The first thing a successful person needs to have is a goal (and the more, the merrier). We all seek success, and we know that nothing ever comes easy. In order to achieve the success we spend our lives chasing, we first need to define our goals. Once that is done, it’s time to start thinking about how to accomplish them. During the past year, while making business decisions, I realized how important is to set goals in every aspect of life, both personal and professional. Setting clear and measurable goals can help in understanding the steps that lead to the finish line with arms up
 
How to set a goal
 
Setting a goal is something you need to practice in order to get it right. It takes time to understand exactly how to set a clear goal that is possible to accomplish. Goal setting is a process that will help you motivate yourself, and the more detailed and precise the goal is, the better your brain will analyze the steps in order to achieve it. Something I practice last year as well was reading the book “The 7 Seven habits of highly effective people” by Stephen R Covey. I find it very helpful as far as setting goals and making a reachable plan.
 
What kind of goals can one have?
 
Professional - “To become a team leader in six months.”
Personal - “To know how to play The Beatles on the piano by the end of the month.”
 
There is a technique that first asks you to set a lifetime goal, such as “I want to play music”, then break it down to small, quantified goals such as “To know how to play piano in five months”. I personally find the task of setting a lifetime goals inefficient as compared to setting smaller, more immediately achievable goals. The smaller and more manageable a task is, the easier it is to measure success, and understand what needs to be done in order to accomplish it.
 
Accomplish one goal, then set the bar higher
 
Sometimes, we have a tendency to lie to ourselves. It happens all the time, usually when we do something we don’t feel like doing, or are trying to find an excuse as to why we did not succeed.
Achieving a goal is a process, and like every process sometimes you take one step forwards and two steps back. It’s important to know how to track and measure your progress. Some goals are “instant goals” that you can accomplished very quickly, but others depends on the progress you make along the way. Sometimes there is a long road on the way to achieving your goals.
Knowing how to be honest with yourself, and learning from the good and bad choices made along the road, are vital parts of the process of achieving your goals. Always know what went wrong, and what went right. When something goes wrong, learn from it and move on. When something goes right, however, make sure know how to enjoy it.
 
There’s nothing like the feeling of success, it’s such a thrill to know you’re on your way to achieving your goals and tasting the success you worked so hard for. Positive reinforcement is an essential part of achieving your goals, learn how to embrace it.
Be positive and have confidence in yourself, always
 
Can we accomplished a goal without believing that it’s possible? Sometimes I feel like setting a goal is a process of making you believe in yourself and in your capabilities.
 
I never thought I would write a blog and release it to the world, but I wanted to. This conflict led me to thinking that if I ever challenged myself to write blogs, I would find it so enjoyable that I would continue to do it even after I achieved my goal.
 
Goals can only be accomplished if we are “hungry” enough to achieve them. In order to be hungry, you need to really want it, and be sure that you will do anything in your power to get there. Self-confidence combined with a positive attitude is the key to quickly achieving our goals.

• Do what you can. Do not rush.
• Take advantage of all the small gaps of time that tend to go wasted during the day. Whether it's the 15 minutes you have between class and lunch, or the twenty minutes from when you wake up in the morning to when your kids wake up, use those spare minutes to accomplish something, because little increments of time add up.
• Set your own rules to measure your achievement per time intervals.
• Be flexible and relax. Allow for the unexpected in life. Other things may take precedence over a rigid and methodical routine. With most unusual circumstances, it may take no more than an hour or a few days to return to your usual schedule.
• Do a task beginning to end. You know those "I deserve a cookie!" moments? those are good. set way-points, and each time you reach one, reward yourself with something that takes little time, and if to be done during the project, little concentration.
• Beware the Pareto Principle. One of the greatest time wasters is spending 95% of one's time on 5% of the tasks needed to be completed. The assumption is that this is a reality because the 5% seem to be the most profitable. This is not always the case.
• Concentrate on what you are doing. Do not let your focus to get lost. Your brain cannot work simultaneously. First complete that task that you have already started, and then move on to the next task.
• Keep distractions like iPads and your cell phones away from you.
• Don't "spread yourself too thin" by overwhelming your day with an unrealistic schedule that would be difficult to accomplish.
• Set aside the concept of "everything has to be done yesterday" in order to create realistic priorities.
• Allow a brief interval between tasks for random happenstances—a phone call, a sudden craving for yogurt, for you telecommuters, or for popping that roast in the oven.
• A good thing to do is to do your homework that day you get it; that way you won't be dragging it until the deadline and you won't be rushing around trying to get it done.
• Pick subjects and not verbs. List ideas and allot time per subject.
• Do not focus all your time on video and other electronics.
• Managing your time can be as simple as scrawling the day's tasks on a piece of paper, or as complex as a spreadsheet with linked tables and calendars. The supplies you need will be dictated by the method you choose.
• Keep track of your productive time with a chess clock. Set up a more realistic schedule once you understand the actual time it takes to complete a task. Just knowing that a certain task will take no more than a half hour will motivate you to complete it.
• Remember, you can't adjust your time accurately. Some unexpected events might come up randomly, so, try to concentrate on tasks achieving, not on the time required.

Warnings

• Don't load yourself with impracticable to-do lists & timelines. You will be frustrated.