Did you know that there is a scientific formula that states if you put in 15% of the ground work then 80% of the task will take care of itself - due to the butterfly effect! This is not just personal development spin. By building sound foundations the structure that you place on top of it will be secure!

This is why we hear so many personal development stories where someone has a set a goal and worked hard to achieve it taking small personal development steps each day, week and month to get closer to their goal. All of a sudden the goal, almost miraculously, materializes. Everyone thinks that this person is lucky but it isn't so. The foundations were set and the butterfly effect took care of the rest.

Now the butterfly effect is in fact chaos theory. It states that small changes made now can have a massive effect later - if a butterfly flaps its wings in Tokyo there may be a tornado in Florida a few weeks later.

In personal development this chaos or butterfly effect can be used to our advantage. Smaller goals are easier to achieve and act as small steps that lead to the main personal development goal.

Follow these 4 simple rules when you set goals:

1. Think of something that you really want to achieve or acquire. Turn that desire into a personal development goal.

2. Formulate a good solid personal development plan. How will you reach your goal? Are there skills you need to acquire? Do you need to improve your knowledge in some way? What personal development steps are needed to achieve your goal.

3. Set stepping-stone goals. Disect your personal development goal by setting smaller goals from it that build on one another until you have achieved the main personal development goal. Create daily and weekly goals that you know you can achieve. This is real personal development. You are developing yourself by achieving small steps. Small steps such as tehse will eventually lead to your personal development goal. Remember "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", Chinese proverb.

4. Work with the butterfly effect. Take small steps or small actions that may have tremendous long-term effect. For example, a well-known personal development "guru" wrote one article and posted it to his site. He did no more work on it!

That one personal development article was then picked up by many other internet marketers who enjoyed the content so much that they passed it on to many others. Due to that one article the author was inundated with requests for more information. He went on to write a book that was an Amazon best seller before it was even released due to presales. This was the butterfly effect in action!

Follow these personal development steps to goal setting and you will be surprised at the results you get!