These are some of the things that one must avoid in setting goals:

• Setting unrealistice goals – this often happens if a person lacks crucial information and didn’t realize his resources and capabilities.  An example on this is when you set a goal of losing 20 pounds in 5 days.  Realistic goals are achievable goals.  So you have to set realistic ones to be able to achieve it.
• Too Many Goals – Most of the time, people would categorize their goals according to their priorities. They would set aside those that they think are not much of a priority to them.  What might happen here is that they do not know what to accomplish next.  There would also have some instances when they would “check” one of their goals off the list even before they have accomplished it.  Too many goals will tend to disorganize you.  Having one goal at a time will give you more focus in accomplishing it and even faster.
• Setting Goals to Impress Others – obviously, this won’t work because the real goal here is not the one you set but rather, the goal to impress others.  They may be impressed with your goals but the question is, is it really what you want to achieve?  Remember that people will be more impressed with your accomplishments rather than the goal you have set.

Goal setting is very helpful in reaching your dreams.  But if you fail on it, it might lead to even negative results.  So be careful when setting your goals.  The three things given above are just some of the causes on why you fail on your goal setting. But don’t let this discourage you.  Just be realistic and follow some guidelines in setting your goals.  Be sure also to be motivated and stay focused on your goals.

I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.

That simple quote is very meaningful and true.   He had this dream and he pursued it and succeed.  A simple lesson is that when we dream of something – I am talking of life’s dream here not a dream we had when we slept – we have to pursue it to make it happen.

If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.  

Yes, its that tiny voice in our minds that contradicts us. Its our subconscious mind that often causes us to think negatively, thus, we quit in achieving our goals or dreams.  The quote tells us that we have to fight it and never get influenced by it again because it will only hinder us from achieving the things we want to achieve.

Happiness… it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.  

Happiness occurs when we achieve our goal.  Imagine all the hardships that you’ve been through and after passing all of it, you finally reached your goal.  Those hardships I think is the foundation of the success you now have.

In spite of everything I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing.

This tells us that even Vincent Van Gogh has once fallen also.  A famous painter has experienced failure and yet he never quit.   For that alone makes him a winner because only quitters lose.  Instead, he took his pencil again and continue on his drawing and started achieving again.

I just found these quotes by Vincent Van Gogh after a friend forwarded me the second on the list.  I thought that this is very empowering and motivating.  A quote from a famous person that everyone may apply in their own life to succeed in their own goals as well.

Some goals can be long-term, complex goals which may take months or even years to achieve. That can be overwhelming.

If you start to get overwhelmed by a task it can unfortunately mean that you get too scared to even begin with it. That won’t get you anywhere!

What you have to do is begin somewhere.

Here are a few simple steps to help you get started on a big task which can at first seem overwhelming.

1. Set a clear aim

Unless you very clearly know what it is that you’re trying to do, you’ll keep putting off the task and messing around with little things that won’t help you. You’ll push your aim further and further into the future and then it will seem even more unreachable.

Get over that by setting a very clear overall aim for yourself.

2. Chunk down

Q: How do you eat an elephant?
A: One bite at a time

What that means is that if an overall goal seems massive, like an elephant, you need to break it down into smaller chunks. These smaller chunks can then be accomplished in quite a small period of time.

Those small successes which all go towards you achieving your overall aim should help to keep you motivated and confident that you can achieve your aims.

3. Assess your aims

Do you want it badly enough? Is it really your target or are you being forced into something? If it’s not a personal target for you you’ll just come up with excuses not to knuckle down to work and get things done.

4. Put your aims down on paper

That will make your aims seem more concrete to you. As you write them, you’ll already think of ways to achieve your targets and you’ll help to keep hesitation and doubt at arm’s length, where they belong.

Keep your list because all those ideas will be useful if and more likely when, you need to adapt your plans.

5. Is your goal SMART?

Specific?

Make sure you’re clear about what you want to achieve. It will make it easier for you to make practical plans. If you don’t know what you want, you can’t work out how to get it so you won’t be able to act confidently.

Measurable?

Define the goal in such a way that you can track your progress over time. Otherwise you will not know if you are moving  closer or further away from your goal.

Achievable?

It’s understandable for you to feel down if your plans don’t work out or when they take longer than you expect to achieve. Split your targets into smaller chunks so you can achieve some success before you are tempted to give up.

Take each small target achieved as a reason to congratulate yourself. Enjoy your success and that will spur you on to achieve more. You’ll understand why you’re doing something more easily and there will seem to be more point to it if you take time to smell the roses now and again.

That will increase your energy and motivation to keep moving forward, especially when Plan A is foiled.

Realistic?

Make sure that you could actually carry out your plan. Is it within your capabilities? Have you thought about the potential problems and how you might deal with them?

Timed ?

Time frames are really important in reaching for your goals. They can be flexible, but you need to set yourself a provisional deadline to achieve your target. That will help to keep you focused and taking actions towards your goals.

6. Remind yourself of your targets every day.

Write down something you will do towards your goal today.

That’s where to begin, even with a goal which seems overwhelming at first.

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how long it takes to achieve your goal.  See a turtle cross a street?  It walks very slowly but it keeps on walking until it gets to its destination. It may encounter some challenges along the way but and its steps may be short, it keeps on walking because each step, no matter how short, still leads to its destination.  Their hard shell is the one that protects them from anything that may do them harm.  For us, let our attitude be our hard shell.  Focus, motivation, and determination will protect us from anything or anyone who wants us to fail.

We should not pressure ourselves of how fast or how soon we achieve our goal.  But it doesn’t mean that we just take it for granted.  Just keep in mind that we should not quit in any challenges we face and do not rush things up because we might overlook some important steps.  Taking one step at a time will still lead us to our goals.

Some may be scared of doing what they want because their parents have high expectations on them.  There are people who lives in the shadow of their family or their older brothers and sisters.  An example is a boy was expected to be a doctor just like his 2 older brothers and his parents.  The pressure then rests on him and his aim is to be like a doctor as well.  But he also likes photography.  Actually, he loves photography.  He just never realizes it and never thought of pursuing it because of the pressure set on him by his family.  Problem here is that no matter how he tries and tries, he cannot get the top grades that his parents want.

His heart is not in medicine but rather in photography.  He should have set his goals in photography and not in medicine.   But it is also possible that he can achieve his goals in medicine but there would be an issue of fulfillment, happiness and regret.  The same is also true if you set a goal just because it sounds good and people will like it.

“If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It is almost certain you won’t

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!”

Very motivating poem.  He got it right.  As the Law of Attraction states, what we are now is the result of what we have thought we could be.  So you have to think of what you want to be or what you want to happen.  Believe that you can do it and you will achieve whatever your heart desires.

Then comes the difficult part. Not just difficult but you don’t know where to start as you know nothing about it.  Our goals have many steps to step onto.  There may be steps that are new to us and we do not know how to do it which leads us to give up our goals.

But is that the solution to the problem? You’ve come that far to your goals just to give up on it for a thing you do not know. The logical thing to do if you do not know about it is to learn it.  How do you learn it?  You have to do it.

Come to think of it.  How do you learn to speak?  By speaking.  How do you learn to dance?  By dancing.  You don’t have to give up just because you don’t know what to do. Learn how to do it.  You just need to lift your foot to step on that stepping stone.  You have to do it.

• Abraham Lincoln failed seven times.  Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States of America has failed to be elected in Congress and Senate several times.  He also even ran for vice-president and failed. But on his first attempt to ran for presidency, he succeeded.  His story was a very inspiring one.  Lincoln has been regarded as one of the greatest presidents in the United States and behind his success were failures.  He may have failed several times, but he stood up and made his way to success. His success was not only by becoming a president, but becoming a great person.
• Diligent can beat the intelligent.  If you are diligent, you are eager to get to the top.  Whereas if  you are intelligent but lack the confidence and courage, you are more likely to be defeated by the intelligent ones.
• Achievement is not measured by how many awards a person has but by how many times he stood up every time he falls.  W e are honed by our experiences to be a better person and thats the real achievement we have.

He sells way too many homes. Anywhere from 300 to 400 homes per year for the last 10 years. He doesn’t even list his listing on MLS. He sells 80% of his home by himself which means he represented both buyer and seller sides to keep all his commission. He works with only 4 staff members. He is one of the super agent in the whole country. He gets his listing with only cold calling and door knocking. Quite amazing stats. He’s net worth is estimated at upward of $100 million.

Froy’s true story is not in his real estate stats. Originally Froy is from Mexico. He and a friend decided to come to the United States, the land of opportunity to escape poverty from Mexico. They cross the border by hanging on to the underside of a train. They rode for hours, clinging to the train for their lives. They had no idea where they were and they could not let go for fear of being run over by the train. The miles clicked by and they were getting extremely tired. Finally, Froy’s friend could not hang on any longer. He let go and was crushed. Froy was devastated by the loss of his friend, but vowed to hang on. Less than five minutes later the train stopped. Froy had reached his destination. He had made it to the United States.

The lesson that Froy learned from his immigration experience is that one componen of success is being able to hang on a little bit longer than the next guy.

source: eBestAgent

I think Froy was highly motivated to succeed.  They have gone that far and it was not the time to give up.  There was no giving up, actually.  They have gone through a lot of sacrifice and it will be put to waste if they gave up.

With one’s high motivation to succeed, he can be able to hang on a little longer and persevere to go through the hardships that faces him in his struggle to achieve his goals.  It was just a matter of hanging on for a few more minutes in Froy’s case.  That few more minutes has changed Froy’s life and made him succeed.

Having dreams makes us feel inspired, that’s why we have that dreamy look sometimes in our face, right?  To dream is absolutely free.  The thing you want to have in life or something you want to happen, comes true in your dreams.  Realizing our dreams and making it into a goal makes us more hopeful although sometimes we lose hope.

When we set our goals, we have something to look forward to in life.  You wake up in the morning and start the day doing something for that goal.  The things we have set on how to achieve that goal gives more color and purpose to our life.  Life could be pretty boring without having something to look forward to – doing routine  tasks everyday.
If you haven’t started setting your goals yet, start now and do it the SMART way!