I know you’ve had a lot to look at every day: vision board, affirmations, and your list of how you would live your life differently. What changes have you noticed in your life in the past few days or weeks? Be sure to make note of everything that has changed, as becoming aware of differences can help us pave the road for more changes.

Now it’s time to plan concrete actions to help you achieve the life of your dreams. Sound like a daunting task? It’s easy, when you break it down into steps. This is what we’ve spent weeks and months on: answering the Three Happiness Questions so that we can get clear on who we are, where we are in life, and start planning where we want to be headed for the future.

Ready? I’m seriously excited as I write this. I hope you are, too.

1. Start out with a task meditation to clear your mind of daily clutter.
2. Sit down with your vision board, your list of affirmations, your list of things you’d do differently, and your journal or notebook.
3. Take a good look at your vision board. Yes, once more. And read through your affirmations once again. And then review your list of things you’d do differently.
4. Now, which of these things would you like to actually start doing? Highlight them in your journal or notebook. Mark as many as you’d like; there’s no limit. Some things may sound easy; others not so much. Perhaps there are things you really don’t believe you can achieve, yet you know they’re vital to achieving your dreams. Highlight those. You’ll work out a way to achieve them (this is not just a vague, motivational statement…you will work out a way in the next exercise).
5. Write down all of your selected items in your journal or notebook, as a list.

Now we’re going to turn each of these statements into a SMART goal. Some of you may already be familiar with the concept of SMART goals. In any case, I’ll be explaining them below.

I’ve said before that a dream is a goal without a deadline. So far, you’ve been working toward getting clear on your dreams, through a number of exercises. Now we’re going to turn those dreams into clear, achievable goals.

There have been many times in my life when I’ve realized I wanted to make a major change and just kept putting it off until I sat down and set a clear, reasonable, achievable deadline to complete what I wanted to do. And at that point, my dream of change actually become a part of my everyday thoughts and plans, as I worked toward achieving that goal and making the change I wanted so badly in my life.

For each of your statements, one by one, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is it specific and highly detailed?
• Is it expressed in the present tense, as if it is already a reality?
• Is it a positive goal, or a negative goal? Meaning, does the statement describe what you do want, or what you don’t want?
• Does your goal have a precise timescale for achievement?
• Does it have a clear destination or a measurable outcome? Where exactly do you want to be when you’ve accomplished this?
• Does it have a verifiable outcome? How will you know when you’ve accomplished it?

Let’s take a possible example of one of the things a person might do differently: “I would lose weight.” Is that specific? No. Is there a timescale or deadline? No. How do you measure the outcome? Who knows. Is losing one pound or one kilo enough to say you’ve reached your goal? Good question…because it’s not clear.

How does this alternative sound? “By May 1^st of 2013, I weigh 60 kg.” Is this goal specific? Yes. Is it expressed in the present tense? Yes.  Is it a positive goal? Yes. A negative goal in this case would be “By May 1^st of this year, I will have lost 15 kg.” Focus on what you do want, which is the target weight of 60 kg., and not what you don’t want, which are those 15 kg. you want to lose.

Does this goal have a precise timescale or deadline? Yes: May 1^st, 2011. Does it have a clear destination? Yes: the target weight of 60 kg. Does it have a verifiable outcome? Yes: all the person has to do is to stand on a reliable scale on May 1^st and check their weight to verify whether or not they have achieved their goal.

Is that clear to you? Don’t worry about how you’re going to achieve these goals. Some of them may sound easy, and others next to impossible. Another day, we’ll work on detailing a clear path so you can achieve these goals.

1. Take each of your statements and  rewrite them according to these six guidelines. Write your new list in your journal or notebook.
2. Write them once more, using one page of your journal or notebook for each item. Write it at the top of the page, leaving the rest of the page blank.
3. Either write them again on a separate sheet of paper or photocopy the list from your journal or notebook.
4. Keep this list of SMART goals in a place where you can read them several times a day. Continue to look at your vision board several times a day.
5. Pay close attention to any changes in your life, however small, and make note of them in your journal or notebook.

Does that make your dreams look easier to achieve now that they’ve been converted to goals?