This is a series of 5 practical articles, which will teach you my method of achieving any goal in record time.

I've broken the process down into 5 easy steps. Although you might think that you've done some of those steps already I highly advise you to do them again. You can reap the benefits only if you've experienced the process completely.

Achieving Any Goal Is A Journey

Achieving any goal is really comparable to a journey. You are starting at a point which is your current reality, and you are going for a destination which is your goal. In between, there are certain steps to take, certain obstacles to overcome and certain things to keep in mind. There are also certain prerequisites for any stage along the way.

One of the advantages of comparing the goal-achieving method with a journey is that the method of planning a journey can be defined precisely and then be transferred to any goal you have in mind. This allows defining the method here without me knowing what your specific goals are.

Your life is really like a journey, but as with every great journey into any unknown territory there are actually several phases involved, and those phases need different ways of using your focus and power. Neglecting this vital difference will make you struggle and never achieve any goal.

Now really step back from the goals you might have made just a few days back on New Year’s Eve (if you've made them at all - see my article "6 Steps to Overcome the Failure Mechanism of New Year‘s Resolutions").

What if these goals you want so much would be travel destinations to places where you haven't been before? How would you make sure, you get there?

We can discuss in this article an ideal planning and action scenario for any journey - a real-life journey, a business endeavor, a personal development goal or any other goal you want to go for.

It is always you starting at one point (the Now) and wanting to go to another point (the Goal) and in between is the journey to get there.

An Overview Of The 5 Steps

To give you an overview, there are 5 distinct steps for any successful journey.

Activating Your Inner Navigation System: You need to create a precise vision of where you want to go and a knowing of where you are now.
Fueling Your Motivation Tanks: You define your real motives to go there. This is like fueling your tank with motivation. And it is also making clear what your "real" goals are.
Creating A Strategic Map: You start the planning process. You are building a map or strategy and are preparing your resources. You are also preparing for obstacles at this point.
Traveling Along Your Map: You Are Taking Action. You Are Taking Care of Your Steps.
Controlling & Adapting Your Course

No matter where you want to go - this strategy will bring you there. But there are a lot of pitfalls at each stage, where you can make mistakes. That's why I devised this and the upcoming article as practical and safe guides to teach you the art of becoming a good goal traveler. Are you ready to get on your own journey?

If so, then without further ado let's dive into the method.

Step 1. Activating Your Inner Navigation System: Create A Vision And Select Where You Precisely Want To Go.

The Problem With Unclear Visions

Imagine the following scenario. You arrive at the travel agency without any clue where you want to go but determined that you wanna go someplace. Can you imagine the bizarre situation that would come out of it? Either the travel agent will give you what he wants to sell, or he would kick you out of his office.

Yes, I am sure you've heard it before, but it is true - unless you don't know where you precisely wanna go, chances are slim that you will get to a place that will be pleasing to your needs.

A Word Of Caution - Your Goal Might Not Be Your Real Goal

Before I dive into the method of creating your goal vision, I want to warn you that you always have 2 goals - an external goal (that is the one you write down on your goals list like "Losing 10 pounds in 2 months") and an inner or real goal. The real goal is always the benefit you'll get from achieving the external goal. The inner goal is always a feeling you get from the external goal. So this one would be more like "I want to feel good, healthy, comfortable with myself".

I will go much more in depth about this in Step 2 - and it is essential to have both your inner and your outer goals clearly defined.

Although your inner goal is what you are really striving for, your brain needs the external goals as destinations for your inner Super Navigation System. Both goals are necessary for the system to work. So neglect neither the one nor the other.

You Have The Most Advanced Navigation System In The World Within You

There is good news for you, you have one of the most advanced navigation systems in the world within you. Your brain is the most powerful guiding system in the world guiding you towards any possible, clearly defined goal. But you need to program it correctly. If you don't pinpoint the destination with the below-mentioned accuracy, chances are that your internal navigation system will lead you astray. Maybe that is something you've experienced already time and time again.

So learn to define your destination precisely and your navigation system will bring you to your goal.

Let's take a look at how you do it with a real-world travel destination.

How You Would Envision A Journey

You define your travel destination, you choose from catalogs what hotel you want, what features you want to be included, what things you want to see, etc.

What you do here is you define in advance how you want to experience your vacation. And although (if you've been to other countries before) you might never get exactly what you envision, this vision stage of defining how you want the (successful) future to be is as necessary to your goals as it is to any journey. And don't worry your goal could be even better than envisioned (like you might get an upgrade to your hotel room).

If you plan a trip, you envision being there often to such an extent through the usage of photos, maps, travel descriptions, etc. that you literally feel being there. Doing this also creates enough anticipation, which adds to your fuel capacity in Step 2.

How To Use The Strategy For Any Goal

At this stage, you need to define, where you want to go and where you are now. You must get a crystal clear picture of how and where you want to be at the end of the journey. You do this by asking yourself lots of questions about what you want.

Below you will find some power questions that will guide you. At this point in the process, it is important that you adapt your goal vision to the way you would select a hotel room in the above-mentioned travel scenario.

You must define for yourself:

what you want
how you want it
what specific features you want
how you want to feel about it
what you want to experience once you get there
what specific (and if possible measurable) things need to be there to make it good for you- what specific parameters you need to be fulfilled to accept the goal as achieved
where you are currently
what is the difference between your current reality and the future reality of your goal

Let's take a common goal: Weight loss

.You need to define:

how much you want to lose (therefore you need to know your current weight, body fat or what ever you are referring to)
how you want to measure your success (specific weight loss, specific body weight, specific body fat ratio or any other measure)
how you want to feel once you get there. It is always important to get clear, how you want to feel in the end.
how you want your shape to look like
what specific clothes you want to wear (again)
what reactions you want to get

You must get it so clearly defined for yourself, that you can literally see yourself being there. And you should not only see yourself being there (like seeing it on a movie screen). You should literally go into the picture and fully associate with your future self. See yourself already being the person you want to be.

Start Your Goal Map

Once you've got your vision clear, write it all down in a sentence or two. I would highly advise you to have a specific goal sheet, where you keep a record of this and the upcoming steps. This sheet will be an invaluable tool for you throughout your journey. It will be the first draft of your Goal Map.

Power Question For This Step

When I Get There, What Do I Want to Experience?
What features do I want to include?
How would I feel when I get there?
How do I know if I've achieved my goal?
What is my current reality?
What needs to change in order to turn my current reality into my future wanted reality?

Other Parts

UNWRAPPED: The Ultimate Guide to Get Where You Want to Go – FAST! Part 2 – Motivation

UNWRAPPED: The Ultimate Guide to Get Where You Want to Go – FAST! Part 3 – Building A Map

UNWRAPPED: The Ultimate Guide to Get Where You Want to Go – FAST! Part 4 – Careful Action

UNWRAPPED: The Ultimate Guide to Get Where You Want to Go – FAST! Part 5 – Check & Adapt Your Course