Do you know what you want from life? Have you got it written down somewhere? How often do you review your goals? For many people, sitting down and planning their future is something they have never thought of doing before! How can you know how to get somewhere if you don't know your final destination?!?

But hang on a minute ... didn't I say that you need to start at the beginning? You're right, I did say that. For you to start at the beginning you need to have an outcome in mind ... that is, you need to have a vision of what the end is going to be. Every day you start things with the outcome in mind. You get in your car to drive to work. You prepare your food to enjoy a home-cooked meal. You know what you want the end result to be (but remember ... you may not always get the result you were looking for!).

Where do you want to be in 12 months time? 2 years, 5 years or even 10 years time? Without setting some goals that are SMART you could wander aimlessly for the rest of your life. Is that what you really want???

So ... what is a SMART goal?

S        Specific – your goal needs to be really detailed

M       Measurable – you need to be able to measure your success

A          Achievable – you have to know that you can do it

R          Realistic – is it realistic to expect to win lotto?

T          Timeframe – when are you going to achieve this goal?

It's time to get out some paper and pens or textas and start dreaming about what your perfect life in the future is all about. Here are some ideas to get you started ...

• Where do you want to live?

• What does your dream home look like?

• What cars (bikes, boats, jet skis) are parked in your garage?

• How often do you go on holiday and where do you go?

• What are you going to do with all the time you now have?

• Describe your perfect day

• Do you want to own a business?

• If you had all the money in the world what would you do?

• What are your hobbies/sports that you enjoy now/more?

• What do you donate? Time and/or money and who to?

• How is your health and what are you doing to be healthier?

So now you have written down what your perfect life looks like it's time to start a Vision Board. You will need to get hold of a cork board and some pins. Your vision board will be a daily reminder of where it is you want to be and motivate you to do the things you need to do to get there. Cut pictures out of magazines. Search the internet for images of the things you want and print them out. Even better ... go out and find that perfect house and take a photo of it. Or go and sit in your dream car at the dealership and get a photo of you inside it! The more personal your connection with your dream life the greater the motivation to achieve it. Keep adding to your Vision Board as you think of other things that you would like to achieve.

© Realise Your Dreams 2008