You Can Accomplish Your Dreams with Goals

We all have dreams. And we really want to accomplish them. Sadly, these dreams are usually lofty and vague. We rarely take action to bring us closer to our dreams. But you can accomplish your dreams if you properly use goals!

First, turn your abstract dream into a concrete goal. If your dream is to be a famous novelist, then your goal could be to have your first novel published by2010. The deadline is important. Without it, you might procrastinate and not accomplish your goal. The deadline gives you a clear timeframe. Also, make sure the goal is measurable. When 2010 comes around, you'll know if you've published your first novel. It will be clear if you accomplished your goal or not.

Many people come up with goals like this, and really intend to accomplish them. But they still don't. We don't want to let this happen.

So first, write your goal down. It's easy to trick ourselves when a goal is only in our head. Once written, your goal will become more formal, almost like a contract with yourself! Better yet, write your goal in many places that you'll see often. You will constantly be reminded that way, and will take more positive action to accomplish the goal. I've seen statistics that people who write their goals down are much more likely to accomplish them.

Now this is the part where most of you will choose to ignore my advice, but this might be the most important part. Tell somebody your goal. In fact, tell as many people as possible. This does two things. First, you don't want to look bad to these people, so you'll probably take extra steps to accomplish your goal. They will help you stick to your plan. Second, these people will support you and offer help and advice. They will help you in the actual substance of your goal.

Finally, you will probably want to pare your goal down to smaller step goals. There are many steps involved in getting your novel published by 2010, and each of these steps deserves its own focus and deadline. For instance, your step goals could be:

Complete academic journalism program by 2008

Have dinner with a published author to gain wisdom by 2008

Select novel's title by June 2008

Finish rough draft by January 2009

Submit manuscript to 5 publishers by March 2009

We are capable of amazing things with proper planning and goal setting. You just need to set your goals, share those goals with people who will hold you accountable, and then take every action to accomplish your goal. Even if you miss some of your deadlines, you will still be on track to accomplish your main goal.

With proper goal setting, you can accomplish your dreams! I wish you the best of luck, and would be happy to be the person you share your goals with. Just send me a message. I know you can accomplish your goals and realize your dreams!