We all know the importance of goal setting. Goals give you a purpose, a direction. They can also give you a filter, a way to say “no” to things that will distract you from achieving those goals. Because the whole point of setting goals in the first place is to achieve something, I’d rather talk about goal achieving.

Probably the most common advice I’ve heard on making your goals a reality is to write them down. And, write them down every day. For some people this works great. However, it never seemed to do anything for me. Then, I heard another way to approach it – visualization. Now, that worked for me. As a matter of fact, it’s what I’d always done. I just knew if I could see it, I could make it happen.

I began to think about the difference and realized this coincided with a common adult learning approach. People usually have a predominate style of learning – kinesthetic, auditory, or visual. What I realized is that since I’m a very visual person, visualization worked wonders for me. I am not at all kinesthetic so the act of writing things down never did connect. I’m also somewhat auditory so I use relaxation and affirmation tapes at night when I go to sleep.

There are lots of ways to use these styles in helping you achieve your goals. If you’re visual learner like me, visualization is great. When you visualize, be as detailed as possible and include all of your senses. How will it look? How will it feel? How will it smell? How will it sound? How will it taste? For example, if your goal is a vacation at the ocean, you can visualize the beach – the sand, the water, the piers. You can also feel the cool ocean breeze on your skin and the sand between your toes (skip the part about sand in your bathing suit!). You can smell the salt in the air. You can hear the waves as they crash on the beach. And, you can taste the savory seafood at your favorite restaurant.

Besides lots of details and including your senses, it helps if you can emotionalize your goal. Imagine how you will feel when you’ve achieved it. For your ocean vacation goal, feel how relaxed you’ll be, how much fun you have building sand castles or playing in the surf. Finally, be sure and visualize as if it’s already happened.

For the visual folks, you can also create a picture album of what you want. For example, get a photo of the car of your dreams. If you want an exotic vacation, get photos of the destination. You can create a flier that has graphics surrounding your list of goals.

For you kinesthetic types, writing down your goals is a great place to start. But, don’t stop there. If one of your goals is a new car, go get a model of it at a toy store (actually, the toy store for big kids, Sharper Image, has some pretty impressive models). You could create a little sand box with shells in it to help you stay focused on that ocean vacation. If you're not sure a sandbox would be appreciated at work, try one of those Zen rock gardens. Let the kid in you come out and play. When we were kids, we used lots of props and toys to help us imagine what we’d be when we grew up. There’s no reason that can’t work for us as adults, too.

If you’re an auditory kind of person, create audio recordings of your goals. You can also use music to reinforce them. For example, back to our ocean vacation – you can listen to a CD with ocean sounds on it while you’re working.

Somewhere in here you knew I had to bring in technology, right? Well, here are a few ideas. For the visual among us, use your wallpaper on your computer desktop and your screensaver to show pictures of your goals. If you have Windows XP, all you have to do is put your pictures in a folder and point your screensaver to that folder. Email me if you want specific help creating your screensaver. You can find plenty of photos online that can represent your goals. If a car is your goal, go to the manufacturer’s website and copy a picture of the model and color you want. If you want a beach vacation, find your dream resort. They have fabulous pictures of their properties. You could also use custom mouse pointers. There are different options that come with Windows and you can get more online.

For the auditory folks, add custom sounds to actions on your computer. Obviously you can listen to CDs. If you have a high-speed Internet connection, you could also listen to Internet radio of there’s a station that will help you achieve your goals. You might also explore listening to audiobooks to improve your skills if you have trouble keeping up with your reading. A great resource is www.audiobooks.com. These can be put on CDs or a portable player. I like to listen to these as I walk around the park.

If you’re kinesthetic, there are plenty of software programs that let you type in lots of information about your goals and your progress in achieving them. For links to some of these (and other tools), go to http://www.triciasantos.com/goals.htm.

You can also use different means to pop up reminders on your screen. One way you could use this is to have a reminder each morning of what you want to accomplish that day.

A final technology tip is to use the right tool for the job. One of the best ways to achieve your goals is to use your time and energy as effectively as possible. If there’s a way to let the computer do something for you, let it.

One last suggestion…don’t forget your sense of smell. At the start of last year, someone gave me a prosperity candle. Now, whenever I do bookkeeping, I have that candle burning (I’ve bought quite a few in the past year). It reminds me to think abundantly and to be thankful for all that I have. It’s turned a dreaded chore into a positive experience.