When these same class members were surveyed twenty years later, it was discovered that the 3% group with written goals had financial income exceeding the total of the remaining 97%.

A goal is a dream with a deadline. If it is not written down, it is just a wish. We need to have desire and vision. We need to follow our spirit to where we want to be, and know what we want to achieve.We need to know where we want to go.

There is a saying that,"If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there." If our goals are just indefinite dreams, then we have no clear expectations for them to become reality.

When our goals are defined, our thoughts, energies, and creative talents focus on their achievement. Whatever we are fascinated by, whatever we define as an objective and focus our attention on,we tend to bring into our lives.

Work on your inner qualities first, and be committed to personal growth. The things that help us to grow are:

• The people we meet and associate with.

• The books we read; tapes, lectures, and sermons we listen to; the seminars we attend.

• How well we get to know, understand, and accept ourselves.

Personal growth takes effort and commitment. Growth and change only happen when we venture out of our comfort zones. The answers to your life are within you. Are you growing and learning? Meditate, and dwell on your questions, and the answers will come to you.

Goals are many and varied, but they must be real. Goals can be short-term, medium-term, and long-term. They can be internal and external.

To formulate and define your goals, start brainstorming without qualification, and write each one down.

Next, divide your list into categories such as: spiritual, social, health, material, career, recreational, financial, and relationship, identifying what value each one fulfills.

Next, look at your listing within categories to see if you have balance in your life. Do the majority fall into one, or into a few categories? What is the motivation behind each goal? What are you trying to accomplish?

In order to be effective in leading us toward a sense of lasting fulfillment, our goals and visions must be:

• Based on our values.

• Positive, active, and creative. (Passive, spectator activities such as watching tv can pass the time enjoyably, but they are not truly recreational. They do not "re-create" and help us grow.)

• Something we start on right now and work toward.

• Time limited, with a clear date objective and aim for their accomplishment.

• Written down and referred to, so they become objectives of our subconscious mind.

• Specific, so we can know how they directly relate to what we want in our lives.

• Formulated in a plan with a series of action steps leading to their accomplishment.

• Something we really desire. (If we don't truly desire something, it will not happen. Desire is the starting point, the fuel of achievement in life.)

Finally, goals focus our activities so we can achieve objectives. But remember, your life focus should also be enjoyable. Goals are there to give direction. Use them as a guide, without allowing them to be so set that you become a slave to them. Slavery in any form is a curse, and counterproductive to the pursuit of happiness and health.

Planning

Making a plan is a process of taking a goal we want to achieve and breaking it down into its simplest action steps. A good method of planning is to start with the end result or goal we want to achieve and then work backwards to where we are now.

Having identified the path backwards, we can then map out step by step, with time objectives for each step, the plan that we think will best lead to the achievement we want.

Good planning takes into consideration the priority of activities in terms of our values and needs. This is an important identification process to go through so that we are making an efficient and profitable use of our time. In other words, it is good time management.

The saying "more haste, less speed" is often true. If we just bolt ahead without much thought to get the job done, we often either complete the task or project at a poorer standard than we are capable of,or we subsequently have to redo parts of it.

Similarly, if we have several tasks to complete,and we just start working on them more or less at random,we are probably not making the best use of our time.

When we are able to sort our activities into priorities, we can reduce our stress level, increase efficiency and the quality of our output, as well as accomplish more of what is really important in our lives.

Moving Toward Your Purpose

Once you have a clear vision of your purpose, have defined your values, priorities, and goals, and have formulated a step-by-step plan, you can begin to put the plan into action.

Having a clear outline in our conscious minds and going over it periodically prepares our subconscious to begin creating the future we envision.

Our lives can move forward. We have motivation to improve. We are in a better position to make the attitude changes that are needed, which will assist us in achieving our goals.

We can adopt attitudes that will help us, such as being relaxed, assertive, patient, confident, determined, calm, and caring.

You must be able to focus your attention to create and achieve your purpose. Focus on, and stay committed to a particular project, career, or relationship. It is a universal law that we attract to ourselves what we focus on. Focus on progress, achievement, abundance, and success.

Spending time judging, resisting, complaining, criticizing, fearing, or worrying is counterproductive and does not contribute to achieving a positive purpose, nor to a healthy physical body.

A statement by Vladimir Kuskoff summarizes this truth: "Where the majority of your thoughts lie, there lies your destiny."

A new and improved life – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually – is there for your making. Start with a vision that gives you a picture of what you want.

Create a plan of how you will move toward it. Work each step of your plan with determination and commitment. Enjoy the challenges, successes, and progress along the way.

As you do these things for yourself, you are consciously making a new reality, creating your own enthusiasm for life.