The first step is to have a PURPOSE. Purpose is the reason you live. It's the why for everything you do. It's what God intended you to do here on earth. For instance, my purpose is to help people live happier, more fulfilling lives. I know this because I was given the talents to write and speak effectively. I also get a great deal of enjoyment out of helping people, even when there is no financial remuneration.

Take a look at your talents. What are you good at? What do you really like to do? What gives you the greatest thrill in life? What have you always thought you should be doing? What have other people said about you (no . . . the good things)?

Once you have a purpose statement, write it down at the top of a piece of paper. Now you're ready to set some goals based on this purpose.

GOALS are really the stepping stones on the way to your purpose. All your goals should revolve around and contribute to your purpose. Plus, there are some rules when setting goals. First, they must be written. Goals in your head will never be achieved. Goals on paper have a fighting chance. Second, your goals must be S.M.A.R.T.

S = Sincere. You must believe in your goals and they must fit your purpose.
M = Measurable. Your goals must be measurable in order for you to know when you've achieved the goal.
A = Accessible. Your goals must be achievable under your current circumstances, knowledge, and abilities.
R = Realistic. Your goals must be realistically achieved within the time frame you have.
T = Timely. Your goals must all work together and not conflict with each other. Goals must have the right timing in your life.

Write SMART goals for four areas in your life: Business, Family, Personal, Social. If you don't have much experience with goal achievement, I would suggest that you set no more than 2 goals in each area. Each goal should be written in the present tense, as if you had already achieved it and should contain as much detail as possible. For example, if you're business goal was to recruit 30 people by December 31, 2003, you would write: "It's the last day of December and I have achieved my goal of recruiting 30 people this year. Many of them are very motivated and have already built networks of their own. It's fun to have all these new friends helping me build my business, while I help them build theirs." Write these goals on your piece of paper (the one you wrote your purpose on) under your purpose statement.

Once you have your goals set, it's time to develop a PLAN to achieve the goals. The first step is to determine the steps or activities necessary to achieve the goals. In our example above, recruiting 30 people this year, some of the steps would be: make up a list of prospects, prepare an information package, mail the information package to the first 20 on my list, call to let them know the information is in the mail and to set up a follow-up call, do the follow-up call, sign them up or provide more information, follow-up until the sign up. Write the steps under each goal on your piece of paper.

Once you have the steps written for each goal, then start to plan these activities into your daily SCHEDULE. The best way to do this is to review your purpose, goals, and steps each day. Determine what time slots you have available, prioritize the steps/activities and fill the time slots with your highest priority steps/activities. Then complete these steps/activities every day. If something of a higher priority comes in during the day and you can't complete a step/activity, transfer it to the next day. Make sure you re-prioritize each day to ensure that you are working on the most important things at all times.

Do this activity, follow these steps throughout the year and you will achieve the majority, if not all of your goals for the year.