When I started setting goals for my network marketing business, I honestly had no idea what I was doing. My plan was this: Since I had about 3 hours in the evenings to work my business, I could spend that time calling leads. I counted on each conversation lasting about 10 minutes, which meant I would make about 6 calls an hour, or around 20 calls a day.

Working at this for 6 days a week meant I'd be contacting 120 people every week. If even 1% decided to join my business, that's over 4 new people a month! I was on my way to MLM success.

So I bought my leads list, memorized my script, and swallowed my phone fear. This was it. It wasn't until after I'd made about 10 dials that reality exploded in my face like a hydrogen bomb on Fantasy Island. My plan was crap.

I learned the hard way that only 20% of my calls would be answered on the first try. And, of those 20%, about 90% showed about as much interest in starting their own business as Paris Hilton in becoming a nuclear physicist. Most didn't even remember requesting information about a home based business. Instead of 6 calls an hour, I made about 50. Of those, about 1 expressed mild interest in starting a business. Looking back on my original plan, I would have had to be on the phone 20 hours and contact 1,000 people every day!

For your goals to be effective, you must base them in reality. If your goal is to watch a sunrise, but you're facing west, then how realistic is that goal?

Goals are not wishes. I wish I could sing like Pavarotti, but unless I'm willing to go through years of vocal training and practice, it's not going to happen. My goal, on the other hand, is to regularly sponsor 5 or more people every month. I'm taking steps now to achieve that goal.

To achieve your goals, you must get clear about what you really want. As simple as this sounds, you might be surprised how vague your goals really are until you write them down. Maybe your goal is to be wealthy. What does that mean to you? How will you know when you're wealthy?

Unfortunately, many people who get involved in network marketing view it as a quick fix, and become discouraged when their expectations aren't immediately met. They realize too late that their goal of making $50,000 in a couple months isn't realistic. The hype that surrounds network marketing both creates and promotes the expectations of money for nothing (or very little).

For goals to be effective, larger goals need to be broken down into manageable chunks. If your goal is to make $100,000 a year in 3 years, how much will you need to make in 1 year? 6 months? 90 days? What steps will you need to begin taking tomorrow?

Focusing on smaller goals keeps you from being overwhelmed. For instance, following up on 3 prospects and writing 2 articles today feels much more doable and realistic than focusing on your 3-year plan.

Nothing happens until you turn your intentions into consistent action. You can plan, study, and talk, but until you take action nothing really changes. If you keep doing what you're doing, you can expect to get what you've always gotten. It's that consistent action that produces real, lasting results. Think about it. If a raindrop lands on a huge boulder one time, nothing much happens. If several drops of water, however, pummel this same boulder over time, you get the Grand Canyon.