It’s that time of the year when we begin thinking about what we want to achieve next year. It’s a great time of year, filled with hope, excitement and ambition. The problem is most people will fail and achieve nothing next year. Sure, they will set some goals, they will develop some ‘I would like to…’ objectives and then by the second week of January will have forgotten what it was they really wanted to achieve.

The reason for this fail-rate is most people begin in the wrong place. If you want to set goals that are achievable, you need to begin with your vision. The vision you have about what you will be doing in twelve months time. Your relationships, your work, your hobbies and interests, your lifestyle. Everything must be included. It takes time, it can be a lot of fun and it should excite you. If you are doing it because you think you ‘should’ do it, then you are doing it for the wrong reasons. You need to be determined to make the changes and be prepared to take the necessary action to make it all happen.

To achieve goals, your goals need to reflect the person you want to become, the way you want to live your life and the things you want to be doing. Once you have established those things, only then will you be ready to start creating goals. Your life vision is not going to be achieved in twelve months. It takes a lifetime to create an amazing life, but each new year represents a large stepping stone towards achieving that life. When you break things down into easily achievable chunks you will find you are creating a special life for yourself. Step by step, each year taking you towards the vision you have for yourself and your family. It’s a journey, and it will be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding journeys you go on.

This is why if you have never sat down to think about the way you want to live your life, now would be a good time to do so. Make sure your vision mirrors the vision of your spouse or life partner. If your spouse or life partner’s vision is different from yours, then you are either heading towards a breakup or you are not going to achieve your vision. Neither of which is good.

It is not easy to develop your life vision as most people find deciding what they want in the future difficult. We see so many things we want, yet we can’t have everything. I find it is easier to begin with things like the kind of work you want to be doing in twenty years time, where you want to be living, what you will be doing in your free time etc. These are great questions to start with. They can be the spark that puts you in the right frame of mind to come up with your real desires and aspirations.

I have always found the question about what work you want to be doing, how and where you will be working are the best places to start. From there you can imagine where you will be living. What will your home look like and what kind of car will you be driving.

This does not have to be radically different from what you have now. You may be very happy with your career, your lifestyle and your relationships. But there are always things you want to change or improve. It could be your diet, or you want to become more active or you may even want to dress better every day. No matter what it is you want to change or achieve, you do need to begin with your vision of how things will be once you have made that change. It is from that vision that great things grow.

Your vision will allow you to work out what it is you have to do to make that change happen. If you imagine yourself in December 2018 going out for a 5KM run after work every day, that can be translated into a goal of going out for a thirty to forty minute walk every evening after work. Then, as time goes by, you gradually move towards walk/jog for thirty to forty minutes and finally, you will find yourself running. Because you set the goal to go and do something active every evening after work, you will develop the habit of being active after work every day and within a few months, you will be running your 5KM every evening.

If you have the vision of managing your own department in December 2018, you need to arrange to have a meeting with your boss or your HR department to talk with them about what you need to be doing to achieve that position. By talking with your boss or HR department now, you are notifying them that you want to move up in your career and they will tell you what you need to do to achieve that position. Once you know that, you can set about doing what needs to be done to make it happen.

So, whatever it is you want to have achieved by December 2018, you need to be visioning now. Really understanding every aspect of what it will be like once you have achieved that goal. Then work backwards to where you are today and build your goals around that. It does all begin with your vision.

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