There is a well known and often quoted saying from motivational speaker, Jim Rohn that goes like this: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” When I first heard this I thought about the people I was spending time with and realized just how true this was in my life. Instead of giving up these friendships and looking for more successful people to be around I decided to work on myself from the inside out. This began with my idea for setting and achieving goals that would help me to change my life. This is quite effective and ultimately life changing, and anyone can get started with this strategy for change.

First, decide what it is you want to achieve in your life. I wanted to leave my job as a classroom teacher and work exclusively from home. My goal was to earn income from a home-based business I could run from my computer. I wasn’t sure how I could achieve this or what the business might look like, but that was what I wanted.

The next step is one that is often overlooked by those new to goal setting and achieving and that is to write everything down. Setting and achieving goals is just a dream until your write down exactly what you want. This began easily for me because I was in a program where we wrote down exactly what we wished to achieve and then reviewed it daily. It was only later on that I realized the power this step had in my overall process of changing my life.

Then you’ll want to share your goals with someone else. Luckily I had met a couple who were very inspirational to me during this time, and they were more than willing to listen to my ideas and give their input and thoughts on what else I could do to move forward more quickly.. This was effective in that once I discussed something with them I felt obligated to achieve my goals. Even though I believed they would be supportive if I failed, it felt good to show them was I was working on and to include them in a process. And something else to note is that I no longer feel like I have failed if I do not achieve my goal. Instead, I reframe it and start over with a clear mind and stronger focus.

The next step is to break your goal down into smaller pieces. before I could resign from my teaching position I needed to do some research about starting an online business, to begin working at building this business, and to set things in place so that I could do it on a full time basis. Setting and achieving goals is just a dream until you figure out your action steps. This was actually a hundred steps over a six month period, so chunking it down was the only way I could make it happen successfully and in a timely manner.

What comes next may be the most difficult step in your process of setting and achieving goals; you must plan and take your first step. For me it was writing an article such as this one to get my blog started and to find my voice with what I wanted to achieve as an online entrepreneur. If you find yourself procrastinating on this step, do whatever you can to motivate yourself to take action quickly.

Keep going and review your goals regularly. At first I did this each day, and these days I do it once a week. I plan my life and my business at least a quarter ahead and also have a three year plan that I am continuously moving towards. And remember the 80/20 rule, where eighty percent of your results will come from twenty percent of what you take action with each day. The goal here is to figure out which twenty percent of your actions are more effective and to eliminate as much of the other eighty percent as possible. I know what I’ve written here works because this is exactly how I have continued to improve my life for more than a decade.

And those five people I used to spend so much time with? Slowly we drifted apart and these days I don’t even know where they are or what they are doing. Perhaps I should call them and find out if they are interested in setting and achieving goals in their own lives.

I’m Connie Ragen Green, online marketing strategist, bestselling author, and international speaker on the topics of entrepreneurship and inner game mind shifts. Let’s connect to see how I may best serve you in the near future. And please be sure to check out my Internet Marketing Six Pack training course.