Everybody wants to achieve something yet the number of people who are actually and completely clear about their goals is disappointingly small. Most of us are caught in some kind of imitation behavior where our goals are merely 1 fraction above what the neighbors have achieved. This is not the right approach. If you weigh 200 pounds and read an advertisement that can help you shed half of that in a month then you are being gullible. A goal needs realistic milestones that are laid down in sequence and achieved consecutively. For example, having an arbitrary goal like lose weight is lot more difficult than lose 1 pound a week.
The first thing you need to do is really understand what your goals are. Most individuals discover that there are no real goals, only expectations and misleading "I wants". Very important is the fact that there are no general goals unless you are talking about "world peace". The moment you come down to yourself your goals will be highly personalized and easy to recognize. When you know your goals you should prioritize them. This is the second biggest mistake, neglecting to set a priority for all the goals. If there is no priority there is no order and no direction in effort so the entire process becomes self-defeating and leads to disappointment.
Quite often people are dreaming or fantasizing rather than setting goals. It is nice to set your own private yacht as a goal but a goal implies creating steps to reach there, not just sitting and thinking how nice it would be to have your own yacht. The flip side to this is that people often tend to think to small. A bigger goal just has more milestones it is not impossible. The key thing is that you need to plan to achieve that goal rather than just think about it. No amount of positive thinking and upbeat attitude is going to get you a yacht unless you actually do something.
Setting down goals, priorities, and milestones will also help you arrive at a reasonable time frame to achieve those goals. If it seems like too much work you need to be prepared to do the work. Time management comes in very handy because it allows you to better utilize every minute of your life instead of squandering this irreplaceable aspect of life.
Manage your goals and manage your time. You will find that you are reaching milestones automatically and without apparent effort.
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I am 21 years old and as of very recently I've discovered I am an addict. I used weed every day for about 3 and a half years up until very recently and have been "clear-headed" for the past 2 weeks. It helps that I am in a new location, one that I like and satisfies my needs better. I am living with my mother for the next 2 months who disapproves of recreational drug use, and all my friends here don't smoke weed. My friends here do, however, drink like fishes and so do I. I know I have a drinking problem because I don't remember the last time I went an entire week not drinking. I just met a potential partner who used to be an addict and successfully completed rehab a year and a half ago and has been clean ever since. He drinks a lot, though. I am just wondering if I should be in a relationship with him. More in fear of him exhibiting "typical addict behavior" and becoming angry or abusive toward me than the fact that it will probably exacerbate by own problem. It seems like he's learned a lot about life and how to live it the right way and that he could teach me something. If we both sought alcohol help would it be better? I just am so smitten by him but despise denial so I am hoping to get some insight.
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