Goal: Own a huge home!

Step one: Define what it will take to achieve this goal. Goals, no matter how obscure, require finite steps to get there. You can't reach a goal without making specific choices in your life.

Ex: To reach the goal stated above you need: Good credit, low debt, a steady income, a down payment, a large enough income to justify loan. Thus, your whole life is going to affect your ability to reach this dream. If you are bad with money, if you do not get education, etc. to get a good job, you won't have the necessary frame work to reach the goal.

Step two: Take the things you defined, and define them further. This will help you see more clearly the steps you need to take to reach your goal, and thus make it less of an obscure dream, and more of a plausible reality.

Ex: To get good credit you need to do the following: Establish credit, have a long credit history, always make payments on time, not have high amounts of debt, not have bankruptcies, late payments, etc. on your history.

Step three: Write down each step to achieving the big picture, and the small steps to get to each step, with a time frame. Goals are not really goals if they do not have a deadline attached. You have to know what you want and when you want it by.

Ex: Have a down payment. This requires you to have an income to supports saving, and lack of debts. It also requires you to save. So, you may set the goal of saving a certain amount by a certain date. Then have smaller goals, that say, save this much each month in order to reach my larger goal of having this total saved.

To break down a goal you have to have the ultimate goal, then steps to get to it. So, you have to define each, write them down, and think through the natural progression to get to those goals. If you don't, you will never reach the goals you set. You can't get a big house if you do not set yourself up to get one. Goals are usually guidelines for how to lead your life. You have to live a certain way to get a home. You have to have a good job, a steady income, a good credit history, and a down payment. So you would get the degree needed, work with a reputable company that will stay in business, and make payments on time, while not overspending or getting too deeply in debt.

As you break your goals down into more manageable pieces, you make it possible to achieve anything you set your mind to. A doctorate degree seems like a lot, but if you break it down class by class it is not nearly so overwhelming. So, do that with any goal you have, and you will find success.