If you want to succeed, you need to define your goals. Without goals, you lack focus and become aimless. Goal setting not only allows you to take control of your life’s direction; it also provides you a benchmark for determining whether you are truly succeeding. Think about it: Having crores of rupees in the bank is the only proof of success if one of your goals is to accrue riches. If your goal is to practice acts of charity, then keeping the money for yourself is opposing to how you would define success. To accomplish your goals, however, you need to know how to set them. Goal setting is a process that starts with a careful consideration of what you want to achieve and ends with a lot of hard work to actually do it. In between, there are some very well defined steps that transcend the specifics of each goal. Knowing these steps will allow you to formulate goals that you can accomplish.

Here are our five golden rules of goal setting:

1. 1. Set motivating goals

So many people never achieve what they desire simply because they are never completely sure on what they actually want. When you set goals for yourself, it is important that they motivate you: this means making sure that they are important to you, and that there is value in achieving them. If you have little interest in the outcome, or they are irrelevant given the larger picture, then the chances of you putting in the work to make them happen are slim. Motivation is the key to achieving goals. Set goals that relate to the high priorities in your life.

1. 2. Set Measurable Goals

To measure your goals you should include the precise amounts, dates, and so on in your goals so you can measure your degree of success. If your goal is simply defined as “To reduce expenses” how will you know when you have been successful? Without a way to measure your success you miss out on the celebration that comes with knowing you have actually achieved something.

1. 3. Don’t think of ‘how’

This is really important. This is the step that will make or break your manifestation. You need to let go of “how” what you desire will manifest. If you don’t, you won’t create the space for what you desire to show up in your life. The key is to focus on the end result, and be open to how it will manifest, rather than needing it to manifest in a specific way.

1. 4. Have an emotional connect

When an emotion or sentiment is attached with that event, it makes it a driving force to achieve it. You need to be tapping into an emotional peak state whenever you are thinking about what you desire to manifest. Make a conscious effort to tap into that feeling as regularly as possible throughout the day. Ensure that you are not consumed with negative thoughts and emotions throughout your day; otherwise, you will simply manifest more of them.

1. 5. Obsess over your goal

This last step is crucial. Once you are crystal clear about what you desire, you need to obsess about what you desire daily. Connecting emotionally with what you desire to manifest once a day isn’t going to cut it. You need to connect emotionally at least once an hour, during waking hours. A great way to do this is to set a reminder for every hour that you are awake and allow yourself to tap into the emotion of having already received what you desire. Then allow everything you desire to naturally show up in your life with ease.

Heart. Intelligence. Courage.

They’re all valuable traits, to get you toward your goals, and these guidelines will unleash its power to get you over the rainbow to what you want.

So, what will you decide to accomplish today?