Why Are Accountability Partners Crucial to Succeed?

Motivation may get you started, but when it comes to achieving a goal and sustaining the results, you need to rely on more than just your desire to succeed.

In a study about goal achievement conducted by Psychology professor Dr. Gail Matthews from Dominican University in California, the results showed that people who wrote down their goals, shared this information with a friend, and sent them weekly updates were on average 33% more successful in accomplishing their stated goals than those who merely formulated them.

It's clearly not enough to make a declaration about what you are going to do. You have to put in the work,face the possibly of making a few sacrifices and develop a plan. Yes, we can make vision boards, create daily journals or recite positive affirmations but accountability is the only way you will go the extra mile to turn an aspiration into an accomplishment.

Accountability partners serve as confidants, motivators and serve as a means to keep you in check. By arming yourself with the right people in your corner, it totally increases your level of commitment, motivation and help see you through the tough times.

Your Accountability Partner:

1. Will be your biggest cheerleader

Accountability Partners are steadfast motivators. There will be days when your motivation and mental strength will be tested and the excitement you once felt starts to wane. It's on these days that your accountability partner will be your biggest cheerleader by being the one to say 'Yes you Can' on the days when you don't feel like you can continue. They can remind you of what you have accomplished and help keep your goals in sight as you work to make them become a reality.

2. Will challenge you to make what seems 'impossible' possible

We make sure to select accountability partners that understand your goals, and are willing to push you out of your comfort zone. There may be times when you feel apprehensive about taking a risk or your limiting beliefs cast doubt about your potential. These are the times when an accountability partner can help you push through the anxiety and realize that the obstacles that we perceive as mountains are merely bumps along the path.

3. Will celebrate every milestone on your journey no matter how small

During the quest to accomplish a goal, we often get caught in thinking about how far we have left to go rather than how much we have already accomplished. How often do you stop to celebrate your milestones? Your accountability partner keeps your progress in perspective by giving you a pat on the back when you need it and helps you to remember that the journey is just as important as the destination.

4. They will make sure that your goal remains a priority

Once you have a partner to keep you accountable, you will think again about abandoning your goals at the first sign of trouble. In addition to their roles as motivators and cheerleaders, your accountability partner wants to see you succeed.

We make sure to select likeminded women

that won't allow you to give up easily and will help you stay on course. Even when you may feel distracted, you will have the added comfort of knowing you have someone in your corner to bring you back on track.

5. They prove that you don't have to do it alone

One of the greatest benefits of having an accountability partner is the feeling that you will never walk your journey alone. There will always be someone in your corner to help motivate you, dispel your fears or even give you a reality check when you need it. Working towards a goal becomes a team effort instead of a solo one which may help lessen the fear of the unknown.

By having a process that we all follow, with 5 daily questions, 5 minutes per person, 5 days a week, we make sure everyone is on track and that your accountability partner will challenge, engage and evoke a sense of accomplishment in you.

Check out our special gift.

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http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Are-Accountability-Partners-Crucial-to-Succeed?&id=9605856

Who Are Your Accountability Partners?

One of the biggest mistakes we can make in life is to believe that we always have the best or even only answers to our challenges, issues or problems that cross our life path. Is this you? Ever made a mistake that could have been avoided if you had searched or asked for other's opinions, ideas or suggestions? Ever failed at something that you could have avoided if you had listened to the advice or council of others? Well, I am guilty of both of the above mistakes in several areas of my life and

I have to tell you the price in many situations was much higher than seeking out the recommendations or feedback from others.

I can also tell you from a different perspective having worked with hundreds of organizations worldwide that many of the companies that I am aware of that went out of business could have avoided this outcome if they would have just let go of their ego and asked others for their opinions, guidance or feedback.

In fact, I can tell you that over 1000 businesses fail every day in the US alone and most of these are unnecessary and in hindsight most of these business owners or executives would admit that their fate could have been avoided if they would have just asked others for help and listened to them.

Is your career, any of your relationships or business struggling for any reason or is your current business growth setting you up for future failure? Not sure? Don't know? Don't care? Well, much of this pain, struggle and disappointment can be avoided if we will just ask others for their help. Do you have an accountability partner? Partners?

If you don't - I'll bet, you;

-have some personal blind spots

-are in denial in some area of your life

-are not fulfilling your career or business potential

-are missing some life or business opportunities

-feel you are invincible and don't need help from others

-only trust your own inner guidance system or experience

-and many other reasons.

So, what is an accountability partner or partners? I'm not talking about mentors here as they too can be of help during our life but too often there can be something missing in these relationships. For example, one of my mentors is Mark Twain but unfortunately, I can't talk with him when I need to.

An accountability partner is someone who;

You trust, respect and believe has the wisdom, experience, knowledge and willingness to help you during challenging and often difficult life or career periods.

They also;

-can inspire you during down periods.

-forgive you for stupid mistakes or errors.

-keep your issues private and don't share them with anyone.

-let you be you and don't try to change you or manipulate you.

-teach you to learn more effectively and honestly from yourself.

-build you up and encourage you.

-are completely honest with you and don't hold back criticism but do it in a respectful way.

But most importantly they hold you accountable to yourself and your goals,

promises, commitments and pledges that you make to them, others and to yourself.

Got someone like this in your life, someone you can go to whenever, whatever or wherever? Can it be a spouse, parent, boss or friend? Yes, but it depends as these relationships can be muddied up when you also use them as your accountability partner. My experience tells me that yes some of these people can be used as accountability partners for some things but not everything. What we need is someone who can fill this role that we only have this role with.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Who-Are-Your-Accountability-Partners?&id=9666972

Honour Your NO! (By Maggie Slider)

I'm discovering more and more just how much we... especially women, give our power away.

No matter what relationship we are talking about, be it parent-child, husband-wife, teacher-student, even owner-dog, it all starts with power and control. We feel the need to be in control of our lives, and to stand in our power, when in fact we are "not" in control of our lives and we constantly give our power away. My clients lately are confirming this is an epidemic for lack of better words. As I said especially women... let me just clarify, it's men too. The only thing we are in control of is 'ourself'... nothing more - nothing less. How we respond to others and to situations that cross our paths is what we are in control of. What happens, how it happens, other people, these are things we cannot control. Only 10% of what happens is actually the situation or event, the other 90% is our reaction or response. It's how we deal with it, what our emotions are about it and how we see it. If we have an impulse or knee jerk reaction we are not in control and we are giving our power to the person or situation. Learning to breathe, count to 10, possibly walk away, take time to think about how to respond, is being in control and standing in your power. We allow or emotions to get the better of us, we feel vulnerable and come from a place of guilt or shame which is actually us trying to protect ourselves.

We have to meet others where they are simply because we cannot control them or how they will behave, we can only control our response to them. Many of my clients tell me that their spouses or exes are Narcissists... well let me tell you you will never win with a narcissist because they don't see things in a logical, rational way. They take no accountability and are never responsible for their shortfalls as they play the victim and always blame others. It's always going to be your fault. They take your power away piece by piece and we allow it. We feel the need to justify our actions, why we do what we do or did what we did, so that others will understand our side of the story. Let me say this... You do not need to justify anything when you know your own truth, have control of yourself and are standing in your own power. Seriously... honour your NO, by saying NO without the need to give an explanation! You do not need to look for acceptance or approval and you do not need to apologize for standing in your power and honouring your NO. We are afraid of what others will think if we say NO! What if they call you a bitch, what if they talk badly behind your back and start rumours about you? What if they do? That is on them, only hurt people, hurt people and only people who are hurting, get hurt. Being assertive, is not being a bitch and it's not being a complainer, it's having boundaries and standing in your power! Honour your no without apology!

If you are sick and tired of giving away your power and feeling guilt about saying NO its time to change that. Being assertive is a strength, a boundary and necessary for your health. What is it costing you in terms of your health, stress level, energy and self esteem? Is it time for change? I can help you

http://ezinearticles.com/?Honour-Your-NO!&id=9968156

Time Management Tips for Students of All Ages (By Tonya White Johnson)

It's a brand new school year, and I am having loads of fun watching and hearing all of the first-day school stories and seeing the pictures of students heading back to school. And while the first few days of school are always fun and exciting for both student and parents it's important to get a jump start on what's important.

I have to warn you, that just like that you will look up and half the year is gone. It's around this time that my coaching and tutoring line starts blowing up. The first semester is typically okay. The second one is where the struggles begin. Time management can make all the difference in a successful or unsuccessful year for a student. Here are a few time management tips that are paramount to passing classes and being promoted to the next grade or next level.

Make a to-do list-I encourage my middle schoolers and up to purchase and use a scheduler. It's important to know where you are supposed to be and when. It's also important to make a schedule and see what tasks are to be completed on a daily basis. Checking these tasks off as you go helps you see how productive your day is.

To do list evaluation-Students that are old enough and responsible enough to review their task list can do it on their own at the end of the day. However, it is important to be very honest and make sure that all tasks are getting done and not just checked off. For younger children, parents should be a part of evaluating their daily to-do list; this helps to teach them responsibility and accountability. It's also an excellent time to chat and catch up with your little one while reviewing the to-do list. I encourage parents to make sure they get started with a to- do list with their middle schoolers and above but some parents have helped their children use daily planners in elementary school with much success.

Use your time wisely-most people would be amazed at the time that is wasted throughout the day. One way to understand how much is being lost is to keep a log of your time. There are many distractions to choose from including social media, text, video games and more. The unfortunate part is that we have these distractions at our fingertips now. Gone are the days when you had to wait to get home and watch TV or call your best boyfriend or girlfriend. Our phones and tablets are attached to us and are everywhere present. It makes it very easy to check your phone 100 times a day. The problem is that each time the phone is pulled out the clock is ticking and time is being wasted. The first time I did this exercise I was amazed at how many times I looked at my phone during working hours.

If you are not already, parents should consider limiting cell phone and TV watching time. While there are many valid arguments for taking a phone to school these days, there are also valid questions as to how much distraction is a phone. Gone are the days when half of lunch was spent reading, or catching upon the next day's homework. Make sure your student is using their time wisely. Talk to them about censoring themselves to spend less time on their cell phone and more time on school work.

Communicate your schedule to others---make sure your friends and family know your study hours. Phone calls and text can be very distracting when doing school work and are huge time wasters. Simply communicating to your friends that you are not available for a period of time would help tremendously. Being able to do homework for an entire two hours versus 30 minutes can greatly enhance and improve grades.

Time yourself--- My final time management tip that is great for all ages is the kitchen timer. There is an actual story behind the Pomodoro (from which this method originated) that I won't' go into at this time, but I typically encourage my students to get a simple kitchen timer to use as a time management tool. It is used just the same way your mother or grandmother uses it in the kitchen. You set a time preferably, 25 minutes, to complete focus on your school work and when the time goes off, you stop. You would be amazed at what can get done in 25 minutes of focused time.

No doubt about it these time management tips are beneficial for all ages. However, it is especially gratifying to see young students learn these habits at an early age. I have personally seen some great success with students of all ages when they use these time management skills.

Learning these good time management habits are life skills that are beneficial in college, career and beyond. Some argue to let kids be kids, but I am a firm believer that as parents are given a responsibility to train up our children in the way, they should go. We are given a one-time opportunity to teach them life skills. When we start certain methods is an individual choice. However, research has proven that those things learned in our formative years are likely to stay with is for a lifetime.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Time-Management-Tips-for-Students-of-All-Ages&id=9499375

10 Steps to Achieve Any Goal

Accountability powers you toward your goals, and these guidelines for unleashing its power will get you over the rainbow to what you want.

Heart. Intelligence. Courage.

They’re all valuable traits, but they pale in comparison to what each of us needs most in the quest to total life success: Personal accountability is No. 1.

We first introduced our powerful accountability philosophy to the world over two decades ago in a New York Times best-seller, The Oz Principle. Since then, millions of people have come to know us as “the Oz guys.”

Why Oz? As it turns out, the perfect metaphoric backdrop for our timeless principles is a timeless story, one that we both loved as kids.

Surely you will recall meeting Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion from the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, based on L. Frank Baum’s classic children’s novel. All of the main characters are thrust into despairing circumstances beyond their control. A tornado rips Dorothy from her Kansas farm and hurls her against her will to a strange fantasy world. The Scarecrow lives a stagnant life amid corn and crows because his creator skimped on brains. The Tin Man is rusted in place, unable to act because he lacks the heart to move. And the lovable Cowardly Lion? He lacks courage and nerve, and therefore lives a life well below his potential.

Feeling victimized by shortcomings and circumstances, the characters believe they cannot possibly change things on their own, so they set off on the yellow brick road to the Land of Oz in hopes of finding an all-powerful wizard who will solve all of life’s problems for them.

At the heart of their message and ours lies this one simple principle: Don’t let your circumstances define who you are and what you do.

In other words, don’t place the hope of future success in the hands of some wizard’s wand. Relying on someone or something to save you only brings a sense of victimization that paralyzes your ability to think clearly, creatively and quickly. Instead, take charge of shaping your own circumstances, and good, positive, game-changing things will begin to happen.

Whether you’re looking to make wholesale changes in your life or just want to fine-tune it a little, here are 10 guidelines—highlights from our newest book, The Wisdom of Oz—that will help you unleash the power of personal accountability to take ownership for your actions, decisions, successes and failures.

1) Redefine accountability. 

Does the mere mention of the word accountability make you shudder? The negative (and uninspiring) view of accountability is reinforced in the common dictionary definition: “Subject to having to report, explain or justify; being answerable, responsible.”

Staying true to yourself and your goals should not be drudgery. You must view your accountability as a gift to yourself, a voluntary mindset to ensure success, not something you’re force-feeding yourself even though you hate it.

2) Think as if your life depended on it. 

When you shift to a determined, creative mindset, you begin to discover solutions for challenges that you may have believed were out of your control. If your life depended on it, would you come up with a new idea or strategy to save yourself? Absolutely.

The goal you want to achieve or the problem you want to solve probably is not a life-or-death scenario, but many creative solutions come when you put everything on the line. While your life may not be at risk, your happiness and success are.

3) When you can’t control your circumstances, don’t let your circumstances control you. 

On March 22, 2012, the state army of Mali stormed the presidential palace, overthrowing the western African country’s 20-year-old democracy. In the turmoil, Islamic militants took control of two-thirds of the country and crushed the upcoming democratic elections.

It was a tragic moment when the coup happened, says Yeah Samake, mayor of the small town of Ouélessébougou, located approximately 40 miles from the chaos. “I came into my living room and completely collapsed on the couch. My wife came and kicked me. I couldn’t believe it. I told her, ‘I am looking for sympathy here. Why are you kicking me?’ She only said, ‘Get out there and go do something.’ ”

Whether you get off the couch on your own or require a little nudge from somewhere else, the point is to get out there and do something.

4) You’ve got to want it more than you don’t want it.

 Everything will exact a certain price from you—energy, effort, patience, resources. It’s natural to want the good things in life without paying the price: You want to lose weight but don’t want to exercise or sacrifice your favorite foods. You want a promotion but don’t want to put in the extra hours. Success comes when you hit a tipping point and begin to desire your goal more than you dread the cost of reaching it.

5) Don’t let gravity pull you down. 

Just as massive planets produce gravity—drawing everything toward them—it seems that tough problems and challenging obstacles have enough mass to pull you away from getting what you want. This force gets bigger and stronger as the challenges get larger and tougher. Don’t give in.

6) Every breakthrough requires a bold stroke.

Actor Jim Carrey grew up so poor that his family lived in a van after his father lost his job; at one point the Carreys slept in a tent on a relative’s lawn. But Carrey believed in his own future and in the things that he wanted to accomplish in his life.

As the story goes, one night early in Carrey’s struggling comic career, he drove his beat-up Toyota to the Hollywood Hills and, while overlooking Los Angeles, pulled out his checkbook and wrote himself a check for $10 million. He scribbled in the notation line “For acting services rendered” and stuck it in his wallet. In that moment, Carrey cemented his personal resolve. Over the next five years, Carrey’s promise to himself led to worldwide fame. At the peak of his career, his per-film paycheck reached $20 million.

When you discover your own internal power, you see that you have the right, the ability, even the obligation, to create your own best reality.

7) Ask for feedback. 

Soliciting advice and criticism from others creates accountability.

For this to work, you will need to convince the mentor, friend, colleague or significant other whom you’re appealing to that you want to know what he really thinks. The evaluator needs to know that he won’t suffer any blowback if he is totally honest. Feedback is key to overcoming blind spots and achieving better results.

8) Ask yourself, Am I a renter or an owner?

 We care more for the things we own than for the things we rent because we don’t have as much invested in things that are temporary; there’s not as much at stake. Have you ever washed a rental car? Of course not.

When you own something—whether it’s a car, a work assignment or a relationship—you make an investment, usually involving some degree of sacrifice. When you rent, you can walk away without losing anything. If you’re really committed to achieving your goal, go all in.

9) Prepare to move a lot of dirt.

 Finding solutions is just like digging for gold. Have you seen the Discovery Channel reality show Gold Rush? It follows the lives of modern-day miners as they compete against time, one another and nature in hopes of striking it rich. First the miners must remove a top layer of 6 to 12 feet of dirt and rocks before the real mining even starts. Below this seemingly worthless and painful 6 to 12 feet, they hit pay dirt. The more pay dirt the miners process, the more gold they potentially find. In the end, they must move several tons of dirt to find just 1 ounce of gold. It’s hard work, but it yields rich rewards.

Their bottom-line secret to success: Keep digging.

10) Make it happen! 

How do you do that? How do you really make personal accountability work for you? Wouldn’t it be easy if there were just some switch you could flip? An Easy Button you could push? Maybe an app you could use? Well, there really is a flipping magical switch-app-button. It’s called making a choice and acting on it.

You have the choice to fulfill your aspirations or wallow in the blame game and victim cycle.

True success doesn’t come from the outside but from within. There is no wizard. Taking greater personal accountability is the key to succeeding in everything you do.

http://www.success.com/article/10-steps-to-achieve-any-goal

Tips To Stay Focused On Your Goals This Year

Most people begin the year with new resolutions or goals, unfortunately only a few achieve them. In fact, new studies reveal that less than 10% of people who set goals achieve them. What does this small category of people do differently? One reason people fail to achieve their goals is because they lack focus. With so many activities competing for our attention it is easy to be distracted from those productive ones that directly impact on our goals, positively. Here are three suggestions on how you can focus on your goals this year to ensure that you achieve them.

Carefully think through your goals 

As much as you need to be realistic, you should also be sincere with yourself. What is the real reason behind the goals you have set? For instance, why do you want to travel to at least 10 countries before the first quarter? Is it a borrowed goal? In what ways would it benefit you? Do you have all the necessary resources? By honestly examining your motives, you find strong convictions to keep you going even as things get tough. Also, you would be more willing to dedicate your resources towards achieving them.

Be accountable 

Another way you can stay focused on your goals this year is through accountability. One way of being accountable is by collaborating with people with the same goals as you. For instance, if you plan to increase your savings, you could join a transparent, well structured group established for that purpose. Most traders use this means to achieve their financial goals. You could also share your plans with people you know have succeeded in the area of your focus and ask them to keep you accountable. By doing so, you would benefit from their valuable experiences and much needed encouragements. Some people turn to the internet community for accountability purposes, by blogging on their journeys, for example. Staying focused on your goals requires commitment; being accountable makes the whole process a bit easy.

Develop the right attitude 

What happens when your zeal fades or when you are confronted with threats, most, beyond your control? Will you quit or will you still forge ahead? People who achieve their goals actually factor in these events, and when they happen don't abandon their plans. Find new ways to inspire yourself. Let the progress you would have made, no matter how little inspire you. Rather than focus on the challenges you will face, think of new ways to solve them. You need to develop the right attitudes of persistence, diligence and strong determination to pull through.

When we focus on our goals to achieve them, we place ourselves in a position where we are more in control of our lives. However, what is equally as important as what we achieve is who we become in the process - self confident, driven and focused people will conveniently take on more challenging tasks.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Tips-To-Stay-Focused-On-Your-Goals-This-Year&id=9311270

The #1 Secret To Realizing Your Biggest Dreams

For years I was convinced I knew what kept people from achieving their goals in life: determination and persistence. But now, my opinion has changed. I think accountability is the key to success.

Persistence and determination are nearly impossible to sustain in a vacuum — accountability is the missing ingredient necessary for major achievement. Marketers know this and often use our lack of accountability to increase profits.

The gym industry’s business model, for example, is to vastly oversell memberships, knowing that a huge percentage of newly recruited clients will visit once or twice at most. In fact, Planet Fitness gyms average 6,500 members each but can hold a maximum of 300 people.

They’re quite confident that only the tiniest fraction of members will ever show up. Your lack of accountability is how they make a profit.

When we’re pursuing our creative or personal dreams, however, we’re usually totally on our own.

On the flip side, as both a yoga teacher and a writing coach, I know how powerful accountability really is.

Having taught hundreds of yoga clients one-on-one, it’s extremely rare that someone writes me a large check for a package of 10 private lessons and then vanishes into the woodwork.

Yes, paying the larger cash investment helps guarantee a commitment, but even greater than that is the accountability to me as their trainer. Unlike hitting the snooze alarm for an hour and blowing off a morning spin class, if we’ve made a 7 a.m. appointment I will definitely be knocking on their door at 6:59 a.m. That accountability makes all the difference in the world.

I’ve observed similar phenomena with my writing clients. I can always tell when someone is actually going to achieve his or her goals or whether when I circle back to them in two or three years, they will be in the exact same situation. I wish it were a testament to my psychic abilities, but it’s not. It’s entirely to do with the accountability they’ve created (or not).

In “real life,” we’re often held accountable by pure economic necessity (i.e., if we don’t show up for our nine-to-five, we'll become homeless) or an observant partner, roommate, or cable company (“I’m sorry, but why don’t you have your share of this month’s electric bill?”).

When we’re pursuing our creative or personal dreams, however, we’re usually totally on our own. No one’s prodding us to write the screenplay or novel we’ve been dreaming about, perhaps have even started, making sure we fill up the blank page.

Even worse, sometimes key people in our lives may be unknowingly sabotaging our success.

Rather than affirming your fitness goals, all your friends might, in a spirit of loving support, tell you not to worry about those 15 pounds you know you desperately want to lose. They mean well, but they’re agents of destruction for your workouts.

Someone might just be too close to really be objective or unabashedly honest. Worse still, an inappropriate accountability partner might have conflicts with your success, secretly hoping that you maintain the status quo rather than achieving your full potential.

If you really want to achieve your goals, it’s vital that you have an accountability structure.

One potential creative client of mine reconsidered at the last minute, saying that her husband volunteered to be her free accountability partner on her writing project. They may have an awesome relationship but there’s no way he can be both supportive AND objective. Of course, and not surprisingly, over the last three years, not one word of that book has been written.

I’m definitely not suggesting that appropriate accountability can only be had with paid coaches or trainers like myself.

What I am saying is that if you really want to achieve your goals, it’s vital that you not only have an accountability structure but also that it’s supportive, meaningful, and objective.

Credit card companies have this down to a science (except the supportive part). If you miss a payment, they’ve no problem quite literally calling you out on it. They are completely objective about the fact that you missed a deadline. The accountability becomes meaningful because they’re happy to remind you that there are consequences to your lapses: late fees and credit reporting.

A trained coach in your industry might be best, but how else might you find a solid accountability partner?

Perhaps you can find a gym buddy equally committed to his or her fitness goals who won’t tolerate even your best excuses.

On a creative level, you might find kindred spirits in a writers group, a theater company, or a shared studio space where a healthy, supportive spirit exists — perhaps even one with a dose of competition.

What’s most vital is that you realize that no matter how talented, how ambitious, how committed or tenacious you are, that you cannot do it alone.

No one can.

And that's the final bonus of accountability. Having someone in your corner who is cheerleader, champion, and a bit of a taskmaster not only makes you more effective — it’s also a lot less lonely.

Making sure that accountability is part of your support system will not only make all your 2016 goals infinitely more achievable; it will also make the journey vastly more satisfying.

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-23164/the-1-secret-to-realizing-your-biggest-dreams.html

Rohn: 4 Tips for Setting Powerful Goals

We all have two choices: We can make a living or we can design a life. Here’s how to do the latter.

The most important benefit of setting goals isn’t achieving your goal; it’s what you do and the person you become in order to achieve your goal that’s the real benefit.

Goal-setting is powerful because it provides focus. It shapes our dreams. It gives us the ability to hone in on the exact actions we need to perform to achieve everything we desire in life. Goals are great because they cause us to stretch and grow in ways that we never have before. In order to reach our goals, we must become better.

Life is designed in such a way that we look long-term and live short-term. We dream for the future and live in the present. Unfortunately, the present can produce many difficult obstacles. But setting goals provides long-term vision in our lives. We all need powerful, long-range goals to help us get past those short-term obstacles. Fortunately, the more powerful our goals are, the more we’ll be able to act on and guarantee that they will actually come to pass.

What are the key aspects to learn and remember when studying and writing our goals? Here’s a closer look at goal-setting and how you can make it forceful and practical:

1. Evaluate and reflect.

The only way we can reasonably decide what we want in the future and how we’ll get there is to know where we are right now and what our current level of satisfaction is. So first, take some time to think through and write down your current situation; then ask this question on each key point: Is that OK?

The purpose of evaluation is twofold. First, it gives you an objective way to look at your accomplishments and your pursuit of the vision you have for life. Secondly, it shows you where you are so you can determine where you need to go. Evaluation gives you a baseline to work from.

Take a couple of hours this week to evaluate and reflect. See where you are and write it down so that as the months progress and you continue a regular time of evaluation and reflection, you will see just how much ground you’re gaining—and that will be exciting!

2. Define your dreams and goals.

One of the amazing things we have been given as humans is the unquenchable desire to have dreams of a better life and the ability to establish and set goals to live out those dreams. We can look deep within our hearts and dream of a better situation for ourselves and our families. We can dream of better financial, emotional, spiritual or physical lives. We have also been given the ability to not only dream, but pursue those dreams—and not just pursue them, but the cognitive ability to lay out a plan and strategies to achieve those dreams. Powerful!

What are your dreams and goals? This isn’t what you already have or what you have done, but what you want. Have you ever really sat down and thought through your life values and decided what you really want? Have you ever taken the time to truly reflect, to listen quietly to your heart, to see what dreams live within you? Your dreams are there. Everyone has them. They may live right on the surface, or they may be buried deep from years of others telling you they were foolish, but they are there.

Take time to be quiet. This is something that we don’t do enough of in this busy world of ours. We rush, rush, rush, and we’re constantly listening to noise all around us. The human heart was meant for times of quiet—to peer deep within. It is when we do this that our hearts are set free to soar and take flight on the wings of our own dreams. Schedule some quiet “dream time” this week. No other people. No cellphone. No computer. Just you, a pad, a pen and your thoughts.

Think about what really thrills you. When you are quiet, think about those things that really get your blood moving. What would you love to do, either for fun or for a living? What would you love to accomplish? What would you try if you were guaranteed to succeed? What big thoughts move your heart into a state of excitement and joy? When you answer these questions you will feel great and you will be in the “dream zone.” It is only when we get to this point that we experience what our dreams are.

Write down all of your dreams as you have them. Don’t think of any as too outlandish or foolish—remember—you’re dreaming! Let the thoughts fly and take careful record.

Now, prioritize those dreams. Which are most important? Which are most feasible? Which would you love to do the most? Put them in the order in which you will actually try to attain them. Remember, we are always moving toward action—not just dreaming.

3. Make your goals S.M.A.R.T.

The acronym S.M.A.R.T. means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-sensitive.

Specific: Goals are no place to waffle. They are no place to be vague. Ambiguous goals produce ambiguous results. Incomplete goals produce incomplete futures.

Measurable: Always set goals that are measurable. I would say “specifically measurable” to take into account our principle of being specific.

Attainable: One of the detrimental things that many people do—with good intentions—is setting goals that are so high that they are unattainable.

Realistic: The root word of realistic is “real.” A goal has to be something that we can reasonably make “real” or a “reality” in our lives. There are some goals that are simply not realistic. You have to be able to say, even if it is a tremendously stretching goal, that yes, indeed, it is entirely realistic—that you could make it. You may even have to say that it will take x, y and z to do it, but if those happen, then it can be done. This is in no way to say it shouldn’t be a big goal, but it must be realistic.

Time: Every goal should have a timeframe attached to it. One of the powerful aspects of a great goal is that it has an end—a time in which you are shooting to accomplish it. As time goes by, you work on it because you don’t want to get behind, and you work diligently because you want to meet the deadline. You may even have to break down a big goal into different parts of measurement and timeframes—that is OK. Set smaller goals and work them out in their own time. A S.M.A.R.T. goal has a timeline.

4. Have accountability.

When someone knows what your goals are, they hold you accountable by asking you to “give an account” of where you are in the process of achieving that goal. Accountability puts some teeth into the process. If a goal is set and only one person knows it, does it really have any power? Many times, no. A goal isn’t as powerful if you don’t have one or more people who can hold you accountable to it.

http://success.com/article/rohn-4-tips-for-setting-powerful-goals