maybe already clamoring for an improvement. Life, after all, is discovering your potential and developing it in the process.
5 Academic. Perhaps you are no longer getting any mental stimulation lately. Maybe your education related goals have expired many years ago. Perhaps it is time to go back to school for another degree, or engage in some thought provoking activities.
6 Family. What is your idea of a family? Getting married, having and raising kids? When? How?
7 Social involvement. Perhaps you want to help achieve something that would make the world a better place? Perhaps you are into animal protection, environmental concerns, and human rights issues?
These are just some aspects that generally come to mind when it comes to personal matters. If you feel or think that this list is not enough, or does not fit well with you, you may add or change it. Remember, personal goal setting is what its name is, a personal task. It is all up to you to device it and make it happen.
This article has just scratched the surface as far as goal setting is concerned. There is a lot more information out there in such places as the local library, the local bookstore, and also there are a number of very helpful Blogs on this subject.

The basics of setting a goal is an open secret known by top-caliber athletes, successful businessmen and businesswomen and all types of achievers in all the different fields. The basics of setting goals give you short-term and long-term motivation and focus. They help you set focus on the acquisition of required knowledge and help you to plan and organize your resources and your time so that you can get the best out of your life.
Setting clearly defined short term and long term goals will enable you to measure your progress and achieve personal satisfaction once you have successfully met your goals. Charting your progress will also enable you to actually see the stages of completion leading to the actual realization of your goals. This eliminates the feeling of a long and pointless grind towards achieving your goal. Your self-confidence and level of competence will also improve as you will be more aware of your capabilities as you complete or achieve your goals.
The basics of goal settings will involve deciding what you really want to do with your personal life and what short term and long term goals you need to achieve it. Then you have to break down goals into the smaller and manageable targets that you must complete in your way to achieving your lifetime targets. Once you have your list waste no time in tackling your goals.
A good way to have a manageable list is to have a daily and weekly set of goals. By doing this you will be always in the position of going towards you life plan goals. Everyday will give you the opportunity to fulfill a certain goal giving you the feeling of accomplishment.
Here are some pointers that should be taken into consideration in setting goals and achieving them.
Attitude plays a very big role in setting and achieving your goals. You must ask yourself if any part of you or your mind is holding you back towards completing your simplest goals? Is there any part of your behavior that is being a hindrance or puts your plans into disarray? If you do have problems in these areas then the immediate thing to do is to address this problem. Solutions may include a visit to a doctor or psychiatrist to control your emotions.
Careers are made by good time management practice. Failing in a career is often attributed to bad time management. Careers require a lot from an individual which often makes the career the life of the individual. Plan how far you want to go into your career.
Education is key in achieving your goals. If your goals require you to have a certain kind of degree or require a certain specialization or demand a certain skill to be developed, make plans in getting the appropriate education.
Your family should never be left out of your plans. If you are just starting out then you have to decide if you want to be a parent or when you want to be a parent. You also have to know if you really would be a good parent and how well would you relate to extended family members
Personal financial situations also play a major role in achieving your goals. Have a realistic goal on how much you really want to earn. You also must be able to create plans or stages by which you will be able to reach your earnings potential.
Physically gifted individuals may be able to achieve sports related goals like being in the National Basketball association or National Football League. Determining your physical capabilities should be one of your priorities. Physical limitations could however be conquered with proper planning.
As the saying goes -’All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’, or something to that effect, is by all means true down to the last the letter. Giving yourself a little pleasure should be included into your plans.
To start achieving your lifetime goals, set a quarter of a century plan, then break it down to 5 year plans then break it down again to 1 year plans, then 6 month plans then monthly plans, then weekly, then daily. Then create a things-to-do list for the day.
Always review your plans and prepare for contingencies.
The basics of goal settings should not be so difficult once you get to be familiar with them.

It seems like every personal development coach has something to say about goal setting. It seems as though every seminar you attend, some goal setting seems to be sprinkled in to the day. So, why is goal setting so important, and why does it work?
We start life with high hopes. We all do. However, at the end, only a handful will look upon there lives with contentment. So few realize an amazing life, because of feelings of being limited. These feelings of being limited are a big concern.
If we look at life, we see that out of 100 people interviewed at a 25, all with high hopes, only 5 will be financially independent. And this does not just apply to money, as these 5 people generally live the life they want. So many don’t however.
There is another interesting correlation, and I think they are linked. Only 4-7 people out of 100 set goals. And it is amazing to see, because if you ask those 5 people in the 100, they do one thing in common and that is set goals.
If we consider that 7 people will set goals, and only 5 achieve then that says to us that the other 2 who failed, even though they set goals, is because of setting a goal they are not passionate about achieving. The truth is that goal setting does work, and has worked for all people since the beginning of time.
If you consider for a moment life as a goal setter, and life as a drifting purposeless endeavor, you can see that without a goal how will we get anywhere? Goal setting works because it causes us to focus on what we want. It is like watching television. While watching television, you can get so absorbed into the TV, that the actual TV set disappears!
That focus in our goals gives us a direction. It focuses our minds, and we can look at how we can make those goals reality. And this process can be simple, smart or full of so many components that it is hard to move forward.
By far the biggest achievers are goal setters. They think about what they want, and then move forward to make those goals reality. It is simplicity in itself, and here is how it works. We are goal orientated beings. We feel hungry, and we go and get food. We feel like going on vacation, and take steps to get there.
Goal setting can be viewed in such light, and can really transform your life. If you let it. So what is one goal that you really want to achieve? Go do it, and then tell me about it.

You have heard everyone in the personal development world, tell you the importance of goal setting, but is goal setting that important? Why should you hold to the belief of the importance of goal setting, and actually set goals?
Let’s face it, the majority of people in the main, are negative. We hear all of what is not possible, we hear that there is no hope, and friends and family often do not help with giving us a positive mental attitude.
Why is your mental attitude got to do with the importance of goal setting? If we listen to those that offer the negative advice of what is not possible, then we simply end up living life like the majority, and that is mediocrity. Lack and limitation exist for a population that simply fringes on the possibilities. Often they will term riches and wealth as good luck.
The importance of goal setting now comes into effect for the person who sees a glimmer of hope. You take a look, and see the possibilities, like a ray of light, you see through the darkness, and come to know something new – that you have been lied to.
Whether with no money, no relationships, bad health, you can transform to have wealth, great loving relationships, and health prosperity. All this becomes possible with goal setting. The importance of goal setting now becomes known.
The few who achieve set goals. Though all set goals to some degree, the winners in life have decided on a goal, rather than let life throw them about how it sees fit. Friends, family and society though with good intentions have not seen the truth.
To achieve anything worthy, you need to know what it is. Daydreamers lurk in many office buildings, dreaming of being in a Yacht, going on a cruise, even some more adventurous possibilities, such as sky diving, etc.
The few who achieve know a few things. When you learn these, you will also get great results. The first is to dream, but keep that dream based in reality. There is no point thinking of being like Superman as that is daydreaming. Also the Yacht may not be what you really want. What do you really want, and more importantly why do you want it.
The importance of goal setting becomes more known now. The true successful, once setting goals do what the majority wont. The majority will daydream, but never take action. They will do what we call escapism. The daydreaming is a fantasy to let the time pass, but the importance of goal setting, is to take action on what you desire.
The importance of goal setting must also be put into perspective, before closing this article. The process of consciously goal setting is not the be all and end all of success. It is only a guidance system. Like having the sand, cement and water, next you have to mix it.
Once you have your cement, it is time to do the work. You must now act, you must create the building, there is no point sitting and saying I have the ingredients. The sweating and the action is what will bring your goal to reality. To get to the park, you have to walk there.

From buying your dream home, to buying a private jet, right up to becoming an astronaut, goal setting makes it possible. No one has ever achieved any notable achievement before first doing some kind of goal setting method. In this article, we will take a look at the most simplest goal setting method that works, and can take you forward to your goals!
You first will need these items. Make sure you get them before continuing. It may be an idea to bookmark this, Digg this, blog this or even print it up for later use. Here are the items you will need to do goal setting:
* A pen
* Paper
* You
* Your mind and a goal
We will look at these in a kind of reverse order, as that is how it goes with goal setting, and goal achievement. You need to first have an idea, before you can write it down. Let us get started.
* Step 1 – Your Goal
To begin goal setting, you will need to do some thinking. What is a goal that you would like to achieve? What do you really want? Think about it, what is one desire you would really like to achieve? Preferably this goal is something you have never achieved before.
* Step 2 – You!
Remember that it is you who is the vehicle. A goal can not be achieved by you, without you! If you want a house, someone maybe able to build it for you, but it is through you giving your go-ahead.
Consider what you want, and what kind of things will be required for its achievement. Buying a dream home can be as simple as phoning a real estate agent or even going to visit to see property.
If your goal is a career goal, then you may have to get more education. All of these thoughts will need research. You may need to find out what kind of courses you need to embark on. You will also need to consider if you need any existing qualifications and skills before getting onto that course of education – if your goal needs some education.
* Step 3 – The Fun Begins
Now with your pen and paper, you need to write down your goal. Then you need to consider what you need to do, to get there. Often goals will have a lot of question marks, but as you go through step 4, you will achieve success, and find more answers.
* Step 4 – The Journey To Achievement
A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step! Without action goals can’t be achieved. So take action. Step 1 to 3 may have taken you 5 minutes, it may have taken a month, but step 4 is the journey, and can take long. Step into persistence, and you will succeed.
* Step 5 – The Seed Of Achievement
Step 4 is laying the seeds. Step 5 is the harvest. Your goal has been attained! Congratulations. Now it is time to look for bigger and better things to set goals on. Remember to get here requires time. And remember sooner you act, and persist, the quicker you will get here.

Today, I listened to a story about a talented student trying to choose among several different job offers. Each hiring organization offered the chance to become wealthy in 20 years but required that many years of 80-hour weeks to gain the money: The student faced four different ways to be a highly paid drone who would rarely be at home before 9 p.m. or enjoy a family life. Yuck!
Just a few hours later, I was reminded that substantial career advancement doesn’t have to be so difficult while reading career-planning notes that a former student of mine, Dr. T.A. Makoni, had sent me. His early career resembled the student in the story: Huge efforts promised big rewards down the road, but not much current advantage.
That career path became rockier after he failed a course during the third year of veterinary school. Because of the school’s rules, Dr. Makoni faced having to redo all of his courses for that year even though he passed the other courses.
He decided to step back and re-evaluate his commitment to a veterinary career, and he chose instead to become a dentist. This was certainly not an easier road because he had to start his professional studies all over again. He also faced the hurdles of needing money for this schooling and getting into a good program.
After carefully considering his choices, Dr. Makoni enlisted as an officer candidate in the Zimbabwe Army to gain a dental education. This decision presented major challenges because all of his training would be in Greece, and would be conducted in the Greek language. His first year in the army was dedicated to learning this new language far away from home. After that, he simultaneously studied dentistry and military leadership for seven years before graduating and beginning a dental internship in Greece.
Always open to new concepts, Dr. Makoni was fascinated by his wife’s MBA studies while they lived in Greece, often helping her with dissertation research. He saw that business concepts could be useful in accomplishing more in most other aspects of life.
After fourteen years in the army, Dr. Makoni retired as a captain, purchased an established dental practice in Zimbabwe, and began developing entrepreneurial opportunities. He soon found that adding a junior dentist as a partner brought increased profits without much more work.
Dr. Makoni began to appreciate that his dental practice would be more successful if he learned more about business. He enrolled in a distance MBA program based in England and soon graduated with distinction.
In the process, he learned a great deal about strategic thinking and began to apply what he had studied. His success in dentistry soon led to being elected to the National Executive Committee of the Dental Association and later to becoming the Chairman of the Practice Management Committee of the association. He also branched out by helping found a dental supply company to help reduce costs and improve materials for dentists in his country.
Dr. Makoni’s high intelligence and sound knowledge were recognized, and he was appointed as a part-time lecturer at the university where he earned an MBA and at Celebration College, a church-run school in Zimbabwe that offers Biblical and business training.
Dr. Makoni developed a bigger vision that built from the sound foundation of his success:
He would help entrepreneurs to live their dreams of providing new health care choices throughout Africa by providing financing, education, and leadership to them. He would help his church by serving in its educational ministry and providing financial support for its expansion. He would serve his family by developing financial independence from passive income sources so that he could spend more time with his family.
As you can see, he was beginning to realize that career success should lead to a richer life, not just a more bulging wallet. Rather than committing himself to longer hours at work and more time away from his family, Dr. Makoni chose to use his success to improve and spend more time with his family and church.
When a rocket takes off for space, the first stage engines and fuel are jettisoned after just a few seconds. But by building on the speed and momentum provided by the first-stage rocket, the payload can rapidly accelerate upwards into a higher orbit by firing a second-stage booster.
Dr. Makoni was looking for such a second-stage booster for his career. Having taken an enormous number of successful career steps up through earning an MBA, Dr. Makoni recognized that investing in earning a DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) degree could be that powerful second-stage booster that would carry him much further than excellent professional training, a good career, and an MBA degree could do.
Such breakthrough progress begins with ambitious goals. While many people would decide that they simply wanted to become more proficient in one or two areas over four years of DBA studies, Dr. Makoni set the following goals for his education so that he could gain the benefits faster:
1. Graduate in 15 or fewer months.
2. Retire from working as a dentist upon graduation while continuing to earn a living from passive income derived by dental partnerships and franchising.
3. Create multiple streams of investment income during the same time through investing in real estate, venture capital, and public securities.
4. Write a book on business leadership before graduation.
5. Begin doing international consulting and public speaking about business while earning his DBA.
6. Spend much more time traveling with his family after graduating.
When asked why he set such high goals, Dr. Makoni responded that these were the logical next steps of what he wanted to accomplish. With the proper mentorship and focus, he was sure these goals would be easily achievable.
How did he do? Except for his first and third goals, Dr. Makoni did better than planned.
1. Graduation followed in 16 months rather than 15.
2. A few months into his studies, he used one course assignment to develop a breakthrough business model for expanding his dental practice that allowed him to stop doing the work himself.
3. His investing on the Zimbabwe stock market grew substantially, and he began working with a real estate developer to create a larger investment base in this arena. Although he fell short of his graduation goal, he was well advanced in a program to reach that goal.
4. Before graduating, he completed one book, Nurturing Champions, that was published in 2006 and has sold well. He also wrote 10 of 14 chapters for a second book about entrepreneurial finance in Zimbabwe provisionally titled, Entrepreneurship on Trial.
5. He was asked to join the board of an entrepreneurial investment bank while still studying for his DBA.
6. A trip to Israel was his family was planned and paid for before his graduation, and the trip occurred just a few months later.
Since graduation, career progress has been substantial as well.
1. In 2007, Dr. Makoni was appointed director of Celebration College. The school is making fine progress towards being licensed as a university in Zimbabwe. Many new programs and courses have been added, and the student body is growing nicely.
2. His dental practice has been successfully expanded into Zimbabwe’s second largest city, Bulawayo. Opportunities for two further expansions are under study.
3. He helped start a new church in Bulawayo.
4. Since graduating, he has joined three more boards. In addition, he began speaking at business seminars sponsored by Celebration College where he serves as the program coordinator.
Dr. Makoni clearly made wise choices in setting high goals, getting the right help to prepare himself to achieve those goals, and working hard and intelligently to bring those goals to fruition.
With the career velocity that he has established, it’s hard to see Dr. Makoni as anyone other than a continent-changing leader in both the business and spiritual realms.
What do you want to accomplish?
What help do you need to be able to accomplish those goals?

In the year 1952, at Yale University, researchers decided to do a survey on the graduating batch of students .They asked these batch of students this question, “How many of you have got your goals written down?”
In other words, “How many of you have actually designed your life in the next five, ten to fifteen years?” And out of all these students from Yale which is supposed to be an Ivy League school in the United States, only three percent of the students had their goals written down, they knew exactly what they wanted to do.
However the ninety-seven percent students had literally no goals. They had no idea what they were going to do five years, ten years down the road. They did not know how much they were going to earn and they did not know what lay ahead of them.
The scenario was totally different for the 3 percent of students who had their goals and written down.This three percent of students had the attitude of ‘We design our life and we begin to manifest it in our reality’.
This is unlike the ninety-seven percent of the students who had the attitude, ‘You know what ever will be will be, let us just make a living and we will see how’.
Twenty years later, there was a follow up research on the same batch of students who had been asked this question.
Here’s what they found.
They found out that the three percent of the students who had set their goals, their combined income was three times greater than the combined income of ninety-seven percent of that people combined!
Now, this research and example clearly shows the process or the power of goal setting; getting clear on what you want in life. It is the same for anyone whom you see is a great success in their life. Here are some examples.
Tiger Woods, arguably the world’s best golfer, decided that he wanted to be the number one golfer in the world at the age of 8.
Steven Spielberg, one of the world’s most well known directors in the movie making industry, he was very clear about being in a movie business at the tender age of 12
The above examples show that everyone you who succeeds at a significant level has done it because they began to decide on what it is they want.
So that is the first thing you go to do. Get clear about what you want in life.Start setting your goals today.