As Princesses, I’m sure we all have dreams and wishes that we’d like to see realised in the future. Whether its having a beautiful palace and gardens, travelling all over the world, learning a new skill or something as simple as aquiring a beautiful dress. I firmly believe that there is nothing we can not achieve if we truly set our hearts on it, however that doesn’t mean we should expect a fairy godmother to come along and grant all these wishes with the wave of her wand. More often we have to use our wits, talents and imagination to bring our dream world in to reality. This method takes more work, but its also far more rewarding!

Sometimes big dreams can seem so far away and too hard to achieve because we’re simply not sure how to get there. We often put off working towards these goals because there is so much effort needed and its hard to see where to begin. This is where knowing how to set realistic and achievable goals is useful. Almost any long term target can be broken down in to a series of smaller steps that can be tackled, piece by piece, to bring about the end result.

To begin with, try Visualising your goals. Create a clear mental image of what you want to achieve. If your goal is to visit England, picture yourself walking through the streets of London. If your goal is to master a musical intrument, picture yourself on stage playing for a large audience of happy people. Having an strong image of your dream will keep you going, whenever you lose focus just bring that image to mind. You could also create a scrapbook or collage as a physical reminder!

The next important step is to write them down. Even if you have an excellent memory, writing down your goals or typing them up will bring them out of your head and in to the physical world. It will also help you plan out your smaller steps and to be more decisive about what you intend to achieve. Its important to be very clear, avoid ambiguity in your wording and to make your goals measurable. Don’t say ‘I’d like to write a book one day’ say ‘I’d like to have a published novel in this genre before I am 25.’ Setting a time constraint is also important because it makes your goal more definite and gives you a sense of urgency.

Break down the big ones. All goals have smaller steps that lead up to achieving them. Now that you have a written list of your goals, you can look at them one at a time and start thinking about the little steps you need to take to achieve them. For example, if you want to learn a new language you will need to look for a course to enroll in or tutor to hire, then actually attend the lessons and revise what you’ve learnt on a regular basis. Larger goals such as travelling overseas, owning a house or starting a career or business will take a great deal more steps, but the important thing is to start somewhere. Think of each of your steps as mini-goals, which ones can you start on today? I bet there will be something you can do right away.

Discipline yourself. This can be the hardest step, but all your work of visualising goals and creating plans goes to waste if you put them in a drawer and forget about them. You need to stay focused and review your goals and plans regularly. Perhaps you could write them on a sheet of paper and read them every morning after you get up, or make a desktop wallpaper out of them. Start writing yourself to-do lists and make sure you do something, however small, towards your goals each day. Don’t forget to reward yourself whenever you complete one of your mini-goals!

Ask for help! We all need help sometimes, and although others can’t achieve our goals for us they can give us advice, suggestions and support that makes all the difference. Talk to friends and family and meet people who have experience in the area you’ve set your goal. If something seems impossible, it may just mean you need a fresh perspective and a little bit of assistance, so don’t be afraid to ask for it.

Accept your failures and learn from them. All of us make mistakes, sometimes our initial plans turn out to have holes in them and we have to find a new way to achieve our goals. Don’t see failure as an excuse to give up, see it as a lesson to learn from and a spur to push you onwards. The old saying that when you fall off a horse you need to get right back on again is true for a great many things in life.

Be true to yourself. Never sacrifice your personal integrity or beliefs to take a faster or easier path to success. Nothing is as important as staying true to your heart, and no great success will be fulfilling at the sacrifice of your morals. There’s always more than one way to achieve something, find the way that works for you and makes you feel good about yourself aswell!

I’ve recently decided to take part in the 101 Things in 1001 days challenge, its very exciting to me because I have a lot of little goals I want to keep track of, as well as some bigger ones. You may like to take this challenge yourself!

Starting from the 1st of April there will also be a new section of Princess Portal, for a monthly ‘Princess Challenge.’ I’m going to set myself a new task each month and I hope you will join me in working on the same task, or one of your own! I think its going to be a lot of fun and I will post more details on April 1st.