Did you know that more difficult and specific goals make your more motivated to achieve them? It's true! In 1968 professor and psychologist Dr. Edwin Locke and Dr. Gary Latham wrote up their research in an article titled "Toward a Theory of Task Motivation and Incentives" about how clear goals matter when it comes to performance. Instead of stating something non-specific like "I'm going to save some of my allowance every week, so I can buy something I really want" a specific goal might be: "I'm going to put 25% of my weekly allowance into a savings account, so by December 10th I can buy the new video game I want". This goal has clear instructions, offers a start and end date, and offers an incentive (or sense of accomplishment) at the end. Here are the basic igniters of Locke and Latham's goal-setting theory that anyone can use to achieve success:

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Be Clear. Write your goal down with lots of details and be as specific as possible. How will you measure your success and how often? Do you feel excited about the goal? For example if my goal is to write and publish a story on Wattpad then I can commit to writing 500 words a day 4 times a week for a month. These are measurable numbers I can track, and at the end of 30 days I can have a story ready to publish.

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Make it Challenging. Don't set a goal that you are already achieving, or that barely takes any effort. It won't be rewarding or motivating. It needs to be hard enough to feel a sense of accomplishment at the end, but not so difficult that it causes stress. Find ways to reward yourself during the process. 

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Make the Commitment. Visualize yourself achieving your goal and how happy you'll be once you reach it. You can mark days off on a calendar, create a collage board of motivating pictures, or write a mission statement of what it means to you to accomplish this goal.

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Give Yourself Feedback. Every week analyze how you are doing and if the process is working for you. It's okay to tweak things if it will help you stay on track. Make any necessary changes and move forward. 

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Break Large Goals Down Into Manageable Chunks. It's pointless and frustrating to set goals where you know you will fail. For example if my goal is to write a book then my sub-goal can be to write a chapter, short-story, or create my storyline or plot.