21 quotes to inspire achievement of your 2012 goals

Goals are more action than talk

While it’s important to have dreams and aspirations, there’s an even more crucial part to any goal. Actually taking the necessary steps to achieve your goals takes ample willpower, dedication, perseverance, and emotional and mental strength. Anyone can dream and make hypothetical plans for their lives, but it takes a special kind of person to make dreams a reality, to make their life what they’ve always wanted it to be. Here are twenty-one quotes that emphasize just that:

1. “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” – Albert Einstein

2. “What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

3. “Difficulties increase the nearer we approach the goal.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

4. “When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reach, don’t adjust the goals; adjust the action steps.” – Confucius

5. “Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

6. “The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment.” – Earl Nightingale

7. “Not every end is the goal. The end of a melody is not its goal, and yet if the melody has not reached its end, it has not reached its goal.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

8. “If you want to reach a goal, you must ‘see the reaching’ in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal.” – Zig Ziglar

9. “You control your future, your destiny. What you think about comes about. 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

10. “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” – Anthony Robbins

11. “A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.” – Walt Disney

12. “Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” – Stephen A. Brennan

13. “People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.” – Earl Nightingale

14. “All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.” – Orison Swett Marden

15. “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” – Larry Elder

16. “A goal is not always meant to be reached. It often serves simply as something to aim at.” – Bruce Lee

17. “Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from the energy we have is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy.” – Denis Waitley

18. “You must take action now that will move you towards your goals. Develop a sense of urgency in your life.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

19. “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” – Jim Rohn

20. “Your ability to communicate is an important tool in your pursuit of your goals, whether it is with your family, your co-workers, or your clients and customers.” – Les Brown

21. “We are built to conquer environment, solve problems, achieve goals, and we find no real satisfaction or happiness in life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve.” – Maxwell Maltz

Every year it’s the same story – make goals, goals, and more goals. And while it’s great to make goals, it’s even better to actually follow through and find the power and motivation inside yourself to actually make it happen. You will get discouraged along the way. If you don’t experience discouragement—even just a little—during the course of achieving your goal, it may not be the right goal for you. Many times, setting and working towards a goal is more about the journey than it is about the end result. Always be pursuing a goal, as you will continually learn more about yourself and your abilities when you’re pushing your limits and testing the boundaries of success you thought kept you captive.