Everyone of us that seek to do something more with our lives have sought a magical, mythical, goal setting strategy to make our dreams come true. All of the gurus tell us once we've found that perfect goal setting structure, everything else will fall in place. What I've found after working with more than 100,000 people in goal setting is that structure is not necessarily what will get you to your goals. In fact, it might be keeping you from them.

My career has enabled me to work with people in 54 countries regarding their mindsets and it applies to goal setting. What I've found is traditional goal setting strategies focus in the wrong place. The structure of a goal is not where the magic is.

What you need in order to accomplish your goals are four things. These four things should actually be in place before you ever set a goal.

The first thing is a vision. What will your world look like when the goal is achieved? If you can get your mind wrapped around how you want your life to look, an achievable goal will come from that vision automatically.

Secondly you need to know your purpose. Why do you want the goal you've set? If you haven't set your goal yet but have your vision building, why is your vision important? Understanding the purpose for achievement is as important as knowing what you want to achieve. Purpose provides the drive to move you forward.

The third thing you need to establish a clear path to a goal is belief. I personally missed this for years. When we do not have a firm basis of belief in our ability to accomplish a goal or the steps to a goal, we'll stand in fear. While in fear, we do not even advance through the simple steps that get us started. If we'll work within the belief that we have and let it expand naturally, our chances of having what we want are much greater.

Finally, you need to take action. Yes, this is probably the most obvious but it is missed all the time. When we develop a bias for action the goal achieving landscape changes with every step. By taking action toward our goals, even if the steps are small, everything comes into a sharper focus and we can see exactly what is on the horizon.

With these four things in place your goal setting and achieving becomes manageable and realistic. I cover goal setting in more detail in Flip the SWITCH, my latest book. If you'd like to know more about it, I'm offering two chapters for free. Just go to http://themindsetmaven.com/setgoals .