The one thing each of these things has in common is that they never seem to happen. There's never enough time, or enough money, or we just don't get to them. They seem impossible.

Yet, each and every one of these worthy goals can be easily achieved in a somewhat remarkable and FUN way. In fact, when you know how, working toward a goal can be more fun than achieving the goal itself!

Motivational speakers like Zig Ziglar teach goal setting and achievement methods that turn your mind into a goal-seeking machine. The power of your mind to control your future will amaze you if you've never set goals before! There's a list of speakers below that you can contact for more information. Most of these speakers and trainers offer personal development training in book, cassette or video form and if you've never set goals before, we recommend getting more information.

If you want to add some real teamwork in your family and deepen your relationships, set goals with your spouse and with your kids. Just make sure that anyone who participates in the goal setting is motivated. Anyone who is not fully committed to achieving the goal should not be allowed to participate. If you really want to teach your kids something worthwhile that will help with every aspect of their lives as long as they live, teach them goal setting.

Here's the goal-setting system that seems to work for everyone who's tried it. It will work with basically any goal you can imagine.

1. Dream the goal.

Make a list of everything you think you want... all the goals you think you want to achieve. They may involve money, or material things, or better relationships, or a special vacation, or a change in your personal attitudes or habits. Get some paper and a pen and go somewhere where you can be completely alone and uninterrupted. Then, just dream. Write down everything that comes to mind, being careful not to judge or dismiss any of your ideas. Probe your mind with questions like: "If money was no object I wish I lived...", "If I had time to go back to school I'd...", "I wish my relationship with (fill in) was more...", "If I had more time, I'd...".

After you have this long list of goals written down, put the list away for a few days. Some of the things you wrote may begin creating a burning energy in your mind. Review your list in about a week and see which of the goals you're still interested in. Anything that you don't feel strongly about should be removed from the list. Goal setting will not work if you're not really motivated to achieve the goal, so be sure you accurately name your goals!

After you identify the goal or goals that you want to work on, start writing everything down. A spiral notebook just for your goals might be very helpful. Write down your goal on the first page of your notebook.

After you've set your goal, make a list of things that may threaten the successful achievement of the goal and what you can do to remove those threats. If your goal is to find time to go to real estate school, for example, and you feel you don't currently have time to go to school, write down the obstacle. Write down ALL the obstacles that you feel may prevent you from reaching your goal. This is a particularly magical part of goal setting because it takes all of the obstacles that seemed so huge before and reduces them to little letters that form words on a piece of paper. Once the obstacles are clearly defined, they are more often than not, easily solved.

After you've identified the obstacles, make a written list of the things you will need in order to achieve your goal. This list should also include the people whose cooperation can help you work toward your goal. Some of the items on this list may include some things that will represent solutions to the problems you wrote down earlier. To solve the problem of having enough time to go to real estate school, for example, you may benefit from having the cooperation of your spouse to help fix dinner for the family for the months you're in school.

Setting a date for the attainment of your goal is the the ignition for the goal-seeking missile in your mind. Make sure that your date is realistic... not too soon that it's impossible, but not so delayed that it's not interesting. Make sure you write the date of your goal down next to your goal. Once you've set this date, you should never change it.

Once you have your goal and the date in writing, make more reminders of your goal. Put these reminders all around your house, your car, your bathroom. They will remind you of your goal and the date that the goal will be achieved by, and each time you see this information you will be programming your mind to take action toward your goal. This is an important step. WRITE IT DOWN. REVIEW IT OFTEN.

5. Make a step-by-step plan.

First, let's review: You know what you want and you know you want it badly. You have identified the problems you need to remove before you can achieve your goal and you know whose help and cooperation you will need. You know the date for the attainment of the goal. Now, make a step-by-stap action plan. Write down every little thing, no matter how small, that you must do in order to reach your goal. Break the project into the tiniest of pieces. Using the real estate school example again, some items on your list might be: call to find out how long real estate school lasts; find out if real estate can be studied at home; ask spouse, grovelling if necessary, to help by preparing dinner every night while I study or go to school; go to bank and withdraw funds for tuition. If you have a complicated list, jot down all the ideas that come to mind and then put them in date sequence later. If necessary, number them and then type them into a word processor or re-write them in date sequence. Each item should also have a deadline for accomplishment so you can see you're on target along the way. This is an important part of your goal achievement so don't cut corners on your plan, especially if it is a complicated goal or there are alot of obstacles to overcome.

This is the fun part, because after you've set and hit your first goal, you'll know that all you have to do to achieve your goal is to follow your plan! Review your plan every single day. Work on something on your list every single day. Stay on schedule. Don't fall behind. Review your goal and the deadline. Mark off items off the list as you accomplish them.

You can't control every aspect of your future, of course, but you will be surprised how many things you really can control with these effective goal-setting techiques.

Happy Goal Achieving!

If you've never set goals before, you may want to invest in a cassette, book or video to help supplement your training. Zig Ziglar is considered by many the leader in goal setting and other motivation and related training. You can visit his website at http://www.zigziglar.com. Anthony Robbins, another world-renowned motivational speaker can be visited at http://www.anthonyrobbinsdc.com/

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