Looking for a simple and practical method that will teach you how to achieve your goals and dreams? Smart. Everyone should be interested in learning how to reach their aims in life. The problem? There’s a lot of bad advice out there. The solution? Find people who have achieved success in their own lives and apply their ideas and principles to your own.

Now, here comes the good part…

The principles for attaining success (in any undertaking) are universal. What does this mean in practical terms? It means that the same qualities you use to accomplish one goal can be used to accomplish another.

Of course, new skills must be learned and more knowledge must be acquired based on the goal you’re aiming at; however, the fundamental principles of success are the same for every ambition. So what are they? Keep reading to find out.

1. Know What You Want (A Strong Desire)

When talking about how to achieve your goals and dreams, it is essential to know what you want. This may seem obvious; however, a major reason why people fail to achieve noteworthy success is because they aren’t clear about what they’re going after! They waver in their “convictions” and shy away from making definite decisions.

The result? No progress, no development, and no achievement.

You can have what you want, but you have to know what it is first. Moreover (and this is important), you have to be definite. Vagueness or ambiguity of any kind is detrimental to success. For example…

• Don’t say you want more money; instead, say you want to save $10k within the next 12 months
• Refrain from saying you want to be healthy; instead, say you want to get in the habit of working out 5 days a week
• Rather than saying you want more fulfillment; instead, say you’ll spend 2 days a week spending quality time with family and friends

Your mind can be compared to a heat-seeking missile. Once it “locks on” to a target, it propels itself toward it in that direction. When it comes to how to achieve your goals and dreams, these are the first steps you must take: Know what you want and be definite about it.

2. Create A Plan

Once you have your goal, it’s now time to draft your plan for its accomplishment. Do not skip the planning stage. You can have the most emotionally compelling goals; however, if you lack the proper planning for their attainment, you’ll find it challenging to make any noticeable progress.

This is because you have no framework to guide your actions.

And as we all know, action is the bridge that connects the gap from where you are now to where you want to be. Also, keep in mind that you don’t have to make your plan perfect. Any plan will do; it just needs to be sufficient enough to get you started.

As you make progress and learn what works and what doesn’t, you can adjust your plan accordingly.

But the main thing of importance for how to achieve your goals and dreams is that you begin building momentum through action!

A Few Simple Ideas to Help You Craft Your Plan

1. Consult with a mentor: This doesn’t necessarily have to be someone you hire (although hiring someone to help you is a pretty good idea). It could be anybody who is where you want to be in life or has what you would like to have. Pick their brain. Ask them how they did it. Most people will be more than happy to give you tips and advice that helped make them successful.
2. Stay consistent: I harp on this concept a lot in this blog. And for good reason: You won’t succeed at anything worthwhile unless you can take consistent action toward its achievement. So once you have your action steps laid out, begin implementing them every day. Ensure the plan is sustainable. For example, if you want to lose 20 lbs but you haven’t worked out in years, saying you’re going to hit the gym every day for an hour is not something you can stick to long term. However, when you say you’ll work out 3 to 5 days a week, that’s much more sustainable and realistic.

3. Take Daily Action

Do something every day that moves you a little closer to your goal. This is the key ingredient to accomplishment. Without taking daily action, you have no chance of reaching your aims in life. It’s right here where most people begin fumbling; they plan and strategize but fail to act. And if they actually do act, they fail to stick with it long enough to see any favourable results.

The key? Take daily action until you win.

When it comes to how to achieve your goals and dreams, there is no substitute for consistency. It cannot be replaced with any other quality. With this being the case, here are…

3 Simple Ideas to Help You Develop More Consistency

1. Accountability partner: I will forever be a huge proponent of accountability partners. Having people like this in your life is invaluable. They will help keep you on track toward your goals and ensure you don’t slip too far off the path. The one caveat? Ensure you put something sizable on the line if you fall back on your word. For example, if you tell your accountability partner you’ll work out 5 days a week for the next 3 months, then say you’ll give them $500 if you miss a day.
2. Habit tracker: Do not underestimate the utility of a habit tracker. They can be tremendously helpful in the development of consistency. You get a psychological boost every time you check a habit off on your device that makes you feel like progress is being made. And the best part? You can easily download them to your phone in a matter of minutes right now. Seriously. Do it right now.
3. Take it easy: Self-help speaker and author John Asaraf has a great quote regarding habit formation. He said, “In the beginning, frequency is more important than intensity.” What this means is that when you’re just starting to form habits toward achieving your goals, make them easy but do them every day. For instance, say you’re goal is to say $10,000 cash in your savings account. Start small by putting away $50 each pay check. Then, as you get into the habit, you slowly begin putting away more and more money. If you were to try to sock away $1000 each month, it might be a bit of a financial shock to you, as you’re already used to spending a certain amount to live your current lifestyle. However, by slowly putting away more cash over time, you give yourself time to adjust to changes which makes it much more likely you’ll stick to them long-term and, as a result, reach your goal.

What’s Next? Start Achieving Your Goals and Dreams

When it comes to how to achieve your goals and dreams, the process is easy to understand but difficult to implement. Don’t let that deter you. Your ambitions won’t accomplish themselves; for this reason, you are the catalyst. The buck stops with you. But if you need assistance getting started toward reaching your aims, I can help.

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