Create A Realistic Time-Frame For Accomplishment

Setting a target date is essential to the effective completion of each of the goals you have listed for your life. A target date is the realistic date by which you think your goal can be completed or reached. A target date is based in part on desire and in part on what is both possible and practical.

As you write each of your goals, set an initial target date for its completion. Since, in general, a goal is something you intend to have accomplished within one year, your target date will normally fall within the next twelve months. There is, of course, a fine line between desire and possibility. Though you might desire to accomplish your goal by tomorrow at the latest, the reality is that the accomplishment of any goal takes time. The amount of time required is usually a function of the resources, money, and knowledge needed, as well as the number of other steps you must take to accomplish the goal. Your aim is to pick a target date that combines the best of desire with the best of what's possible.

There is also a fine line between realism and doubt. Once you have written a goal, negative thoughts can creep into and muddy the process. Thoughts like I don't really have the money or the smarts may make the goal seem unattainable, or the time it will take seem infinite. You have within you the absolute power to accomplish any realistic goal on your list, so mentally eliminate doubt from the process at the out-set.

When you first write any goal on your list, you probably won't have at hand all the resources required for its eventual accomplishment. If you did, it is a safe bet that your goal would already be a reality. Your strategy in picking a target date is to calculate mentally the reasonable time it will take you to gather the resources and the additional knowledge necessary to achieve your goal. Don't spend a lot of time picking your target date, since later you will have the option of lengthening or even shortening it as you discover in more detail what will be required.

Setting target dates for all your goals establishes the velocity at which you will work to achieve them. If you double the time you expect it will take to achieve each goal, obviously you have to put in only half as much effort and time each day to meet your target date. However, the downside is you could have accomplished twice as much in the same amount of time and you will not experience the same level of satisfaction that you would from accomplishing more in less time.

Conversely, if your target dates are not realistic and far too short to be practical, you can create feelings of frustration because things are not happening according to schedule, or you may even begin to feel that you are just not a person capable of achievement. Feelings of frustration and self-doubt are unnecessary and can be eliminated by setting realistic target dates. There is no way to cook a three-minute egg in two minutes. Reaching goals does take time. Push yourself into action but allow yourself adequate time.
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