Goals give you a purpose for taking life on. People who live without goals have no purpose and it is obvious even in their body language. They are on permanent idle, they slouch, they list from side to side. Their conversations dawdle. They telephone you: "Hey, I'm just calling. I wasn't doing anything, so I thought I'd call you." Well, don't call ME. I'VE got things to do. 

Many people just muddle through life. They don't read informational material, they don't even pay attention when they WATCH television. If you ask them what they are watching, they mumblemouth, "Nothin', I'm just lookin'." 

What are your goals for your career? For your relationships? For your spiritual life? Develop a schedule for the next month, the next six months, the next year, five years and ten years. Write it all out. 

Let's take one of the most common goals: You want to make more money. If that is your goal, then take some practical steps toward realizing it. 

First, determine specifically how much money you want to make. Then, double that amount and make THAT your goal. Even if you don't reach the higher amount, you will probably still find yourself making more than your original goal.

Second, decide the amount of energy you are willing to expend to reach your goal. How many hours are you willing to work a day? How many jobs are you willing to hold down? What sort of work are you willing to do?

A third step in this process is to develop a practical plan of action and get started immediately. Chart out where you want to be in relation to your goal in the next month, six months, one year, five years and ten years. Get started today. Go apply for that second job NOW! Go enroll in that career training program NOW! Ask for that raise NOW!

And finally, make sure that you have all of this written down so that you can review it every morning and every night and envision yourself taking these steps, DOING THEM and SUCCEEDING! 

Les Brown is an internationally recognized speaker and author. To receive more information on Les's speaking schedule, books and audiocassettes visit www.yoursuccessstore.com and save 20%-40%.