Desire -You must have a true and honest desire to achieve the goal. You must personally want it, otherwise your subconscious will sabotage your efforts. You must believe it is important. This does not mean goals must have some superior purpose, just that you can't achieve goals for some one else.
i.e. my wife wants a new house but I would really rather have a new boat. To achieve the goal you must resolve within yourself to truly want it or don't waste your time.
Belief -The goal you set must be attainable so make it realistic. For example if you want to double your salary, this is not realistic in a short period so break that down into smaller attainable goals. Increase salary by 20% at a time. However it is important to strike a balance between realistic and challenging.
Write -Write down your goal in very specific detail. Instead of saying my goal is to get a new house, say my goal is to get a 3000 sq. ft. Spanish style home on a hill, with a pool and 3 car garage. This helps you envision the goal which is a critical part of attaining it.
Determine Benefits -Write down how achieving this goal will make your life better.
Analyze your Current Position-Look at you current behaviors, identify both positive and negative behaviors which either help or detract from your ability to achieve the goal. Write these down, focus on positive behaviors and hy to catch yourself in the negative behaviors and stop engaging in them.
Set a Deadline -You must set a measurable and definite deadline.
Identify obstacles -Similar to number 5, look at any obstacles which would impede your ability to accomplish the goal and write them down.
Identify New Knowledge -Think about what information you need to accomplish your goal. Write down any new knowledge you will need to get in order to accomplish the goal.
Identify Required Assistance -Identify any people, groups, companies etc. from whom you will need help or information to accomplish your goal and what you will need from them.
Write Down a Plan -This is a critical part of accomplishing your goal. Having completed the preceding steps, write down all the activities you will need to do. Identify dependencies, prioritize them and assign a time estimate to each. Sort by priority and dependency. Revise this as necessary. Often you may learn new information on the way which requires changes to your plan.
Regularly Visualize your Goal as Accomplished. This is why step 3 is so important. Imagine yourself achieving the goal, feel it, picture it. Imagine yourself in the future living and doing new things with your goal an accomplished part of your past.
Be Determined and Persistent -Don't give up when you run into setbacks, you only fail to achieve a goal when you stop working at it.
