To achieve anything in life is a lot of hard work, and it takes dedication and sacrifices to reach a goal.

Setting goals is much more than simply saying you want something to happen. Unless you define precisely what you want and understand why you want it, your odds of success are greatly reduced.

There always are new ideas cropping up to help you set the best goals for you in every compartment of your life. You can learn how to create action plans, set priorities and focus on what’s most important.

But only 3 percent of adults have clear, written, specific, measurable, time-bounded goals, and by every statistic, they accomplish 10 times as much as people with no goals at all, says Brian Tracy in “Setting Goals and Objectives: 5 Myths."

Tracy is recognized among the top sales training and personal success authority in the world. He has written more than 60 books and produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on personal development, including the bestseller “The Psychology of Achievement.”

Most organizations see a dramatic increase in employee and business performance when they effectively set individual employee goals and closely tie them to the company’s overall strategy.

There are some pertinent things a person must do to set and meet his or her goals, and Inc magazine lays out a few of them to help you concentrate on the important things and improve productivity at the same time.

In the article “People who Achieve Their Goals Do These 5 Things," Jane Porter says:

Even the least seasoned of runners knows that the key to making it through a marathon is pacing yourself--not pushing too hard or too fast and exhausting your energy while also not backing down when it gets tough. But how does that marathon-mentality resonate in regard to setting and achieving goals in our work lives and careers?

Porter offers a straightforward, systematic goal-setting template for achieving your goals. Your goals are not going to get you anywhere if you don’t actually do something about them. And not just anything — but the right things.