Setting goals

Goal setting gives your mind something to focus on. If you don’t give your mind something to go after, it won’t know what to do. Use the SMART criteria for setting goals:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic

• The first 20% of any task usually accounts for 80% of the value of that task.
• Once you begin working on that task, the first 20% of the time that you spend planning and organizing the resources necessary to achieve the task usually accounts for 80% of your success.

Unfortunately, setting goals that are too ambitious has a major downside. When we don’t reach our big goals, we experience failure. Failing often can reduce your self-confidence and ability to trust yourself.

Instead of setting one big goal, try setting many little goals that put you in the...