Goal setting is a well known means of giving any self-improvement plan a greater likelihood of success. Whether it's in your personal or professional life, you'll stand a better chance of realizing an ambition if you have a clear idea in advance of what you want to achieve and if you've planned the steps you'll take to reach your target.

Motivational experts call this the S.M.A.R.T approach to setting goals: the acronym helps you to remember the critical success factors in any development plan. Your goals need to be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time-based

Organizing your goals according to these principles helps to establish a priority of objectives in order to make good progress. It also leads you towards a step-by-step program which breaks down large scale goals into a series of smaller, more achievable tasks.

The SMART approach also addresses another vital aspect of intelligent goal design: the need to stay motivated. It's one thing to make elaborate plans to develop your career, improve your relationships or start an exercise regime; after your initial enthusiasm wears off, maintaining your efforts is a different challenge altogether. It's said that 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going' -- but what fires this drive to persevere?

If you've given your goals SMART design, you've built in a mechanism to give you regular encouragement and the reassurance that you're actually getting somewhere! Here are five favorite tips to maintain your determination and spur you on to even greater achievements:

1. Set a realistic date to achieve your goal. If you don't give yourself a target date, you risk allowing other deadlines to take priority. Many people find they're spurred on by the knowledge that there's a time limit in which to get a job done.
2. Make a step-by-step plan. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed by the sheer size of your goal or the length of time you need to achieve it all. Breaking it down into smaller stages makes each step easier to take. Keep a daily 'to do' list of operational goals that will build your progress over time.
3. Write your goals down. You need reminders and incentives to stay focussed on your plans: stick a list on your fridge door or make a customized 'start page' on your computer! Keep your list in front of you to remind you of your ambition every day.
4. Visualize your success. There will probably be times when you feel frustrated and want to give up your plan. Help yourself overcome such setbacks by imagining what your life will be like when you have reached your target.
5. When you've passed an important milestone on your journey, share your success with others. Give yourself an appropriate reward -- you deserve it!

A successful goal setting plan needs to build in opportunities for motivation and incentives. As you see how much progress you have made towards your target, you'll be inspired to achieve even more.

Rob Sherman is a writer for http://goal-setting.all-your.info, an online guide to setting goals to help you achieve more in life, improve your self-confidence and eliminate negative attitudes.

Visit the site for information on achieving career goals, lifetime goals and self-improvement ideas and tips.