In Part 1 of this article, we talked about reaching our goals as largely a matter of following through on desire, vision and action. The difficulty for most of us lies in continuing to believe that our efforts will ever bear fruit when these fruits have not yet begun to materialize.

Jonathan Swift said it best. Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.

In order to continue to work toward that which we cannot yet see, our motives must be very personal and very compelling, indeed. So, lets have a closer look at the first of the necessary components, desire.

Desire, even a fervent one, can easily become clouded by obstacles if we choose to focus on the obstacles instead of on our goals. Obstacles are what we see when we take our eyes off the goal.

I believe it helps if we accept from the outset that obstacles and setbacks will arise. It should come as no surprise or source of irritation when this occurs. This is simply part of the natural ebb and flow of business.

If you stop and think about it, its ridiculous to expect that it will be clear sailing the entire way. And yet, people do become unduly irritated and discouraged when things dont go according to plan.

Hitting a few bumps and potholes in the road only signifies that we are in fact traveling the road, and not necessarily that were going down the wrong one. Viewed in this light, you could say that dealing with a few snags here and there is a good thing. It certainly beats sitting around doing nothing to further our progress, right?

Now granted, in order to endure a ride that isnt always comfortable, you had better have a really good reason for doing so. So here comes your self-appointed cheerleader to urge you on.

GRAB THAT GOAL, HONEY!

Thats right. Reach out and grab it! Take those vague, unformed thoughts that flutter around in your head and solidify them by setting them down in black and white. Grapple with them. Tie them down to the paper. Wrap some words around them. You might need to change and rearrange some words. Why, you might even need to think about what it is that you really, really want.

There is plenty of evidence to show that the daily ritual of writing down ones goals is of stupendous importance. Motivational speakers have delivered volumes of goal-setting information. Entire books have been devoted to this topic. Writing down your desires is a recurrent theme in just about every single success book ever published.

And consider this. Harvard studies indicate that of the 3% of people who enjoy extreme success, the one common link among them was this practice of writing down their goals, a practice NOT shared with the other 97% of the also ran.

So why is it that we resist doing this one little thing that has been proven to have such life-altering consequences? Is it because it is such a small sacrifice that we figure it can be ignored? Do people find such a small chore demeaning? Are we just plain old lazy?

Ive decided that IT DOESNT MATTER what excuse weve been using up until now! No more!

I know from experience that a few minutes each morning reviewing and writing down my major goals is time well spent, and its not a difficult task. Actually, I was having great fun with it.

I found myself experiencing subtle but powerful changes as I committed my ideas to paper day after day over a period of months. In fact, I was feeling so grounded and motivated that I foolishly quit doing the things that were keeping me that way!

So no more excuses for me. I have resumed my goal-writing and I intend to just DO IT! Why dont you join me? No more arguments. No ifs, ands or buts. Just do it.

So now that we are making our goals more tangible, just who do we share these goals with? My personal experience has taught me to be very guarded and private about my innermost desires.

If you know that you are dealing with someone who shares your commitment, you can freely share your ideas and gain an important ally. HOWEVER, unless you are absolutely certain that you will be supported 100%, I would recommend that you not share your goals with anyone else. No, not even your family. In many instances, ESPECIALLY not your family.

It is a pity, but oftentimes the people who are supposed to be our staunchest supporters act shamefully like cruel opponents. You cant do that. What makes you think youre so special? You cant compete with those guys. Oh, man, they say you coming!

Such cruel remarks. And they hit particularly hard because they come from the very people who are supposed to elevate us, to buoy us up when the going gets rough. Some of these people might claim that they do this out of love, to keep us from getting hurt. This may be true, but personally, I dont think it matters what their motives are. The damage is still just as severe. These people will steal our dreams if we let them.

Its particularly sad when we are the ones saying these hateful things to ourselves. Not aloud perhaps, but in our dismal thoughts and sighs. Dont steal your own dreams, my friend.

We need to keep a high polish on our heartfelt desires. If, and only if, we really make those goals shine like beacons in the sky, then we will find the energy keep priming the pump. Day in and day out, weve got to suit up and show up! (Actually, you can stay in your pajamas, but you do have to show up.)

As the great motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, used to say, A big shot is just a little shot that kept on shooting. Stay tuned for Part 3.