20 things you need to note about goal setting and goal achieving

Its not enough for you to be able to set your goals, internalize them and envision them you have to fulfill them and live them in order for them to become a reality. Your main motivation for achieving your goals is passion. You have to be passionate about whatever it is you want from life for you to achieve it. If it really is worth pursing, then it has to be difficult, not easy, and your passion will sustain you. To further motivate yourself, you need to have Clarity- define what you want from life. Life offers various alternatives if you do not give a clear definition, you will just take anything life offers. Its like a man who wants to purchase a brand new car. If he does not have the specifications of the car he wants he would make do with whatever is available. That means he is taking what is offered and not necessarily what he wants. There should also be a challenge to achieve the goal. Its like a young man who is chasing a lady he wants to marry. Sometimes its better for the lady mot to give in fast and easy. If she does, the man could begin to wonder if its worth the effort. Things that we respect are those that we have to work for. Three other things we need to motivate ourselves are commitment, feedback and task complexity. Commitment means you are willing to spend time at what you are doing, feedback refers to you having a reference which would consistently inform you of your progress or lack of it, and task complexity talks about the simple or complex nature of the task you are undertaking. The more complex it is, the more you are going to appreciate what you went through to achieve it. Here are twenty things to note in your striving to reach those rather elusive goals:

1. Potential is one attribute that every human being has abundance of. Your potential is what you may not see in yourself, but what others could possibly see in you. Potential means that you could become more than what you ever expect to become in life, with a little effort and discipline of concentration on your part.
2. Take charge of your life. Don't be grouped among the people who blame government, systems, leaders or economies for their misfortunes. Taking charge means that you are responsible for whatever happens in your life. You can let issues or people in or out depending on your choice.
3.Create your own future! As long as you are an adult and understand the essence of life, your choices today will shape your future tomorrow. Three main things come to mind: Education, career choice and marriage(as well as other relationships) will go a long way in shaping your future. Don't let it ride or just roll, take control!
4 Clarify your values. Your inner convictions are important, before you even determine what your goals are you need to make sure what you are planning lines up with your beliefs. If there are any contradictions, you will never be satisfied even if you eventually achieve what you set out to.
5 Determine what you truly want to achieve in every area of your life. In the previous article we mentioned five key areas which normally account for every aspect of your life( Relationships, Finances, Work, Academics and Health). You have to decide what you want in each area and decide how you are going to work towards it.
6 You need a central purpose to build your life. A kind of central point of reference(CPR) It could come in the shape of a statement that you keep repeating to yourself over a period of time. Never underestimate the power of words!
7. Unlock your creativity: Every human being is creative. The mind, we have been consistently told, has immense potentials and creative abilities. What we have to do is put the mind to play through the innermost imagination and see what we can come up with.
8 Visualize your goals. Have a picture of them in your mind. The clearer the picture you have, the more challenged you are  at achieving it.
9 Analyze your beliefs: What do you truly believe in? Are your goals in any way being hindered by your beliefs?
10 Start at the beginning. Often the question comes about: where should we start in pursing our goals? The answer is clear and direct: we need to start at the beginning. Every idea, project, programme or accomplishment has a beginning.
11. Eliminate obstacles: In your quest to achieve your goals there are hindrances or obstacles that will get in the way; You have to work out a way to eliminate your obstacles. In modern terms strategist advise that you find a way to make the obstacles stepping stones to progress. Artistes that should have been bogged down by abuse, oppression and lack have used these obstacles as spurs to help them get to where they want to go.
12. Getting around the right people is an important factor in your progress to reach your goals. Positive people that would encourage you are naturally better than negative ones who will be cynical and discourage. Sometimes when you cannot necessarily choose the people who should be around you, you should see negativity as encouragement and refinement to do better at what you are focusing on.
13 Time management is an important aspect of goal pursuit. How much time are you truly ready to spend on the goals you have set for yourself? If you are passionate enough about it you will spend lots of time.
14 Procrastination has been described as the thief of time. Never leave for tomorrow what you can do today! Procrastinators are creative people who find excuses that would stop them from doing what they are supposed to do. So like Puma says on many of its T shirts: Just Do It!
15 Do something everyday about your goals. Don't put tasks off no matter how small or big. Keep moving forward; Plan something and do it, never let the size of the task, however small or big discourage you. Remember, the more you do, the closer you get to where you want to be.
16 Reviewing and evaluating what you are doing will help keep you on track. If you are objective and can tell yourself the truth, a regular review and evaluations will be a useful tool to you.
17. Have a plan of action. You will not go anywhere with out a plan. A plan should take you from where you are to where you want to be. Document the plan, write it down and critique it. Look for loopholes, examine eventualities, ask yourself a bunch of what ifs? This would make your plans more practicable.
18 Never lose faith and make sure you are consistent at what you want to do. Believe it can be done and the belief backed with action you take to get it done will move you towards your goal.
19 Measure your progress: You will need indicators to determine how far you are from achieving the goal. Key Performance Indicators can be drawn up to help you in this measurement. Depending on what you want to achieve, there would be a list of indicators that could serve as measurements. Your job is to draw them up!
20. As often as you can, you ought to reward yourself for hitting certain milestones in your movement towards your goal. A reward is necessary so that we do not lose sight of why we are doing what we are doing, and so that we can also value what we have achieved at the end.