How to Make 2006 Your Best Year Ever

by Andre Bell

Published on this site: January 11th, 2006 - See more articles from this month

Each year many people speak those words with a bit of sadness. They look back and realize dreams they had hoped for have not been fully achieved. Goals they had hoped for their business had fallen short.

Before you know it 2006 will have come and gone as quickly as 2005, leaving all possibilities of accomplishing something new for this year far behind just like the opportunities of 2005.

To make 2006 your best year ever before it's too late simply follow a principle that great achievers use. Goal setting.

Don't confuse goal setting with wishing or dreaming.

Goal setting and dreaming are two different things. Dreaming is imagining and it is usually wasted effort. Why? Because with dreams there are no definite plans and no "how to" supporting the dream.

We all dream of things.

Better health. Improved family relationships. More time. And so on.

But how many of us have actually started exercising, started eating better, said "I love you" to a family member, or have increased the time we spend with them?

See? It's easy to dream but it takes effort to make those dreams a reality. It also takes planning.

Most people fail to realize that hoping and wishing for some magical solution to appear will not produce a dime of income. What is required is an action plan to make that desire a reality. As Napoleon Hill said in his book, "Think And Grow Rich", wishing will not bring riches...planning ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches.

So how do you successfully set and plan goals?

Here are a few tips to get you started.

Seven-Step Achievement Checklist

1. Know what you want to achieve. If you don't know where you want to go you may end up anywhere, or nowhere.
   
   
2. Know your motivations and use them to your advantage.
   
   
3. Write your desired goals in priority order.
   
   
4. Set deadlines for achieving each goal.
   
   
5. Set action-oriented tasks for achieving each goal.
   
   
6. Avoid procrastination.
   
   
7. Reward yourself for each task and each goal that you complete, so you create a positive association between accomplishment and action.

Goal Setting Tips

• Your goal must be verifiable. Clear indication of achievement confirms when the goal has been reached.
  
  
• Shoot for the moon. If you shoot for the moon you may clear the ceiling, if you shoot for the ceiling you may only clear the couch.
  
  
• Be specific.
  
  
• List future challenges and past failures. List causes, lessons learned, and how to prevent failure from occurring again.
  
  
• List the ramifications of acting and not acting towards achieving goals.
  
  
• List possible outcomes. Best, Worst, and Most Likely Case Scenarios

Following this checklist and keeping these tips in mind will allow you to look back on 2006 come next January with joy, knowing that you have finally accomplished and exceeded all that you had set your mind to accomplishing.

Andre Bell is an author, copywriter, and marketing advisor. Andre is the originator of The Free Marketing Action Plan and he's committed to helping entrepreneurs like himself discover what it takes to maximize profits from every marketing communication and effort. Visit his official site www.AndreBell.com for fresh marketing tips and resources