Have you experienced the feeling- you are doing more, running faster, accomplishing much, but you feel there is something missing? You may be writing the best goals of the year, and getting the top prize for accomplishing all the goals you set out to do. You may be accomplishing all that you set out to achieve, but at the end you are still unhappy.

If you don't really know what you want in life, you would have been climbing up the wrong tree. SMART goals aren't really that smart if you do not have the big picture in mind. For example, in your job, you have finished an important project that you set out to do. You have written 40 pages of a proposal, researched and finished in one month. It was SMART goal accomplished. It was: Specific- yes, you have finished the assignment and completed it; Measurable: yes, forty pages is measurable; Achievable- yes, you have achieved it; Realistic- yes it is definitely doable; and Time based- one month.

But you may have always had the inkling that your current job was not what you really wanted. You may have been itching to get out of this job for some time. Inside you, what you really wanted was perhaps something mroe creative. This job is not your first love. It's your circumstances that landed you in this course.

Lack of clarity is the most common goal setting mistake that people make. They're already entrenched in a situation. They have to accomplish tasks. So they set goals. They have not taken one step backward and looked at things from a bigger perspective. Examine yourself. Is this the job or task you really love? Can you see yourself doing the same thing 5 years from now? Ten years from now? If you really didn't have to work for the money, can you see yourself doing the same thing, working in the same job?

In order that goals are truly motivating and valuable, they must be grounded in your deepest values. They must be balanced and complimentary. They must be consistent and complementary- not opposing one another, and physically possible.

Clarity of purpose, vision combined with balance is important. Know yourself. What you would like to do. Think back: What activities have given you the greatest feeling of achievement? In what areas of life have you achieved the most personal fulfillment? The secret is to do more of what you enjoy, from that comes happiness, enthusiasm, motivation, and energy. What do you stand for? What would you defend with your life, if necessary? If you had only 6 months to live, what would do with your time?

If your life was perfect in every respect and you were too, what would it look like, feel like, sound like, belike? Listen to your inner self. Spend a few minutes a day relaxing with closed eyes, and breathing deeply and slowly. Dream.

What is important to you? What do you value most in yourself, your relationship, your job, your friends, your hobby? Just pen down anything that comes to mind. Let loose and express yourself . Write it down. Look at everything you have written and list your top 10 values. You should have your own list. The values could be : honesty, doing one's best, being loving, valuing family life, being enterprising, independence, self control, spirituality, fairness, security, etcetera. Rank them and say what each of these values mean to you. You have just begun your journey of true goal setting- begin with clarity and vision.