SMART Goal Setting for Personal Achievement/title> <meta name="keywords" keywords="goal setting, motivation, self help, setting goals, motivational quote,self improvement, personal achievement" /> <meta name="robots" content="index, follow" /> <meta name="author" content="David Dutch" /> <meta name="copyright" content="DoubleDee Publications" /> <meta name="expires" content="NEVER" /> <style type="text/css">  </style></head> <body> <table width="700" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td><div align="center" class="style2"><img src="http://goalsettingsecondstep.com/images/headerblank.jpg" width="800" height="194" longdesc="http://goalsettingsecondstep.com/images/headerblank.jpg" /></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p align="left" class="style6"> </p> <blockquote> <p class="style6"><strong> Personal Achievement Through SMART Goals</strong></p> <p align="left">In deciding to set a goal you must first understand what goal setting is and how the correct technique can impact on your life in a very positive way.<br /> <br /> Let us be clear all successful people set <strong>CLEAR, SPECIFIC GOALS</strong> and that is the foundation of goal setting whether you use the acronym <strong>SMART</strong> or any other it all boils down to this. Many people set vague or confused goals and wonder why they never come to fruition, in fact I would go as far as to say that unsuccessful people either do not set goals or they may set unspecific goals.... "I want to be happy"...."I want to be rich".<br /> <br /> Some people find that an acronym helps them when setting goals, the most famous is <strong>SMART </strong>which stands for <em><strong>Specific; Measurable; Attainable; Realistic and Timely</strong></em><br /> <br /> So having established what <strong>SMART</strong> stands for can we use it as a foundation for successful goal setting and personal achievement.<br /> <br /> <strong>SPECIFIC</strong>: In order to develop a <a href="http://goalsettingsecondstep.com" target="_self">specific goal</a> I am sorry you cannot do so on a whim in an instant, it does require that awful word WORK! I suggest you find some time when you can sit down in a quiet place and write down everything that comes into your mind that you may want, at this stage I do not care if it is an Aston Martin or a 60 foot cabin cruiser that you write down whatever comes into your mind goes onto the paper. Only when you have exhausted your mind, if you are like me you will now have over 100 items, do you go through and cross out according to SMART that is the ones that at this stage are not attainable or realistic. </p> <p align="left">Keep going until you are down to two or three left then taking each in turn write out the goal in as great a detail as possible see yourself attaining the goal and write out details of the impact it will make on your life. You will probably find that only one of the goals you write out in detail meet the criteria of the SMART process - this is your major definite purpose your specific goal.<br /> <br /> <strong>Measurable</strong>: In order to be measurable you must set out a deadline when you are going to reach your goal; that way you can measure your progress toward it. By measuring your progress you will stay on track and remain motivated as you see yourself getting closer and closer to the realisation of your goal. Setting a deadline brings out the best in you and increases your commitment to succeed.<br /> <br /> If your goal is not easily measurable simply ask yourself "<em>How will I know when it is accomplished</em>" and take that as your final step and work back to where you are now so that you have a map to measure your progress. Everything is measurable.<br /> <br /> <strong>ATTAINABLE:</strong>- This is where many people have a lack of understanding in goal setting. If your goal is very easy to attain motivation levels will never be such that you will even attain this simple goal. A goal needs to stretch you out of your comfort zone but still remain attainable in your mind. Even if it means learning new skills if you believe you can do it you will do it. As Napoleon Hill said "<em>Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe that he will achieve".<br /> </em><br /> <a href="http://goalsettingsecondstep.com" target="_self">Goal setting</a> is not just thinking about what you really want to achieve in your life. If you keep your goals in your head you will never be fully committed to them and if you fall by the wayside you will have a dozen excuses ready to comfort yourself. </p> <p align="left">Setting goals is more than a motivational quote, in order to experience self improvement you need to write down exactly what you want to achieve. You need to write it down in great detail, what impact will it have on your life, can you visualise your life having achieved your goal.If you can write out your goal in the greatest detail you are 75% of the way to achieving it even before you take the first step and you are in the top 3% of successful people in the Western World.<br /> <br /> <strong>REALISTIC:-</strong> Some confusion arises between attainable and realistic they sound the same but they are different. A goal can be high and still be realistic for you and you alone can decide if a goal is realistic. What is realistic for one person is not so for another. A goal needs to be challenging to lift you out of your present comfort zone and set a new comfort zone that is being realistic it will also give you tremendous motivation and a sense of personal achievement<br /> <br /> If you truly believe that you can attain your goal then it is a realistic goal, if it calls for changes in your life you will ensure that those changes will take place because you will receive motivation from moving ever closer to the achievement of the goal by making those changes.<br /> <br /> <strong>TIMELY:</strong>- It is not worthwhile setting goals for more than 5 years time, the world can change so much in that time frame. That is not to say you cannot see where you want to end up in 10 or even 15 years but they cannot be goals and they must contain facilities for modification. However it is imperative that you set a time frame for the realisation of your goal. For a start it will make your goal more measurable and the simple rule of goal setting is begin with the end in mind and know when you are going to get there.<br /> <br /> One goal I hear over and over is "I want to be a millionaire by next week." You can visualise to your heart's content and see yourself pushing barrows full of money away from a bank and it will still not happen unless you win the lottery and that is not realistic and as it is outside your influence cannot be a goal it is a dream.<br /> <br /> A dream is set apart from a hallucination by action, if you do not take action it will remain a hallucination. So setting a time frame for the realisation of your goal and calculating what you did to achieve it, gives motivation to take action.<br /> <br /> Now feel it >>>> If your goal does not turn you on >>> Question it - it is probably not a goal.</p> <p><strong>OFFER</strong>: You can also download a FREE copy of my latest book here ‘<a href="http://goalsettingsecondstep.com" target="_self">Goal Setting in 24 Hours</a>” .</p> <p align="left"><span class="style7">STOP!</span> And ask yourself this key question - How can I develop my mind to set my goals and to always bring about positive results? Listen closely please; don't rush headlong trying to find the answer when all you need do is take <a href="http://goalsettingsecondstep.com" target="_self">The First Step</a> get the second edition <a href="http://goalsettingsecondstep.com" target="_self">FREE here</a><br /> </p> <p>Many people are confused when it comes to setting their goals down on paper and as the question "<a href="http://inthefootstepsofgiants.com/articles/firststepstogoalachievement.php" target="_self">what are the first steps to goal achievement?</a>" You can find the answer by following that link.</p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <a class="" href="http://www.inthefootstepsofgiants.com">Return to website<br /> <font face="Arial Narrow" color="#0000ff" size="2"><font color="#8080ff" size="1" face="Tempus Sans ITC">© 2010 DoubleDee Publications; 23 Cranwell Court; Newcastle upon Tyne; England NE23 2UX tel: +44 8707 604 008- all rights reserved</font><font color="#0000ff"> </font></font> </a><br /> ____________________________________________________________ </p> <br /> <br /> </div> </div> </p> </blockquote> <div class="al_center"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="footer"> <span class="style9"> <a href="http://inthefootstepsofgiants.com/disclaimer.html">Disclaimer </a>‌ <a href="http://inthefootstepsofgiants.com/privacy.html">Privacy Policy</a> ‌ <a href="http://inthefootstepsofgiants.com/blog/" target="_blank">BLOG</a> ‌ <a href="http://inthefootstepsofgiants.com/articleindex.html">Article Index</a>‌ <a href="http://inthefootstepsofgiants.com/sitemap.html">Site Map</a> ‌ <a href="http://inthefootstepsofgiants.com/aboutus.html">About Us</a>‌ <a href="http://inthefootstepsofgiants.com/contactus.html">Contact Us</a> </span><br /> copyright 2010 <a href="http://inthefootstepsofgiants.com" target="_blank">In The Footsteps of Giants</a></div></td> <p align="center" class="style2"> </p> <p align="center" class="style2"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> </tr> </table> </TD> </TR> <div align="center"><img src="../Second Step/WEB SITE/images/headerblank.jpg" width="800" height="94" longdesc="http://goalsettingsecondstep.com/images/headerblank.jpg" /></div> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> </TBODY> </TABLE>   <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/webceo.js"></script>  </body> </html> l> </div></td> </tr> </table> <p class="style1"> </p> <p class="style1"> </p> <p> <a href="http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=referer"><img src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/valid-xhtml10" alt="Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional" height="31" width="88" /></a> </p> <script type="text/javascript"> //<![CDATA[ var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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