Many people have goals, but the problem comes in when it comes to how to reach your goals. If you are on the road to bettering yourself, you need to know how to plan for the future, make goals and actually accomplish them.

How To Reach Your Goals

Here are some proven ways on how to reach your goals. Setting your goals, working towards them and actually reaching them gives one an enormous sense of pride, self-respect and a better sense of responsibility.

• Disassociate yourself from any negativity. This means negative people and negative thoughts. In the same way that positive attracts positive, negative thoughts lead to negative results. Negativity is all around you. Think of those bitchy co-workers, unhappy neighbors; a depressing family member. You need to disassociate yourself from those types of people because you need to be in a happy place for your own well-being.
• Recognize your own path. When it comes down to reaching your goals and improving your life, you need to be in charge. You alone are in control of what you want and your goals should come down to you and you alone. Just because your Dad wants you to be a lawyer and your Mom wants you to have 5 children does not mean this is what you have to do. Remember that it’s your life and thus, you are the boss.
• Next, you need to define your goals clearly. Remember that having goals is what make life worth living. Think long and hard about what you want to accomplish and how you are going to get there.
• Break your goals down into small achievable steps that move you towards your goal each day. Include financial costs and put in as much detail as possible- the more defined your goals are, the easier they will be to achieve (and the more rewarding it will be when you get there).
• Push jealously aside, especially when you watch someone on a parallel path reaching their goals a lot sooner. It can be hard to sit back and be happy for them. But this is what you are going to have to learn to do. Getting rid of this envy and resentment is a big hurdle in improving your self. But, once you overcome these feelings, you are a lot closer to reaching a state of Zen-like success.
• Use visual reminders as boosters to motivate you. Being able to clearly see your goal can help to motivate you and keep you focused on your game plan. Many people will post a picture of their ‘dream body’ on the fridge when they are trying to lose weight. Others will use their ‘dream car’ as their computer screen saver at work. When the tough times get you down, you should always have a visual reminder to boost your drive and motivation to succeed.
• Visualize what it will be like when you achieve your goal. Seeing is after all believing.
• Use timelines so that you can track your success. This can help you put your goal into greater perspective and see how far you’ve already come. It’s important for self-improvement that you recognize your feats and be proud of what you are accomplishing as you move closer to your goal.
• Don’t forget to reward yourself when you hit milestones and be happy as you progress. Whether your goal takes you twenty days or twenty years to complete, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you are doing what it takes to get there. To keep yourself motivated every step of the way, you need to reward yourself with small treats. Be proud of how far you have come and prepare for the journey ahead. Your reward could be a manicure or a nice massage, or even a new pair of shoes.
• Look for role models, and then immerse yourself into their lives. If you can ask questions and let their positive energy run off on you. Better still find those experts in your field and learn from them how to get where you want to go. I, for example, run an online business, so I belong to a community of like-minded people who motivate me and we all help each other to get where we need to go.
• Make room for failure, as we all know that it can’t be smooth sailing all of the time. On any road to success, there is always many bumps along the way. In fact, it is these bumps that make the road worth traveling. Failure is a big part of our lives and we need to learn to live, love and laugh at failure rather than give in to it. Henry Ford once said that every failed attempt is just another opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. Failure is an experience and experience is power.

So in a nutshell, this is a shortened version of how to reach your goals:

1. Set Specific Goals. Make sure that your goal is clear and well-defined.
2. Set Measurable Goals. Include precise amounts, dates, and so on in the planning of the implementing of your goals so you can measure your degree of success.
3. Set Attainable Goals. Make sure that it’s possible to achieve the goals you set, otherwise what is the point?
4. Set Relevant Goals.
5. Set Time-Bound Goals.

Now go out, plan on how to reach those goals and get what you want out of life.