“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” Gail Devers

We are all aware of how limited our time on this earth is.  As soon as we were born the clock seemed to start ticking, and we are constantly encouraged to make haste.

We were told not to waste time in school, being reminded that we would all regret it when we got older and how much little time we have.

As adults, we are constantly told when it is time to get married, have a family and work hard at our careers because then we have to prepare for our retirement. We have to plan for the children, their education, and our retirement.

It seems everything is set by the clock.  You are told how much money you need to save to be able to retire comfortably and how your career should proceed to be considered successful by a certain age.

What if, unfortunately, all the goals you set for yourself are not attained by a certain age, does that mean you should quit?  What do you do if you haven't achieved all that society set for you?  Does that mean you are a failure and should just give up and disappear?  What do you do besides worry, become frustrated and lose your self-confidence?

Unfortunately, life doesn’t always go the way we want it to. Sadly, many of us won't achieve everything the way we planned it and might even have to start over later in life in spite of our well laid out plans.

Life has a way of turning things upside down for us when we least expect it.

The good news is no matter where you are in your career or where you are in life you have a chance to start over.  It is never too late to achieve your dreams. Your age should never be a stumbling block in the way of you going after what you want.

You must realize that wherever you are in your life, that is where you should be.  It doesn’t matter what age you are.  If you are 20, 30, 40, 50 or above, you are where you should be in life, and your goals are still yours for the taking.  Never forget that your dreams are yours and no one else's.  If you never achieve your dreams no one else can for you and they always will be there unachieved.  Therefore, it is right there waiting for you to achieve.

Everything you have been through in your life has led you to where you are now for you to get where you need to be.  Every high, every low and in between all led you to this very moment.

You are at a crossroad in your life, and you need to make a move; it is just a matter of taking one step at a time in the right direction.  Whatever age you are currently is the right age you need to be, to be able to succeed.  You must remember we all mature at different ages and, therefore, achieving our goals are the same.

It doesn’t matter your age and your previous career path if you want to make a change for the better

Start by asking yourself one simple question right now.  What is it I want to achieve in my life?  Once you have answered that question, you then need to find out how to get there and put the things in place to take you there.

Here are a few tips on how to achieve all your goals at any age:-

1. Write down your goal

It doesn’t matter your age set your goals or take the old one out and dust it off and get ready to go after it today.  Make sure you take the time to document it.  Writing it down will not only help you to remember, but it will also help you to remain focus.  Every time you lose focus, you must go back to it and remind yourself of the goal you set.

2. Set a time table

Not only is writing down your goals important but you must set a time to achieve those goals.  Without a deadline, your goals will only be a dream.  Setting a time will not only help you to remain focus, but it will also encourage you to become more dedicated because you want to achieve those goals in the time you allotted.

3. Tell someone you respect

One of the main reasons many of us fail to achieve our goal is because we do not let others know about them.  When you tell someone of your desire, they will keep you accountable.  They will remind you, and you will be disappointed if you do not achieve those goals, so you work hard to be successful. The persons you tell will constantly ask you about your progress, and the guilt will help to motivate you to keep going.

4. Create consequences

When you have set your goals and your schedule, you should also be prepared to reap the consequences if you fail to achieve them.  I am not saying you need to be hard on yourself if you are working diligently toward your goal, and you haven't achieved all in the time allotted.  You must be prepared to revisit the time and if needed change it accordingly, but you must also have consequences for yourself if you become lackadaisical.  The consequence could be that you could quit watching your favorite show or not doing something you treasure for a while until you get to where you need to be.

5. Set up an accountability system

It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, but you must be able to hold yourself accountable for your success.  You could use social media where you post your progress, and your followers will be there to not only hold you accountable but motivate and encourage you along the way.  It is a way to daily track your progress and to help you to remain on track.  If one system doesn’t work, find one that works for you and use it to remain on track.

6. Reward yourself

Just as important as it is for you to be prepared to feel the consequences of not doing the things you need to do you must also be prepared to reward yourself for your successes.  Rewarding yourself for achieving and reaching certain targets towards will motivate and inspire you to continue to work hard and to build your self-confidence.

7. Avoid comparing yourself to others

It doesn’t matter what stage you are in your life you will be tempted to compare yourself to others.  You must resist the temptation to do so. It is never a good thing to compare your achievements to others.  Focus on what you need to do to achieve the goals you set for yourself. Everybody else is busy working on their dreams; you should do the same.

8. Leave the past in the past

In the Bible lot’s wife became a pillar of salt all because she was focusing on her past life and all she had lost.  You must leave the past in the past, good or bad; you can never retrieve all you had so reframe from focusing on the past.  Focus on your future and all that you can achieve if you do not quit.  Remind yourself that your dreams are still there waiting for you to achieve.  Put all your energy into working on succeeding.

9. Forgive yourself for past mistakes

All too often we hang on to our failures and use them to torture and torment ourselves all throughout our lives.  Forgive all those who have hurt you and caused you pain.  Forgiving does more for you than it does for the person.  Letting go will allow you to be free to be yourself and to move on so you can achieve your goals.  Most of all forgive yourself for allowing others to hurt you.  You must also forgive yourself your mistakes as well.  Remind yourself that everybody errs, and that includes you.  Learn from those mistakes and move on.

10. Take time out to enjoy life

It doesn’t matter where you are in your life you must make every effort to enjoy the process.  You will never retrieve the time you have wasted being angry and frustrated so do enjoy your life.  If you do not take the time to enjoy your life while working on your goals, then you will not be able to enjoy it after you have achieved all that you need.  You will not then know how.  Do things that make you happy and to remind you how much you have to be happy and grateful for.

It doesn’t matter where you are in life your age is never the reason to put your dreams aside.  The older you get, the more mature and sure you are of yourself and what you want to do.  That alone should propel you to go after your dreams.  Also, you would have finished raising the children and now have all the time to focus on you.  You also would have gone through some very difficult times that have made you stronger more self-assured and confident to tackle anything life has to offer.

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Rose Costas is a big believer in the power of facing your challenges head on, and that boldly wearing your scars can help others triumph over their own challenges. An accountant by profession with a passion for writing and blogging, Rose can help you to get back the fire that once burned within you, starting with her eBook "34 Ways to Build Your Confidence Today."  at her website http://positiveattitudesforlife.com

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