1 - Write it downIf you don't write down your goal many things will happen. It will change slightly every time you think about it and as it changes it will move a little further away from actually being accomplished. In Project Management this is called Scope creep or Feature Creep whatever you call it it is the death of many projects and many more good indented goals.
2 - Put dates on it not just timelinesOften, so often I cant' even count how often, people set timelines with their goals, thinking it is a good thing. Only setting a timeline, not actual dates, is just one step away from saying "someday". When you make a goal put real dates on it. e.g. "On July 10th I will have [goal] done." or, "By noon I will have [pebble goal] done". If you just say "in a month" then that month will never start.
3 - Visualize itGet yourself in a quiet place and think about your goal, what does it feel like to have achieved that goal? How do you feel about yourself? Keep these feelings. I tell my daughters to imagine a chest with many drawers, now take that feeling, open a drawer and put that feeling in the drawer, (third drawer on the second row). Now you can bring it back anytime you want to, just imagine your chest and open the drawer. Feeling off target or down about where you are going? Open a drawer and bask in that feeling again. you will be amazed how quickly it gets you back on track
4 - Tell Someone elseGuilt is good. Well not all guilt but you can use guilt in your favor. Tell someone about your goal. Tell lots of people about your goal. You will find this does a couple of things, it makes you think about your goal, and what you think about happens. It also gets other folks asking you how you are coming on that goal. You will want to have something to say to them so you will find yourself taking action on your goal so you have something to report. On top of all that when you tell people about your really big goals, and they start to see you accomplishing them they will be amazed by how much you get done. This positive reinforcement for your accomplishments sets up a positive feedback loop and you want to accomplish more.
5 - Set pebble goals"How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." Everyone has heard this quip but how often are you overwhelmed by a large project or some unimaginable goal and you get paralyzed by the sheer size of it? Well Don't worry about the whole thing. Chip the big goal down into little goals, pebble goals. Pebble goals are great because they keep you motivated along the way. Break your big goal into three or four main pieces, then take the first one of those and break it down into little pieces, and so on until you get to a point where you have little goals that can be accomplished in a day or two. Keep a list of the pebbles so you can move on to the next one once you have completed one. And most important, Celebrate your accomplishments. These are small goals but you need to celebrate them they mark progress toward your larger goal, you have moved forward be sure to celebrate!
6 - Measure itPeter F. Drucker said, "What gets measured, gets managed." and this is true of your goals as well. by breaking it town in to little pieces you will have milestones you can measure and celebrate. Measure your progress along the line and you will find encouragement through the accomplishment.
7 - Take ActionThe fact of the matter is most people don't accomplish their goals because they don't even bother to start. There are a million reasons not to do something. Do it any way. with little pebble goals you can take small actions that add up to big payoffs. but if you don't take action nothing will get done. You can't wait for everything to be ready. That time will never come. If you wait for all the lights to be green at once between LA and New York you will never step on the gas.
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