I finally struck upon the best and most effective way to establish and write personal goals, after having a very enlightening and insightful discussion and training with my mentor. I know you may have read how to develop and write goals many times but this is the most unique and functional method I have ever run across.

Let me start by saying, what do you really want out of life? I know that sounds like an overwhelming and loaded question, but it can be dealt with if you simply break the components down into workable elements.

I found that I really like the SMART system. It is a proven method of defining and developing goals. Use these guidelines to identify and write your goals.

S - Specific: M - Measurable: A - Attainable: R - Relevant: T - Timetable-able:

I'm sure you can already tell where I'm going with this but bear with me and I will walk you through an explanation and you will quickly see the simple steps involved in writing goals.

Specific - Precisely identify your why. Your why is a primary motivator in your quest to obtain your worthwhile goals. It is what you are passionate about. It may be financial, spiritual, health, material, etc. For example, if your goal is financial, what "exact amount" do you want to earn and, most importantly, what will it provide? I learned the hard way when I first developed my goals; I actually had no specific financial amount listed. Thus, it begs the question, how much did I wish to achieve? If your goal has to do with weight reduction, "how much" do you wish to take off and what size will you wear? The more specific you are the better your mind will be able to grasp the concept and achieve your goal. If you're goal is to buy a car--know the color, make, model, options and all the details of the exact car you want. Visualize what you desire by taking time in feeling you have already achieved it. How do you feel now that you have achieved your goal? Get emotionally involved with the result. Your subconscious, meaning your mind, will believe whatever you tell it, real and imagined. It can't tell the difference, nor does it care. Goals can only be accomplished when coupled with serious emotional feeling. Your subconscious communicates by emotions, feeling, and the senses, it does not speak a language.

Measurable - how will you know you are moving in the right direction if you don't identify your marker? Set a specific date for your accomplishment and reinforce it within your subconscious as being true and attainable. Your goal must be measurable. You won't get the results you want by saying, "I want to be out of debt". Saying, "I will earn $50K by September 1, 2008" is far more positive. The result, of course, will be that you are out of debt as well.

Attainable - You must believe that you are able to achieve your goal. However, the farther you reach the farther you will go. It may seem somewhat unrealistic to you now, but it shouldn't seem insurmountable. You must stretch your comfort zone and when you become more comfortable, stretch it again, and continue.

Relevant - Your goal should be something you are passionate about. You should be emotionally involved with your goal. Remember how your subconscious works? Feelings, senses, and emotions are what it really understands. If you are married or have a partner, each person should have their own goals, ones that are personal to you that you desire to achieve. Relevant personal goals must be just that, personal to you with no concern to other people.

Timetable - able - Your goals should have an expected date of completion. This is usually an educated guess. Obviously none of us can really see our future and that is probably a good thing. We must set doable time restraints upon our goals and actions. Keep in mind that work expands to fill the time allowed for it! If you want $1,000 by the end of the week, state it with conviction that you desire $1,000 by Friday, the 5th of August.

Once you have set your goals, spend time daily reflecting on them. I would suggest reading them a minimum of three times a day. When you first wake up in the morning, at lunch, and just before you go to bed in the evening. Write them onto your goal cards, three by five cards are the best, and carry them with you everywhere. Identify what actions are necessary to take on a daily and weekly basis to achieve your goals. Keep in mind however, the difference between a task and action you must take, and an actual end result goal. In addition, identify what actions you currently are taking that are NOT in alignment with achieving your goals (ex: TV & video games). Follow through with consistent, focused action. When you have goals you are emotionally involved causing feelings, using the senses, and are passionate about, taking action will be easy.

In summary I must express my appreciation to my mentor and the Beyond Freedom Program for opening up this area of my life and having it all make sense. By use of the above information I was able to develop reachable, emotional, and fun goals for myself from a daily basis out to six months. I'm still working on the long term goals and working backwards. Working backwards? Well, that's a subject for another article.