Each of us has our own personal goals. Some want to lose weight, some want to quit smoking while others want to achieve success at workplace. The goals might be different but the path to follow is the same.

Firstly, define what your goals are. Be clear about what you want and make sure it is realistic too. It is more than certain that you will not be able to lose 20 pounds in a day or in a week. Nor will you be able to increase your running capacity by two folds in a day.

After you set your goals make realistic approaches that how you can achieve those goals. You can write them down and make some commitments. For example you can decrease the number of cigarettes you smoke in a day. You can jog a few miles everyday and include more vegetables in your diet if you want to lose weight.

The most important thing of all is to continue your efforts. Let only optimism flow in you. It might seem that your daily progress is nearly zero but if you go on trying, you will see a big difference one day. On a regular basis you can check your written goals against the reality and compare your progress. This will give you a clear vision of your past, present and help you set new directions for the future.

It is really helpful to know about people like you who were initially struggling with the same problem as you are and were finally able to come out of it completely. These sorts of stories will inspire you and remind you of the fact that success is possible for you too. You can join some rehabilitation groups or attend seminars in your community. This will keep you focused in your goals and keep your personal motivation high.

It might take a month or a year but you should know that you are reaching there no matter what it takes. Keeping yourself personally motivated in this way is a sure way to achieve your goals. Always keep in mind that difficult things are always beautiful. Once you achieve your goals you will be a hero to yourself. Thus, you can relate your experience and story to help motivate others towards their goals too.

To handle the account, the company chose George, a 50-year-old engineer to work with James, the up-and-coming manager. The pairing, the management thought, was inspired. George would provide the knowledge and experience while James would provide the corporate savvy needed to secure the reliability of the delivery.

As such, James assigned George to head the unit that was comprised of several 20- to 30-year-old engineers and tool makers. Based from the fact that George has been with the company for several years and that the job was something he did countless of times before as one of the production engineers, James put his complete trust on him.

All in all, James thought, he would not encounter any problem and expected “smooth sailing” in the weeks and months to come.

How wrong James was.

As production ensued, James received reports that the order might experience delays due to George, who was described by one company manger indirectly working for James, as an “over-the-hill production engineer, solely in need of being let go.”

Luckily, James was more conscientious in judging character and ability and as sure that despite George’s age, the latter still had the “juice” to come up with his best work. But what could James as a manger do? Should he fire George or disregard the accusations leveled against the man?

Here are some useful steps that James followed in determining whether George was indeed over the hill.

• Get the facts. Determine the employee’s past experience with the company. Look at his interests and see whether it has a bearing on the present situation. Talk to his previous supervisors and ask them whether a similar situation (e.g. unreliability) arose in the past.
• Talk to the person. Talking to previous supervisors, however, is not a foolproof way of determining the reasons why a person is working below par. James asked George if he could discuss several things with him. George agreed and the information that James got was priceless. It seems that George was indeed discouraged because of the promotion that he did not get.
• What to do. As expected, George promised James that he would try not to be bothered by previous disappointments. For his part, James promised George that he would try to incorporate developmental training in George’s functions so that the latter could add on to his knowledge and thus make him feel “not left out.”

Sometimes, being over the hill is not just a chronological state but a mental state as well.