There are many people who try to achieve what they desire in life. Unfortunately, many people don't accomplish what they set out to do.

Here are some of the top mistakes that people make, and ways in which these can be avoided.

1) Setting timescales that are impossible to reach. Often, people will set totally unrealistic time frames to achieve goals in their lives. Before deciding on a completion date, take careful consideration of your other commitments. Don't expect to be able to devote 3 hours every night to a particular goal if you only have one hour of spare time!

2) Failing to write down goals. You must commit your intentions to paper to know exactly what you are aiming for. This also acts as a form of contract with yourself, and you are therefore much more likely to carry it through.

3) Setting goals that are not going to make a marked difference to their lives. Achieving is hard work, so you want to make sure that the benefits of accomplishing your goal will far outweigh all of the effort that has gone into it.

4) Failing to consider the true extent of the work that needs to be done to achieve the result. Before starting on the road to a particular goal, carefully consider what is actually involved to ensure a successful outcome.

5) Setting goals that are far beyond their own capabilities. Be honest with yourself. Are you going to be mentally and physically able to achieve your goal?

6) Trying to achieve something that they do not enjoy doing. A sure way to get your motivation plummeting is to attempt to achieve something that you hate doing. Life is to be enjoyed, so avoid setting goals that aren't going to fulfill you.

7) Expecting far too much of themselves. The challenges that you set yourself should stretch you, but you shouldn't be setting yourself up for failure by setting goals that will be too difficult to accomplish.

If you find it difficult to achieve goals that you've set yourself, start off with smaller, less demanding tasks. As you accomplish these, you will find that your confidence levels will increase, and you can set yourself more difficult assignments.

As you grow more and more confident in your abilities, you will be able to successfully achieve more and more in your life!

Author's Bio: 

Being an advocate of Positive Psychology, Jan encourages people to identify their strengths to make positive and worthwhile changes in their lives. Through her seminars, workshops and speaking engagements, she motivates others to be Positive Thinkers & Achievers.