9 Ways to Achieve Your Goals

Wow! Where did January go? You had 12 months to make your dreams come true. Today's the last day of January. As of midnight, you'll have 11 months left. What happened to the energy that fired you up at the beginning of the New Year?

Well, it's time to T. A. K. E.  S.T.O.C.K.

9 Ways to Achieve Your Goals ... And Live Your Dreams

1. Think

Think about those resolutions / goals / wishes you wrote 31 days ago. Do you still want to make them happen? Think about it and ask yourself why you want that.

2. Analyze

Analyze your goal and any action you took to achieve it. Did you take even the smallest step? If not, why not? What are you prepared to do to get achieve a particular goal?

3. Kindness

You are probably the type of person who is kind to others. Extend that kindness to yourself. If you did nothing to achieve any of your goals, don't berate and heap insults on yourself. That won't help the situation. Be kind. Give yourself permission to try again.

4. Encourage Yourself

Do you know if you really want something, you can make it happen? Do you know that? Deep down inside, do you know that? Now is the time to look at your goal and decide if it's something you really and truly want. If it is, then every day encourage yourself that you can achieve it. Create a mental pep talk that addresses that goal achievement. Tell it to yourself. Write it 10 times each morning and evening. Tell it to yourself again at bedtime.

5. Select or Discard

At the beginning of the year, you were enthusiastic about your goals /resolutions / dreams. Now how do you feel about them? Are they still valid? If they are, then write them down again to infuse them with enthusiasm for the new month starting tomorrow. If, however, you've decided that goal isn't something you're willing to devote time and energy to, then discard it, or change it to something that does warrant your personal investment. There is no shame in quitting something for valid reasons. Stephen Covey says: "Before you try to climb the ladder of success, make sure it's leaning against the right building."

6. Take Action

Okay. You've got your goals listed again. Now, let's talk about what to do to make the most of the new month. The secret to goal achievement is to take action. Look at your goals. One mistake a lot of people make is to have dozens of goals. Hopefully, your list is manageable and addresses the major areas of life: career, personal, physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and financial. You've probably got at least one goal in each of those areas with maybe two or three in some areas.

Now, take each goal and make a list of all the steps between where you are now and where you want to be. That list should be baby steps to giant steps -- things you can do today, this week, next week, next month, etc.

7. Optimize Your Time

Success in anything isn't achieved by hard work so much as by effective work. Make the most of your time by working hard and effectively. You've planned your work, now work your plan. Above all avoid putting off till tomorrow what you can do today.

8. Change

Achieving a goal requires change. If you want to take a college class at night -- or write 5 pages of a novel at night -- then you change your habit from watching TV in the evening to attending class or writing. To get something new in your life, you have to make room for it. One of the ways you make room is by changing the way you live your life. You must be willing to make those changes.

9. Keep Moving Forward

The first month of the new year ends tonight at midnight. Waste no time agonizing over what you didn't do. Focus on what you can do tomorrow. Always keep moving forward.

That's right the 9 Ways to Achieve Your Goals spell out a message: Take Stock -- of where you are right now and where you want to be and what you have to do to get there.

Takeaway Truth

Write down a To Do list for tomorrow, taking into account your final destination at year's end. Now go for it!