An essential part of every business is to have a clear plan of where they want to go this is commonly referred to as a vision statement. In the story of Alice and Wonderland you may remember Alice comes upon a Cheshire cat sitting in a tree. She asks the cat which path I should take to get out of here.” The cat asks “which way are you going?” Alice replies “I don’t know”. The cat says, well, then, any path will take you there. Unfortunately, this represents the road taken not only by many individuals, but by many companies as well. This is why goal setting is extremely important for individuals and companies. The challenge is while most everyone is goal seekers by nature, we are not goal-setters by habit or by design. This is exactly why organizations and individuals need a process to make sure that the defined results do, in fact, happen.

First do a dream inventory by listing any and everything you want for yourself or for the people in your life. This list should have at least 100 things that you want. Second set a goal for every dream that you have. Start placing the goals into different categories. For example, you may have a financial goal, a physical fitness goal, a travel goal, you get the picture. Next list the rewards for achieving your goal(s) and the consequence for not reaching your goal. Both the reward and the consequence will keep you moving towards your goal. Some people are motivated by what they know they will get while others are motivated by what they will lose.

Once you have your rewards and your consequences are clearly defined think about what are possible obstacles that could get in the way of you reaching your goal and the possible solutions to any obstacle. Once you get to this stage you are on your way to achieving your goal. The only thing that is left is for you to set a date for completion, identify your support people and write out some affirmations to remind you how great you are when the going gets tough.

Dream, set some goals and live the life you imagine!