How to Set Realistic and Achievable Goals No Matter What Your Age

Set good goals

There is little or no point in setting goals that you simply cannot achieve, you may never run the 100 metres in under 11 seconds, but you might lose the 5 pounds you are trying to! The beauty about setting goals is that you can se short, medium and long term goals for everything in life. Lose weight; develop a management vision for the company by Christmas, get fitter, earn more money, cut back on hours in the office, and so the list goes on. If you are interested in personal growth then the goals have to be achievable and they have to be measurable, otherwise you really won't be able to tell if you have achieved them or not.

Prioritise

The very fact that you can set goals for everything means that you might be too tough on yourself; you cannot improve everything about your life in one go, in one day or week. These things take careful consideration and planning, so make a list. Make the number one item on the list the most important and work your way down until you get to ten. Don't make the list too long or you will be setting yourself up for failure, and that in turn will damage your confidence. These lists are there not to put you under undue pressure, but to make you feel successful when you achieve them, it is a positive perspective that will get you through this

Detail

Not only must the goals be realistic, achievable and measurable, they should also be detailed, as this will help you improve your life and success in realising your dreams. So if the goal is simply to get fitter, then you need to identify how you will do that. Join a fitness club, but decide when you will be able to go (don't say 5 times a week if you know you can only do 3!).

Help along the way

Remember that the road to success is a road, a journey, not a moment, so you will need motivation along the way. If the milestone is time related then set intermediate points in time that will assist you in confirming that you are well on track to achieving your personal development goal. You would not want to work towards a weight loss limit over a period of several months and wait until the very last minute to weigh yourself; you need to keep a chart of the progress along the way. The same rules apply to other goals too.

Actio

You have set the conditions for success, you have planned, charted, organised - but now is the time to act. You will only grow spiritually and personally towards becoming more successful through action. Nothing ever got done by simply talking about it, someone always has to put that plan into action, and if it is yourself that you are developing then no-one else can do that for you - just yourself. Many people can help, but only you can make it happen.