Why Goals Aren’t Enough to Make You Succeed in Life

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The media, your parents, mentors, and friends will tell you goals are important if you want to get ahead. Without a dream to reach for, you can’t get anywhere. Having a target, though, isn’t enough. Whether you dream big or just want to change your habits and improve your well-being, you need these extra ingredients most people don’t emphasize enough when they talk about goal setting.

Why goals aren’t enough. Goal creation is a start. You must know your destination before you can travel. Simply knowing where you want to end up, however, isn’t enough to get you there. Plenty of people set goals, especially at the beginning of the year. Not many follow through, though, and reach their targets. The problem they face stems from not knowing the direction they must traverse. When you set out on any physical journey, you first peruse a map or punch the address and postcode of your destination into a GPS. Or you may rely on a driver who knows the route to get you safely where you want to be. The same applies to your goals.

The missing ingredients. You must have a plan or your dreams will remain unmet. What’s more, your plan needs to be doable. Many people figure out strategies to help them meet success, but their aims aren’t achievable. Sometimes they aren’t practical so can’t be accomplished. At other times they are overwhelming and soon dropped.

Is your plan doable? Not only must your goal be doable, but the steps you take to meet your destination must be traversable. If you plan to get fit by going to the gym to workout, for instance, the gym has to be within a plausible distance from where you live, or you won’t go.

Are you stepping in the right direction? Likewise, your plan to become wealthy by working hard won’t work unless you work hard doing the right things. Toil away for years doing a job with poor pay, and, you’ve guessed it, you won’t make enough money to accomplish your dream.

Do you ignite your passion? Your goal and plan must also fill you with excitement. Without motivation, you won’t find success. If you merely have an interest in running your own business, but not passion, you won’t get far. Ignite your enthusiasm each day and your motivation will stay high. For example, remind yourself how your life will change when you are slim, rich, or successful in a different way. Picture yourself in the future and watch how you move and talk. Who do you spend time with most? Where do you go? How do you dress? Feed your enthusiasm with the value of reaching your goal and you won’t give up.

Can you measure progress? Even if you follow the advice provided so far, you could still fail because you must measure your success as you journey to your goal. Unless you keep an eye on your progress, you’ll have no idea whether your plan is working or failing. Once you see how effective the steps you take are, you will know whether to adjust your plan or scrap it and create a new one.

Goals are essential if you want to control your destiny and improve your life. They aren’t enough by themselves, though, to propel you toward success. To get what you want, you need clarity about where you are going and how to get there. You also need passion and to measure progress and maintain motivation. Flexibility and stamina are vital too. Create the right plan using the suggested method and you have all the ingredients required to be successful.

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