Earn Money Online

This is a guest post written by Jason Pereira who blogs at The University Kid and is currently having a RSS contest, where he is giving $150.00 in prizes, so check it out!

This post is mainly aimed at those in the make money online or blogging niches, however setting goals is important in all aspects of life. You all have done it at every time new year comes around we tell ourselves we’ll definitely achieve something during the upcoming year, be it losing weight, scoring high in school or even increasing website metrics for the geeks amongst you.

The problem is that, although all of us set the goals, few of us end up achieving them. We either slack off completely or fall well short. Setting the right type of goals can be a difficult thing. What should you do to ensure that you optimize your goals for maximum success?

Choose the right blend
Choosing the right blend between ease and difficulty is perhaps the most difficult thing when setting goals. Set yourself a goal that’s too easy and you won’t be achieving much at all, set yourself a goal that’s near impossible to reach and all you’ll end up doing is feeling disheartened when you fail to make it.

By comparing your goals to what others of a similar nature are doing, you can make sure that you set goals that challenge you enough to better yourself and have fun doing so no one likes floundering as you struggle to reach 11,000 RSS subscribers by the end of the month or $15,000 a day in two weeks.

Make Sure Your Goal Is Measurable

Set a time frame
Aiming to reach a monumental figure, be it with regards to your personal life or online activities is one thing; setting a time frame to do it in is quite another. By setting a time frame, you know when you have to complete your goal – urgency always helps when you have to get something done, and this is no different.

Without a time frame to reach your goal in, your goal is not a goal. The sense of urgency I mentioned will not be there and you’ll take your sweet time, simply because you haven’t set yourself a deadline to do your goal in.

Be specific
Saying “I want to increase my RSS count” is a rubbish goal. You have to make sure that you know how much of something you want to better yourself at - saying I want to increase my feed count by 20 subscribers is much better. Coupled with a time frame, you’ve given yourself a goal that lets you know how much is required, and when it is so.

The perfect example
Seeing as RSS count is one thing that most bloggers cherish, I’ll use it as an example. An example of the perfect goal would be ‘I want to increase my feed count by 200 subscribers by the end of March‘ - realistic, measurable and a goal that quite easily could be attempted by any blogger.

Personal motivation helps
Obviously you have to create your goals to suit yourself - the above example I gave may seem near impossible for some while others gain that increase weekly. A good way to make sure you complete your goal is by giving yourself an incentive to do so - this doesn’t have to be big, but aiming towards something always helps.

For some, the increase itself will be good enough, while others need more encouragement - promising to treat yourself to the latest pair of shoes or console game when your goal is reached can be the difference between you ambling through it and putting in a little amount of effort or striving hard to reach your goal.

Reflect back when done
After the allotted time frame is up, you should always reflect on your goal - was it too easy, and do you think you need to make it harder next time? Was it too hard to accomplish, and did you end up struggling to even make a dent? With experience, you can end up setting yourself the perfect goals, time and time again.

What is your goal for the near future?

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