You probably have read tons of articles on the importance of goal setting and how to set the goal, but most people already know this; however, the difficult part is how to take PRACTICAL steps towards achieving their goals. It's one thing for you to set goals; it's a different ball game to achieve them.

Implementing the right strategies to see things through isn't complex or intricate. What it does require is consistent and persistent action. It requires throwing caution to the wind and enduring tremendous amounts of pain and struggle today to reap the rewards tomorrow.

The practical ways discussed in this article are those I have found to be highly useful and productive, and they might be helpful to you too.

Remember, this article focuses on the action you must take to achieve your goals. Before diving right into the practical steps, ensure your action plan is ready.

 Create a plan of action

Planning is a vital part of strategies associated with achieving any goal. Planning helps order project tasks in a sequential and timely manner to achieve a goal.

Action plans help you prepare for preventable challenges and focus your resources on achieving your primary goals. Practical action plans maximize personal and team productivity and resource allocation. Once you begin, it is almost inevitable that you will drift away; having a plan serves as a baseline, a compass to course-correct your path.

Action plans help break a project into small and defined tasks. Yet, many fail to create detailed and intricate techniques to realize our dreams.

Your action plan must include: 

•            Defining your goal: Get clear on what you want to achieve with your project. As simple as it sounds, do not trivialize this step. A poorly worded plan will result in an undesired outcome. Even if you follow through, you still lose. To defines the goal clearly as possible. The cliché 'SMART' goals come to mind. Make sure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.

•            List tasks: list the tasks and activities you must complete to achieve them within the timeline and deadlines.

•            Identify critical tasks: Prioritize these tasks and set realistic deadlines.

Now that you have an action plan let's dive into the practical steps. The first thing you want to do in achieving your daily, weekly or monthly goal is to start early.

1. Start Early

Starting right is vital to achieving a great result by the end of the day. You will be successful when you make the most of the available hours.

According to a study in 2010 by biologist Christoph Randler, it was discovered that those who start early are more proactive, aim for career success and reach their goals. Starting the day on time makes it easy for you to achieve your task for the day. These tasks cumulatively propel you towards achieving your goals.

Apart from the professional benefits attached to rising early, there are also personal benefits which include; improved cognitive functions, better sleep quality, better mood and mental health and reduced stress.

2. Identify and Eliminate bad habits

Bad habits can hinder us from achieving our goals. They choke our progress and get in the way of our hopes and our dreams. Anyone intent on achieving anything worthwhile knows they must stamp out the bad habits that hold them back.

Such as procrastination, laziness, and spending time on things that won't propel you towards achieving your goal.

In eliminating harmful habits, you have to pay attention to triggers. Identifying the motivations behind your habitual behaviours is the first step in moving past them. Pay attention to the things that trigger those habits you try to eliminate.

These might include:

•            LOCATION: Where does the habitual behaviour happen?

•            WHEN: What time of day?

•            MOOD: How do you feel when it happens?

3. Taking on the most challenging task

Research shows that people who execute their most difficult tasks first are generally more productive and high achieving than those who start easy and work their way up. Getting the most challenging task out of the way allows you to coast and creates a positive mood, which increases productivity.  

Brain Tracy in his book "Eat The Frog", talked about identifying your most challenging task of the day and completing it before you do any other work. Focusing and meeting the most difficult task means you have the rest of the day to complete the minor task you have on your list without worrying about the enormous task.

4. Be Consistent

 It's unlikely you will achieve great things if you're not consistently doing the right things towards achieving your goal.

One thing most unsuccessful people have in common is they lack consistency. To become a successful person, you must practice consistently, stay disciplined, and show greater intention for the things you do.

Starting your day early will not be a one-off thing if you want to achieve your goals. You will have to stay consistent in taking those practical steps every day. Being consistent means committing yourself to those things that will drive you to your daily goal.

When you're consistent, you're doing what's required now to achieve a better outcome. Therefore, consistency is about repetition. It's about doing the same things repeatedly over time to reach a goal.

5. Keep distractions far away from you

We all have been there. Even when we have the best intentions to focus and finish our tasks, we catch ourselves scrolling endlessly through social media when we should focus on achieving our goals. The notification sound from our cell phones makes us feel like we are missing out on something important, so we pick up our phones every five minutes and get distracted.

It seems that staying focused is an impossible task to achieve. Statistics have shown that distraction causes a massive loss in productivity. So to prevent distractions from hindering you from achieving your goals, you have to optimize your environment.

6. Environment

Optimizing the environment is equally important in achieving your goal. Working in an environment that makes working easier can boost your productivity. You won't find cakes, juice, food, etc. lying around in a gym because those things are not conducive to the environment in which people try to achieve their fitness goals.

You don't see massive TV screens plastered all around an office space with gaming consoles because those things are not conducive for people to achieve their goals in a workspace. The giant TV screens and game consoles are not required tools (unless you work in a gaming company)

The point is to take action by getting up and getting the difficult task done right away. That way, you don't have the looming sense of frustration for not achieving your goals.