However, I’ve now come to the conclusion that successful people with strong self-belief don’t do goal setting in this way - why? - Because their too busy doing what they need to do to get what they want to get.

Successful people don’t spend time writing down what they want out of life they just get on and do it. To be successful at whatever it is you want to do, you need to ask yourself - what do I really want to achieve? What are my dreams and desires, what do I want to build, to create and what sort of person do I want to be.

You need to clearly identify what it is you want out of life, what do you hunger and thirst for, what do you really want to achieve?

If someone held your head under water you’d quickly realise what you wanted - oxygen! You need to feel like this to be successful. Most of us experience this feeling when we fall in love. We do almost anything to impress and be with the person of our dreams.

This is how people create success, it’s how new countries were discovered, products were invented, Everest was conquered and man walked on the moon. You may not want to achieve something so dramatic, you may want to have a successful plumbing business, or be an excellent accountant, or even run a marathon. Whatever it is, once you identify and focus on it you will release the motivation to make it happen.

There is an often-told story of the swimmer, Florence Chadwick. On her first attempt to swim the English Channel she encountered huge waves and chilling temperature. Her trainers were alongside her in a boat. They had greased her body to provide protection from the cold and gave her hot soup from a vacuum flask. She had everything going for her to ensure she was successful.

However a heavy fog set in and as the fog descended, her vision was limited to only a few feet. The water seemed to get colder, the waves higher and she started suffering from cramp in her arms and legs. She eventually gave up her effort and asked her trainers to take her on board the boat.

What she didn’t realise was that she was only a short distance from the shore. When the reporters asked her why she’d given up when she was such a short distance form the shore. Her answer was quite simple - “I lost sight of what I wanted to achieve. I’m not sure that I had it firmly in my mind.”

You need to have a clear mental picture of where you want to go. You need to visualise yourself being successful and work towards it, you then have a far better chance of achieving what you want to achieve.

And case your wondering about Florence Chadwick - she did become the first woman to swim the English Channel on the 8th August 1950. It took her 13 hours 25 minutes and I bet her arms were tired!

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Yes and No.

Yes, goals should take a long time because when you are aiming to achieve big goals, you often run into problems which you had not anticipated like going down with the ‘flu etc.

Even small goals can take time if you are depending on other people to deliver. I and six of my martial arts students took a course on first aid back in October 2004.

We all qualified for the appropriate first aid certificate but one of us is still waiting to receive a correctly spelled certificate. His name has been mispelled twice. It is now half a year later in March 2005 and he is still waiting!

No, goals should not take a long time because big goals are made up of smaller goals which usually do not take up much time unless you are unlucky enough to run into some one who can’t spell!

Even big goals can be achieved at speed if you enlist the help of an experienced and successful mentor who has reached the same goal before you.

I have been planning for several months to sign up as a seller on Ebay and put up a book for sale. Yesterday, with the help of a mentor, the goal was achieved in one hour.

Patience is valuable, whether we have a mentor or not, because it allows us to keep going until we achieve a major goal but a sense of urgency is also valuable because it pushes us to take the first and second step and so on.

We need both patience and a get up and go attitude.

The pacemaker was thought of in 1928 but it took 32 years until it materialized in 1960.

Indira Gandhi, who knew a thing or two, wrote:

“Have a bias toward action — let’s see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.”

We all want to see something happening now which will give us the belief and patience to wait until our final goal is reached.

Patience is also needed because we cannot control the universe.

Urgency is needed because there is a lot we can do ourselves. We just need to get on with it and not worry too much about instant results.

Instant coffee was thought of in 1934 but the idea was not realized until 1956.

It took years for the Berlin wall to come down. Both were worth waiting for.

Our goals may take us much longer than we thought they would. There is no reason to despair. Some goals have taken years and even centuries to be achieved.

All kinds of obstacles including death can arise even if we are working flat out. Let’s not despair but keep on working. We may not reach our goal but can only be happy if we are working hard towards it.

Other people may reach their goals faster than we do. Perhaps they are cleverer or have to face fewer obstacles. We don’t know. All we know and all we can control is what we are doing ourselves.

The only question we need to ask is: “Have I made a list of what I think I need to do to achieve my goal and have I started quickly and efficiently to deal with each task on my list?”

Probably, if we focus and take action on these tasks, we will reach our goal much sooner than we had expected.

About the author

John Watson is an award winning teacher and martial arts instructor. He has recently written two books about achieving your goals and dreams.

They can both be found on his website http://www.motivationtoday.com along with a daily motivational message.

The title of the first book is “36 Laws To Ignite Your Inner Power And Realize Your Dreams Now! - Acronyms, Stories, And Pictures…Easy To Remember And Use Everyday To Grab Your Life And Soar With The Eagles”

The book can be found at this URL

http://www.motivationtoday.com/36_laws.php

The book uses acronyms, stories and pictures to help readers remember 36 laws that can gradually transform your life if you apply them.

You are welcome to publish the article above in your ezine or on your website so long as you do not alter it and keep in the words about the author and the 36 Laws.

I often used to slap hand to forehead and mutter through clinched teeth, Idiot! after realizing that I have, yet again failed to accomplish even the simplest of personal goals (much less the grand New Years goal). Over the years, though, I have managed to develop a cohesive method for curing this ailment (as well as curing the ever-present handprint on my forehead).

Making a positive use of the once negative pet name that I had for myself, I developed Idiots Guide to Goal Setting. Ready to cure the ever-present handprint on your forehead?

First, there is one pre-requisite before launching forth.

Before we even get out of the gate, we must first get beyond the list of things that should be our goals and first commit to making ourselves priority and believing that what WE want IS important! Too often we are convinced that what we should do for ourselves is what we want to do for ourselves. This is not the case.

Push aside the should thoughts and focus on what you passionately want for yourself. What are you willing to commit to and see through to the end?

In order for this commitment to be different from all of the others you must have a support system that will uphold you when the tide of daily life rigors begins to arrive once again.

This is the essential ingredient that most people dont include when they make a commitment to change. The following 5 steps are designed to help you create a resolution that is clear, specific, and planned out with the necessary support and accountability to make this swing at goal setting one for the records!

5 steps to success with goal setting

1. Keep It Simple!

There’s a temptation, to generate a list of everything youve ever wanted to change. Don’t fall for it! You’ll have better luck fulfilling one or two goals than you will with a list of fifty.

2. Be Specific

Let’s say your goal is to create a better balanced life between health, relationships, and work. Word this carefully. Try not to think of it as “I am going to balance my life.” That’s a tall glass of stress ready to be gulped! It forces you into thinking of the resolution as something you must do, not something you want to do.

Make it sound a little gentler: “I’m now going to explore different ways of balancing my life.” This also suggests more of a plan. You will fulfill the goal by experimenting with strategies for life balance.

The first phrasing sounds as if you’re going to force yourself to have a balanced life by sheer willpower.

3. Make the Plan

Once you know what your goal is, plan it out in clear steps. Your plan doesn’t have to be a complicated one. Start by answering the question, What is the first step I need to take toward accomplishing my goal?

For life balance, it might look like this: