am sure at some point in your life you have set yourself a goal. You may not have called it that but when you decide that there is something you want and you take steps to get you have set a goal! However, have you ever set any big goals that would change your life? Did you achieve any of them? The reason why most people fail to achieve their goals or dreams is because of two pitfalls. These pitfalls are extremely damaging and can ensure success is never achieved. However there is one simple solution to eliminate them.

Do you recall when you were a child and had all the wonderment that only a child has? Do you remember any of your replies when adults asked you, as a child, what you wanted to be when you grew up? If you were like most people your answers would have changed from week to week depending on what interested you at that particular time. Never once did it enter your head that you could not be what you wanted. You held the strong conviction that anything was possible. You had the belief that you could be, do or have anything you wanted.

When you grew from childhood to adulthood these positive beliefs were replaced by limiting beliefs as you listened to other people around you. You have literally been conditioned to believe that attaining your dreams is not possible. This mindset leads to the biggest pitfalls of setting and achieving goals – procrastination and giving-up!

When you were a child you were not afraid to dream big dreams. You gave no thought to how you were going to be an astronaut or how you could possibly learn to fly a multi-million dollar fighter jet – you just knew you could do it and knew it was going to happen! You were not afraid to think big. As you grew older and the world grew smaller for you, your view of your position in life and what was possible for you grew smaller also. Your dreams and aspirations became subdued to practicalities and what you believed was possible for you.

Now that you have reached adulthood you have bought into all the negative programming offered by others, the media and the education system and also formed some damaging negative views of your own based on some negative life experiences that you now think are common place. You have lost your ability to think big.

Back in ancient times when Rome and Carthage were the two strongest powers in the world a Carthaginian leader called Hannibal told his generals he wanted to take his army and 80 elephants across the Alps to fight the Romans in their own territory. His generals told him there was no way this could be done as in many places along the route even a solitary man would find it difficult to pass. Hannibal responded confidently, “We will find a way or we will make one!”. Hannibal’s response was swift and to the point, “We will find a way, or we will make one!”

Hannibal had a big dream. He wanted to defeat Rome and make his city of Carthage the strongest and only super-power of the ancient world. He had a big goal and a big dream. He wasn’t about to let some mountains stop him!

In order to achieve your goals you must re-learn to think big!

Having a big dream that offers big rewards and life changing results when it is achieved is the only way to stay motivated enough to tackle any challenge or obstacle that stands in your way. With a big dream, which offers big results, you will never give-up nor allow the fear of failure to stop you from trying.

In fact you can never experience failure if you do not give-up. All you can gain is experience. When he was asked what it felt like to fail 9,999 times when trying to invent the electric light-bulb Edison replied,” I haven’t failed 9,999 times. I have just found 9,999 ways that don’t work!”

Stop setting your goals based on practicality or what you think is expected of you. Dream big! With a big dream you will take big action and you will experience big results!