Learning About Goal-Setting

I'm trying to set some clear, achievable goals in my life right now. I've learned that writing your goals down on paper and continually revising them and taking steps toward them is the only way to actually attain them. I haven't been very good at doing that lately. I think the reason I don't do it is because the only times I was taught to do it was when I was running direct marketing businesses (yes, I've tried more than one). I never thought to apply them to any area in my life besides business.

I've lately become a bit of a Chalene Johnson fan. In my last post I mentioned that I started her 30 Day Challenge. It's all about setting and achieving goals. I feel like maybe if I follow this I can learn to attain my goals faster than I have been. Most of these goals are financial. We're honestly doing pretty well at paying off our debt. I think we're going it faster than most people do. But I want to put it on a fast track. A student loan is a lot of money, but if I expect it to take a really long time then it's going to take a really long time. If I plan for it to not take a really long time, it might take a little less time than originally planned for. Right?

Chalene says to make a to do list every day and tackle it first thing. I haven't done that yet because I'm only on day 4 of the challenge and she hasn't taught about the to do list yet. I'd rather wait until I know exactly how to do it. I'm very good at learning things. I can do anything if you can just teach me how. I've always prided myself on that. There's virtually nothing I can't learn to do. This is just another thing that I need to be taught.

I'm a big believer in self improvement. I used to think all those self-help books were a sham...until I read one. Then I thought, "hey, I really could be better!". I've changed a lot over the past few years and a lot of it is thanks to the last business I was involved in. They encouraged self improvement and reading every day. Once I started that, I felt like I suddenly blossomed into the person I always wanted to be. Granted, I still have plenty of work left but I'm still better than I used to be. I'm healthy, I'm in good shape, and I'm more confident than I've ever been. Now all I have to do is apply what I learned to all other aspects of my life. Be gone, debt!

How do you set and achieve your goals? Have you read any good self improvement books lately?