Everyone has heard of goals and the power of goals to shape your future. But most people don’t have a good understanding of how to achieve goals. Consequently, most never even set goals. Understanding what it takes to achieve a goal will greatly enhance your odds of success.

Consider these seven ideas:

A proper goal. Most people don’t have goals to begin with. Those that do have goals often have goals that are ineffective. You can’t achieve a goal without having a goal.

• Meaningful. Avoid setting goals that don’t excite you. What’s the point? It’s easier to achieve a goal that you find motivating.

• A clear conclusion. How will you know when you’ve achieved your goal? Be specific and have a way of measuring your progress.

• A deadline. Goals never seem to be accomplished without a deadline attached. You can keep waiting for “tomorrow” to get started if you don’t have a deadline to meet. Then, that “tomorrow” never comes.

Visualization. Goals are more likely to be achieved if you regularly visualize yourself being successful. Imagine what it will be like when you meet your goal. The inability to picture the achievement of your goal suggests that you don’t believe you can do it.

Affirmations. Affirm that you’re the type of person that can achieve your goal. Think of the attributes you need to have to be successful. Write several affirmations that support those attributes and use them daily. Recite them to yourself at least three times each day, preferably aloud.

The right information. Imagine you have a goal of playing a difficult piece of music on the piano, but you believe the best way to do that is to do 1,000 push-ups each day. You might have a great goal and be super motivated, but you don’t have a clue how to achieve your goal. You need the right knowledge.

Action. There’s a great appeal to the idea of making your wishes known to the universe and then just relaxing until some mystical force delivers what you want. However, action is also necessary to bring about a real change. Figure out what you need to do and do it.

The ability to deal with discomfort. Pursuing any significant goal will create discomfort. There’s no way around it. It’s necessary to learn how to minimize that discomfort as much as possible and be able to deal with whatever remains.

• Discomfort can come in many forms. It might be the fear of failure. It might be some actual failure. It could be the discomfort of making cold calls and dealing with rejection. It might be the discomfort of learning something you’ve never done before.

• Perhaps giving up your favorite distractions so you have time to work on your goal creates discomfort.

• Whatever your reason for discomfort in pursuing your goal, it’s important to discover ways you can overcome it.

Perseverance. Goals can take time. Big goals take more time. Add in a little failure and a little discomfort, and suddenly quitting can be appealing. You can’t achieve a goal if you quit before it’s accomplished. Perseverance is one of the most important traits anyone can possess. There are many things you can do to make achieving your goals more likely. All of the items in this list are useful characteristics and tactics for a wide variety of life situations. Whether you’re trying to follow a diet or make a million dollars, these items are helpful. Include these seven things and your results will be greatly enhanced and come more quickly.