Do you have an easy time setting goals for yourself and hard time following through on doing all of the things necessary to achieve them? If you answered yes, you’re not alone.

This issue comes up time and time again in both my coaching practice and in the workshops I conduct on goal achievement. Don’t despair, there are many steps you can take to improve on your follow through and thus increase your chances of achieving more of your goals.

I have previously written about the absolute necessity to have excellent goal clarity about what it is you want to achieve. These goals should be written down and shared with a trusted partner, coach, spouse, or friend.

Some people tell me that there is no need to write down their goals, as they can remember them. That may be true; however the very act of writing them down dramatically increases your chances of achieving them. One of my clients commented how when they finally wrote down their top goals, they felt a personal accountability for achieving them that they never felt before.

Give it a chance; you’ll be pleased with the results.

What follows is a brief list of suggestions to enhance your follow through on the goals you have set for yourself. Let me stress that having too many goals or goals that are not specific, or goals that hold no emotional pay-off for you are weak and do not release adequate quantities of the achievement drive needed to achieve them.

Getting Started
Write out 4-6 specific goals you would like to achieve and the action steps necessary to achieve them.
Include specific target dates to accomplish each action step and ultimately the attainment of the specific goal.
Partner with someone you trust to hold you accountable.

On A Daily Basis
Review each goal and your progress in taking the actions described in your action steps for achieving each goal.
Review the rewards you will achieve for the successful attainment of the goal.
Review the pain or consequences of non-accomplishment of your goals.
Visualize successfully achieving your goals. How will achieving them make you feel? What impact will their successful attainment have on you emotionally, economically, and socially?
Create positive affirmations about achieving your goals and repeat them multiple times each day.
Organize your day for maximum effectiveness.
Eliminate your excuses.
What are you now tolerating that you can no longer tolerate in order to achieve your goals?
Take action now!
Celebrate your victories, no matter how big or small. Enjoy the successful accomplishment of each action step along the way to achieving your goal.
Develop the capacity to re-live your successes (this is huge!).
Ask yourself each day, “What can I do today t move one step closer to the attainment of my goals.”
On A Weekly Basis
Revise, fine tune, or totally recycle goals as necessary. A particular goal may have sounded good at the time you wrote it out, but if it no longer resonates with you, throw it out. Keeping a goal that you really have no strong intention to accomplish drains your energy and takes away from accomplishing your other goals.
Critique yourself on how well you did in accomplishing each action step of your goals. What worked, what didn’t, what got in the way, what can you do to improve your performance next week?
On A Periodic Basis
Meet with your trusted partner, coach, spouse, or friend to review your progress, get feedback, ask for help, or otherwise provide support.
Continue to add new goals as you complete your existing ones
Continue to celebrate your successes
I sincerely hope that by implementing some or all of these ideas you’ll have more successes to celebrate be they big or small. When you look at the big picture, isn’t it really the sum total of all of the “little” steps we take that make such a big difference in our lives and businesses?

Good luck to you on your journey to success.