What is a personal goal?

Most people do have personal goals but have never written them down or heard themselves say them out loud. You can not achieve a goal unless that achievement is something you were striving for. A goal is only random thoughts until you give yourself the opportunity to sit down, actually think about setting personal goals. and put them on paper. Writing them down provides you the chance to actually see them which may also present many surprises. The may be some personal success goals you did not realize you wanted to achieve.

How to set personal goals.

It is time to choose the direction of your journey of life. When it comes to setting persoal goals, start off with what's important to you in life. Think of the big picture. What do you want to do, who do you want to meet, how do you want to get from where you are now to where you want to be? Write everything down that comes to mind, even if it seems trivial or silly. Don't do anything or think about anyone else while you are brainstorming. Give yourself 30 - 60 minutes for this goal setting exercise.

Take a look at what you have written down and start connecting the items that relate to each other. If you want to learn to sky dive and you want to sky dive over a certain area then these items get connected. Organize your list before you move on.

How to reach your personal goals.

You now have a list of 'how to improve my life to dos' or long term personal goals. Break this list down into lists of what you want to achieve in 10 years, then 5 years and down to 1 year. This keeps you from feeling overwhelmed by everything you want to do. Make a separate sheet for each segment of time. This provides you the start to a life planning road map or goals.

Make your personal goal list manageable.

Breaking down these long term goals into short term goals will enable you to measure your progress and achieve your long term goals. Take each list and break them down into smaller and more manageable steps that you need to complete on your way to achieving your long term goal. This will increase your confidence knowing that you are aware of what you can do and now start thinking about how you will accomplish each step.

Now is a good time to go back and compare the two personal goal lists you have made. Make sure that the steps on your short-term list will, as you attain them, be helping you towards your long-term or lifetime personal goals. The important aspect of this is to ensure that what you are doing short term is taking you in the right direction toward your lifetime goals.

Set daily and weekly steps to reach your personal goals.

The last step, but a continuous one, is to create a manageable list of daily and weekly goals from your one year list. By doing this you will always be in the position of moving towards your long term goals. Everyday provides the opportunity to achieve a step towards a certain life changing personal goal, giving you the feeling of accomplishment.