Are you struggling to hit your targets? Then, stay tuned because in this post you’ll learn how to achieve any goal you set for yourself. Whether you are pursuing financial, family, educational, relationships, or personal development goals by the end of this post you’ll have a strategy to go out there and turn your dreams into reality. All you need to do is to follow a 6-step formula outlined by Napoleon Hill in his masterpiece Think & Grow Rich. 

It’s so easy to follow, but at the same time it’s also so easy not to; and that’s why so many people end up coming short on their goals, never achieving what they have set for themselves.

Before diving into the 6-step formula to achieve anything you want let’s get to know its creator, the author of Think & Grow Rich.  

WHO IS NAPOLEON HILL? 

Napoleon Hill (1883 – 1970) was an American self-help author, considered by many to be the father of personal development.

Napoleon Hill was born in poverty, in a small town in Southwest Virginia.

His mother died when he was nine and his father disappeared a few years later.

In his youth, Hill wrote for a local newspaper and raised the money needed to enroll in law school, which he never completed.

The father of personal development launched several companies over the years; some ended up bankrupt, and others encountered legal issues.

Despite failing many times he didn't give up!

His life turned around when he met industrialist Andrew Carnegie, one of the most influential men in the world at the time.

Carnegie commissioned Hill to interview over 500 successful people.

The mission was to discover a sure-fire formula for success, easy to understand and follow by anyone.

Hill interviewed people like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, Stalin, Theodore Roosevelt, and many others.

After about twenty years of study, he came to the publication of his masterpiece: Think and grow rich, one of the most popular personal development and self-improvement books of all time.

Think and Grow Rich has sold over 100 million copies worldwide since its first publication during the Great Depression!

This book is said to have created more millionaires and helped more people to achieve goals than any other book of its kind in history.

One of Napoleon Hill's most famous quotes reads:

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”. - Napoleon Hill

THE HUMAN MIND CAN DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS

Most people give up on the first hurdle or don't even start trying to achieve something, because they don't believe in it, or because they believe it's impossible.

The cause of failure, therefore, is within us - our limiting beliefs - and not outside.

“If you think you are beaten, you are

If you think you dare not, you don't,

If you like to win, but you think you can't

It is almost certain you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you're lost

For out of the world we find,

Success begins with a fellow's will

It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are

You've got to think high to rise,

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But soon or late the man who wins

Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN”! -Walter D. Wintle

What sets successful people apart is that they strongly believe they can achieve whatever goal they set for themselves.

This leads us to the 6-step formula outlined by Napoleon Hill.

6 STEPS TO TURN ANY DREAM INTO REALITY

The 6-step formula is a method of rewiring and training your mind to achieve any goal you set for yourself, not only in business but in every area of life.

1) BECOME EXTREMELY CLEAR ABOUT YOUR GOAL

If I were to line you and the best archer in the world up and you were to shoot at a target who would be the more likely to hit the target? 

The archer would beat you every single time!

Yet, if you were to blindfold him and spin him around, who would be better off hitting the target?

YOU! You would have a better chance of beating the best archer in the world only because you can see the target while he doesn’t have any clue where to shoot. 

When you pursue goals that are too vanilla, in other words, when you don’t know exactly what you want to achieve, it's like trying to hit a target blindfolded.

You can't see it! So, how can you ever think you will hit it?

Thus, it is not enough to write down, "I want to make more money this year" if your goal is a financial one.

Otherwise, If you made only one dollar more, you would achieve your goal. But, would you be satisfied with your accomplishment? I don’t think so.

You must be precise about the amount!

For example, "I want to make $ 10,000 more this year".

Or "I want to learn digital marketing skills", "I want to make 3 trips every year", "I want to get to 7% body fat".

In the next points, we’ll find out HOW 😉

Bear in mind that you can apply this method to any sphere of your life. 

The important thing is the accuracy of the goal.

Bottom line: ​​the more clear you become the easier it is to get to your destination, turning your dreams into reality.

“It’s a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal”. - Steve Maraboli

2) DECIDE WHAT YOU ARE WILLING TO GIVE UP TO SUCCEED

Most people don't expect to have to give something up in order to get something that they've never had or become someone they have never been.

But, you need to be willing to get rid of things that you've done before.

There are certain habits and traits and actions that you have been taking for a while that you need to give up.

Let’s go back to the examples of step 1.

If you want to make $ 10,000 more this year, and learn digital marketing skills, you could consider giving up on television after your working day, or on scrolling on Social media, or even going out at the weekend.

As a result, you would have the necessary time to acquire new skills that eventually would enable you to hit your financial goal - $ 10,000 more than the previous year.

If you want to make three trips every year you could consider giving up on useless expenses. As a result, you would have the savings to afford three holidays, instead of one or none.

Regarding your goal to get to 7% body fat, you could consider giving up on eating unhealthy food, drinking alcohol, or wasting time doing nothing but those activities that would increase your chance to hit your goals - going to the gym or preparing your healthy meals.

When you decide what you are willing to give up to achieve your goals, you will be much more likely to not mess up when temptations turn up.

You won’t let anything or anyone that doesn't line up with your goal get in the way.

Bottom line: there is always a price to pay to get what you want and it’s worth paying it, even if at first glance it feels “too expensive”. 

“Understand there is a price to be paid for achieving anything of significance. You must be willing to pay the price”. - John Wooden

3) SET A DEFINITE DATE BY WHICH YOU INTEND TO REACH YOUR GOAL

Goals differ from dreams by the due date. 

All goals must have a date by which to achieve them. 

Timing helps in maintaining focus and attention, what’s more, a sense of urgency spurs you to give your best.

Bottom line: Open your calendar and set the date by which you will achieve your goal.

“A goal without a date is just a dream”. - Milton H. Erickson

4) CREATE A PLAN FOR THE DESIRED GOAL

What is the first step you can take here and now to move towards your goal?

What are the things you need to learn and put into practice to make it happen?

Which are the most important ones on which to focus 80% of your energy and attention?

Ask yourself these questions and others you can come up with, and you’ll have your plan of action!

For instance, going back to the above examples of goals, let’s say that in order to learn digital marketing skills, you could come up with the following plan:

Join a community of digital entrepreneurs, attend webinars and seminars or live events where you can widen your network and find the support you need to move towards your goal.

As for the goal to have three trips per year, you could consider opening a savings account strictly designed for your three trips, and paying in every month a % of your income. As a result, you’ll have enough funds to go on your trips.

As regards your goal to reach 7% body fat ​​you could decide to workout four times a week, to be followed by a personal trainer, to eat 5 times a day to use supplements, or get rid of all the foodstuff in your house that doesn’t line up with your goal. 

Bottom line: take the time you need, BUT make sure to come up with your foolproof plan. 

 “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail”. - Benjamin Franklin

5) WRITE A CLEAR AND CONCISE STATEMENT THAT CONTAINS THE CHOSEN GOAL, THE DEADLINE BY WHICH TO ACHIEVE IT, WHAT YOU ARE WILLING TO GIVE UP, AND YOUR PLAN OF ACTIONS

This is going to be your mission statement, your mantra, a constant reminder of what you aim to get done. 

Here are 2 reasons why you want to write it down:

1) Looking at studies about how people learn and memorize, those who just hear or read tend to learn less than those who write it out.

This occurs because you give a visual symbol to yourself while you process each word you write down.

So write out your mission statement. Write it as many times as it takes to sink into your subconscious.

2) According to the article about goal-settings published on Positive Psychology, "People who write their goals are more likely to achieve their goals than those who don’t by 50%”.

Let me give you an example based on one of the goals mentioned before.

Let’s take into account the example of the goal of reaching 7% body fat.

Your statement could be something along the lines of: 

“I am going to get to 7% body fat and weigh 85 kgs by December 31st of this current year. In order to do that I will give up sweets, soda, and alcohol for the rest of this year. What’s more, I'm going to work out four times a week followed by a personal trainer, I'm going to have 5 meals per day and get supplements. On top of that, I'm going to get rid of all of the foodstuff that is inside of my house which doesn't line up with me achieving my goal”. 

Bottom line: take pen and paper and write down your mission statement!

“By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands – your own”. - Mark Victor Hansen

6) READ THE STATEMENT OUT LOUD, AT LEAST TWICE A DAY, IN THE MORNING WHEN YOU WAKE UP AND IN THE EVENING BEFORE GOING TO BED

Read it first thing in the morning and once again before you go to bed.

Have it be the first thing you think about in the morning and the last thing you think about every night.

When you repeat affirmations over and over they are eventually accepted by your subconscious mind as part of your new programming.

You will then find that your external behaviors will start reflecting your internal programming to lead you towards your goals.

According to Kathryn J. Lively's Ph.D. article on Psychology Today, “Affirmations are used to reprogram the subconscious mind, to encourage us to believe certain things about ourselves or about the world. They are also used to help us create the reality we want — often in terms of making (or attracting) wealth, love, beauty, and happiness”.

To make this last step of the 6-step formula even more effective, you can:

• read your mission statement every hour - set your alarm clock so you won’t forget 😉. You will then definitely brainwash yourself to create the life that you want, whatever it is that you are trying to achieve;
• visualize yourself having already reached your goals. How do you feel? What can you do? Where are you? In whose company?

Visualization is another powerful technique you can use to program your subconscious mind to move towards your destination. 

Bottom line: the more you repeat and visualize your mission statement, the more likely you’ll be pulled towards what you want to achieve or become. 

“Repeating an affirmation several times a day keeps you focused on your goal, strengthens your motivation, and programs your subconscious by sending an order to your crew to do whatever it takes to make that goal happen”. - Jack Canfield

FINAL THOUGHTS

Will Napoleon Hill’s 6-step formula work out for you too?

Who knows, the only way to find out is to give it a try. 

As you can see these 6 steps are easy to follow, but as I said in the introduction, they are also easy to overlook and skip.

But, why should you not follow them since they have been and are still being used by successful people all over the world?

Imagine how wonderful it would be if in six months, or one year from now your dreams came to reality thanks to this sure-fire formula.

So, do not hesitate and follow Napoleon Hill’s advice:

“Do not wait: the time will never be 'just right'. Start where you stand, and work whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along”. - Napoleon Hill

If you have found this post valuable, please leave a comment below and let me know what your mission statement is so that we can inspire and encourage other people to pursue their goals and transform their lives.

More resources for YOU:

• Why Faith Is Important - An Inspirational Story
• Reasons Come First, Results Come Second
• 7 Morning Habits That Prevent You From Achieving Your Goal