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Setting a series of smaller, realistic goals helps build self-confidence towards achieving one's ultimate goals.
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Everyone wants to know the secret to success, the ever-elusive key that opens the door to achievement and prosperity. Before a person can achieve his/her dreams however, he/she needs to know what they are, and then set concrete steps to reach them. This, in a nutshell, is goal-setting (or aspiration).
Setting goals may seem an overwhelming and daunting task, but the fact is, we do it on a daily basis - often without giving it a second thought. We decide what time we will get up, what we will make for dinner, or how many blocks we'll jog. This is aspiration on a small scale. The bigger picture refers to life goals as a whole. We might aspire to conquer the business world, or to travel around the globe in a hot-air balloon. How is it though, that some people are able to achieve these goals while others never manage to? Well, there is one single characteristic that can give a person the edge he/she needs to achieve great things: the ability to set realistic yet challenging goals. Aspiration, not surprisingly, is a vital key to success.
Research has found that the higher the goals we set, the more we strive to achieve. Essentially, what a person makes of his/her life is largely dependent on his/her level of aspiration. Unfortunately, although people may very well set lofty goals, this doesn't necessarily mean that they will automatically be successful. True, there are cases of highly successful people who achieve greatness through a lucky break or by being in the right place at the right time. These cases, however, are extremely rare. Most successful people have put in a great deal of hard work to get where they are.
So if goal-setting is not a guarantee for success, why even talk about it? The fact of the matter is, if a person only aims to keep his/her present level of skill, he/she generates a self-fulfilling prophecy - he/she probably won't improve much. If, on the other hand, a person aims too high, he/she could become frustrated and never reach his/her goal. Therefore, although what a person aspires to achieve does not guarantee success, the manner in which he/she sets and approaches his/her goals has a significant impact on what he/she accomplish, both in the everyday and on a lifetime scale. Goal-setting has a wide and powerful influence on people's lives. Once John is aware of his approach to goal-setting, he can work towards improving it so that he can reach his true potential.
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