Goal-setting experts report only 3% of the population do any kind of goal setting.  For those few that are setting goals, even less take the time to create a plan for how to achieve the goal.  You have to be able to map the trip from where you are now to where you want to be when the goal is accomplished.

Your plans will change.  It’s alright to modify and adjust your plans.  Your goals, on the other hand, should remain constant.  I have a friend who’s a pilot in the U.S. Air Force.  He says that when you determine your destination, you then create a flight plan.  When the plane gets into the air and heads toward the destination, the pilot is constantly making adjustments.  Every few minutes, adjustments are being made to keep the plane on course to its final destination.

Only in extreme and rare cases does a pilot change the plane’s destination, but it is very common for the pilot to make minor adjustments and modifications to keep the plane on course.  Your goal setting practices should be very similar.  Once you set the goals, they should be locked down.  In some rare cases, you may decide to change a goal, but this should not be a common practice.

Your plans for accomplishing a goal must be specific.  The more specific you can get with your goal planning, the more effective you will be at accomplishing the goal.  For example, what if I told you that I had a very special gift for you, but you would have to meet me in order to get it?  Suppose you are in St. Louis, and I am somewhere in California.  How would you get to me?  You would need specific directions.  What if I only told you that I am in California?  What are the odds that you would ever find me without specific directions?  Slim to none.

The difficulty in being specific is that we don’t always know how to get to the destination we seek, so do not worry about your plans being perfect.  They will not be perfect.  I can promise you an imperfect plan is much more effective than no plan at all.  You will learn from your mistakes and make the necessary adjustments until the plan finally comes together.

Map out the course you intend to take from where you are today to where you intend to be at the completion of the goal, and you will be positioned to do great things.