In my last post I talked about the need for taking baby steps toward achieving your goals. Today I want to look at why baby-step goals will give you a greater advantage when it comes to getting what you want out of life.

There is a school of thought that says that goals are not really necessary. And that people only set goals, or make new years resolutions because they feel like they’re supposed to. It’s the whole idea of a fresh start that draws people in, and has them setting goals they have no intentions of keeping.

Personally, I think that setting goals is one of the most important things you can do to make sure that you’re living life on your own terms. We need a reason to get up in the morning. We need to feel like we’re accomplishing something with our lives. There has to be some result that you are wanting to achieve. It doesn’t matter if it’s a complex goal like making a million dollars, or as simple as finishing that book you’ve been dying to read.

I would argue that it’s not that people set goals they have no intention of keeping, but more a case of they set goals that they have no idea how to go about achieving! They want to take these huge giant drastic leaps toward a better life and get frustrated when the results aren’t big enough or fast enough.

Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t make big goals. Heck I have goals for the coming year that I have no idea yet how I’m going to get accomplished. But that doesn’t stop me from trying to get there bit by bit. What it does mean is that I’m breaking them down into little baby-step goals, and that by accomplishing small things my chances of getting the big thing done are that much greater.

Here’s the thing that it’s taken me forever to figure out… If you focus on getting that one little thing done, it fuels your excitement and builds momentum toward the completion of your ultimate goal. This way even if it takes longer to reach the finish line, you will still have a sense of accomplishment to build on. And I don’t know about you, but for myself, I’d much rather have a small success to reflect on, than to give up in total frustration.

What about you? Do you think goals are necessary? Or are they a waste of time? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

While I was writing up my goals for the upcoming year, I came to the realization that my vision for the future is somewhat cloudy, especially where it relates to my business aspirations. Doing that exercise was a real eye-opener for me because while I know what I want in every other area of my life, I really don’t have a clue what success in business looks like for me other than it involves a lot of writing (interspersed with lots of time off for golfing, of course).

Finding that vision of success is really important for me. I can’t really know how to plan for achieving success without having at least some idea of what it looks like. Fortunately, or maybe not so fortunately, there’s a whole personal development industry out there that’s only too happy to tell me what they think my success should look like. And while I’m very thankful for their words of wisdom and their willingness to share their ideas with me, in the end it all comes down to one thing… the only person who can define my success is me. And the only person who can define your success is you.

That’s not to say I’m not above borrowing the words of the experts to help me figure it all out. I keep a whole folder full of quotations just for that express purpose. Here are a few of my favorite “success is” quotes.

Success is loving life and daring to live it — Maya Angelou

Success is doing what yo ulove, loving what you do, and helping others to learn how to do the same. — Bob Burg

Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. — Winston Churchill

Success is a toll road … pay now or pay later. — Steve Siebold

Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome. — Arthur Ashe

Success is not so much what we have as it is what we are. — Jim Rohn

Success is creating a state of mind that allows you to obtain whatever it is you really want. — Mark Victor Hansen

Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. — T. S. Eliot

Success is often the result of taking a misstep in the right direction. — Al Bernstein

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go. — William Feather

What does your success look like?