My mother never went to Europe.

She talked about it, dreamed about it — even opened a travel agency at age 55. Never got there. She died 15 years later, never achieving the goal. Oh, she achieved plenty of other goals. But not that one.

Got unmet goals?

Personal goals start as thoughts and dreams. Business goals may have those attributes, but often business goals are handed to you by your superiors. Sales goals, sales plans, sales numbers, pipelines, funnels and various benchmarks for you to achieve for THEM.

Meantime, you have your goals. Whatever they are — visit Europe, speak French, go on a vacation, buy a house, get a new car, take off weight, stop smoking, get married, get divorced, have a child, get your child out of the house – you have your own PERSONAL goals.

I came up with a thought as to WHY goals are met and unmet. It centers around the old definition of goals that has always bugged me: “A goal is a dream with a plan.”

That statement is not only wrong; it’s dangerous. It tells you you’ll never achieve your goals unless you make a plan. I don’t get it. I make very few plans, and I achieve tons of goals.

There are lots of goals that are not “dreams.” Did you dream your sales quota? No, you were sent an email or given a sheet of paper. No dream there. Here are the elements that I believe define and constitute the dream, goal and achievement process:

Thinking. Ideas pop into your head. Write them down.

Dreaming and daydreaming. Thoughts make (let) your mind wander to desire, possibility and “what if.” 

Observing. Looking closely at the world and your world to see what it is that you really want to be, do and have.

Opportunity. Recognizing it. Seizing it. .

Risk tolerance determines outcomes. If you perceive the goal is too “risky,” you’ll pass. If you wanna achieve, you gotta risk.

Desire. Your level of desire will determine the length of time to achievement.

Want. Want it bad? Like desire, your level of “want” will determine the length of time to achievement.

Need. Need is a stronger circumstance than desire or want. Your need-reality will generate your level of achievement action.

Intention. Intentions PRECEDE actions. If you don’t intend to, you won’t achieve, even if you want to. What are your intentions?

Dedication. If it’s a business goal, you have to dedicate the time to study and prepare. If it’s a personal goal, you have to dedicate small amounts of time to steadily achieve.

Persistence. The sister of dedication, it’s the stick-to-itiveness that pushes you to achievement.

Action for the day or the moment. Plans change; actions are in the NOW. Take some. An apple a day.

Skill set. Maybe your skills are precluding you from achievement. Maybe you need to study, practice or enlist the aid of others.

Love of what you do, or what it is. Love breeds passion. Passion breeds action. Action breeds achievement.

Visibility. Post your goal where you can see it. Keep your goals top-of-mind — top-of-mind’s-eye. I have my goals on my bathroom mirror. Do you?

Support and encouragement. When others are cheering you on, and encouraging you to achieve, it’s a mental miracle.

Serendipity. I have defined it before as “God’s way of remaining anonymous.” But it’s more than that. Serendipity is that moment when chance and opportunity collide.

NOTE WELL: If you get what you want, you better be ready. Ready to capitalize, ready to grow, ready to take advantage of, ready to share and ready to enjoy — but not overindulge.