Goal setting is fundamental to any type of achievement. 设定目标是获得任何成功的基础。

If you want to live a life of purpose, setting goals will increase your odds of reaching your desired outcome. 如果你想过有意义的生活，设定目标将增加你获得期望的几率。

The process of setting goals helps bring clarity to the things that are truly important to you. 设定目标的过程能帮助你看清那些对你来说确实很重要的事情。

Absent a clear picture of what you want to achieve in your life, 头脑中缺少了完成人生目标的清晰图片，就如一艘没有了舵的船，

you will be left wandering aimlessly through life like a ship without a rudder, without ever achieving anything worthwhile. 你将漫无目的地荒废你的一生，不曾完成任何有意义的事情。

When you set clearly defined goals and create a plan to achieve them, you will begin to live your life by design, not default. 当你确立了明确的目标，创建了执行目标的规划时，你将开始设计你的人生，而不是“默认”地过下去。

You will feel motivated and empowered.  Your self-confidence will grow and you will begin to feel like you are in control of your life. 你会感觉更加积极和自主。你的自信心会随之增长，而且你将渴望掌控自己的人生。

When you are crystal clear on what you want to achieve, you’ll be able to focus your efforts on the things that will help you reach those goals. 当你看清楚自己想要得到的，你就会致力于那些能帮你达成目标的事情上。

There are six basic elements to goal setting,let me review those with you. 设定目标的六要素

1. They must be important to you—Goals are not casual wishes and things you simply desire. 1.一定要意义。目标不是偶然的一些期望或仅仅是想要的一些东西。

The only way you will achieve any goal is if the goal is truly important to you. 实现任何一个目标的唯一途径建立在它是否对你有重大的意义。

If the goal is only slightly or moderately important, it’s highly unlikely that you will follow through and do what is required to achieve it. 如果目标对于你的意义很小或不重要，你很有可能不会费心思地去实现它。

2. They must be specific—You must know exactly what you want. Your goals cannot be vague or ambiguous. 2.一定要具体。你一定要知道自己想要的是什么。你的目标不该是模糊不清或模棱两可的。

For example, if you want to lose weight, you would not set a goal to simply lose weight. 比如说，如果你想减肥，你的目标不能仅仅是减轻体重，

Instead your goal must be specific; such as you want to lose 30 pounds. 而是更加明确的，比如“你想减掉30磅的体重”。

3. They must have deadlines—What is the date or deadline for when you want to have achieved your objective? 3.一定要限期。你打算在哪一天或哪一个时间之前完成你的目标呢？

If you do not establish a date to achieve your goal, you won’t feel any urgency, you won’t be motivated and you won’t be able to draft an action plan to achieve it. 如果你没有确定一个完成目标的日期，你就没有紧迫感，也不会有的放矢地按照规划去实现它们。

4. They must be measurable—Whatever it is you want to achieve must be something you can measure. 4.一定要现实。不论你要达成的目标是什么，它一定应该是你能做得到的。

If you cannot measure your goal, how will you know if you are making any progress towards its achievement? 如果是你能力之外的目标，那你怎么可能知道在实现它们的过程中你是否有所进展？

5. They must be realistic—Goals should make you stretch and push yourself, but they shouldn’t be so high that you set yourself up for failure. 5.一定要现实。目标应该是能够推动你去努力实现的东西，但是它们可不能高到只能以失败告终的地步。

Once you achieve a goal, your confidence will grow and your desire to set and achieve new goals will follow. 一旦你实现了一个目标，你的自信会随之增强，然后你会有意愿去实现接下来的目标。

And then lastly.6. They must be in writing—Goals are not dreams in the back of your mind that someday you hope to accomplish. 6.一定要记录。目标可不是你脑海中的只待某天去实现的奇幻梦想。

Instead goals are definitive objectives that must be written down and reviewed on a periodic basis. 相反，它们应该是真实存在于你的记录本中让你定期复查的字据。