What Leaders Have to Say on Setting and Achieving Goals

The Power of Setting and Achieving Goals

New Year resolutions are nothing more than rhetoric. Despite the initial eagerness you may feel for the goals you have set, that enthusiasm tends to wane over time, often leaving you right back to where you started. Studies indicate that only 8-12 percent of people fulfill their goal-setting resolutions. Sure, your desire to achieve the goal is real. Accomplishing it, however, can be fraught with obstacles, making even the most desirable goals seem somewhat nebulous. This makes goal setting a challenge.

It’s a challenge that successful leaders have met with both ease and excellence throughout history. From the great business leaders of the 21st Century to clergy to ancient philosophers, we can learn from the dozens of leaders who have understood the value of goal setting, executed it deftly, and achieved the desired results seemingly every time.

My Favorite Quotes

Below are my favorite 17 inspirational quotes to help you understand the power of goal setting and achieving success this year. Read them — and let them encourage you to focus when achieving your goals.

17. “An average person with average talents and ambition and average education can outstrip the most brilliant genius in our society if that person has clear, focused goals.” – Mary Kay Ash

16. “Goals determine what you’re going to be.” – Julius Erving

15. The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting and achieving goals.” Og Mandino

14. “Begin with the end in mind.” – Stephen Covey

13. “Give me a stock clerk with a goal, and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals, and I’ll give you a stock clerk.” – J.C. Penney

12. “The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable.” – Dennis Waitley

11. “The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” – Bill Copeland

10. “You have to set goals that are almost out of reach. If you set a goal that is attainable without much work or thought, you are stuck with something below your true talent and potential.” – Steve Garvey

9. People with clear, written goals accomplish far more in a shorter period of time that people without them could even imagine.” Brian Tracy

8. “Goals are dreams with deadlines.” – Diana Scharf Hunt

7. “The important thing in life is to have a great aim, and the determination to attain it.” – Goethe

6. “A goal properly set is halfway reached.” ~ Zig Ziglar

5. “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” – Henry Ford

4. “Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible for your life.” – Les Brown

3. “If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” –Andrew Carnegie

2. “My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose – somehow we always win out.” – Ronald Reagan

#1 “Setting Goals is the First Step in Turning the Invisible into the visible.” Tony Robbins

Setting and Achieving Goals

When setting your goals, it is always good to set SMART goals. The acronym SMART offers a comprehensive definition of goal setting. This broader definition will help you to be successful in both your business and personal life.

Conclusion

Make this, the year you start setting and achieving goals — and achieve it. Whether it is big or small, promise yourself that you’ll hang in there even after the novelty of the endeavour has worn off.

Determine what is going well, and allow yourself to bask in the glow of accomplishment for a moment. Devising small ways to compensate yourself for your efforts will go a long way towards motivating you to continue to the end.

…And in the end, no reward will be sweeter than attaining your goal.