Goal-setting is the master art or skill because it is the ability that enables you to gain all other skills and abilities. It is the main function of your mind. Your conscious mind sets the goal via a thought and your subconscious obeys by working to achieve it.
Each of your thoughts is a cause set in motion that triggers an effect. The thoughts that you repeat most often gradually become your dominant thoughts and are eventually accepted as true by your subconscious. These become habitual thoughts and therefore automatic. In short, they become your beliefs.
“Hold the thought of what you want by turning it into a goal. People with goals succeed because they know where they are going. It is as simple as that.” — Earl Nightingale
One example that goal-setting works and that it makes a huge difference in the long run:
Back in 1953, at Yale University: A survey showed that only 4% of the graduating class had set clearly written goals for their future.
Then in 1973: It was discovered that the 4% were worth more in financial terms (that being the easiest value to measure) than the other 96% added together! *
The progress principle: Set yourself any written goal you want. Most of the pleasure will be had along the way, with every step that takes you closer.
Strive for a vertical coherence among your goals. Higher-level long term goals and lower-level immediate goals all fit together well, so that pursuing one’s short-term goals also advances the pursuit of long term goals.
There are lots of good books written on goal setting. If you want to read one that takes you by the hand and guides you step by step through the process to develop a goal map for your left-and right-brain, check out Brian Mayne’s “Goal Mapping”
“The most important thing about goals is having one.” — Geoffrey F. Abert
“Either you learn to set your own goals, or you are destined to spend the rest of your life working for someone who does.” — Brian Tracy
* this study is actually a myth; there is no proof at all that it took place; nevertheless it sounds like it could be true, doesn’t it; many other studies have proven that there is no doubt that goal setting works.