What methods, techniques and strategies do HNers use to set goals and achieve them?
A long time ago I was both hired and fired by a pair of brilliant Hollywood producers. The mid-sized video game company I worked for had just been acquired by a major player; we killed ourselves for a year on a totally mind-blowing franchise game, yet the title was sh*tcanned near release (Oh, 3DO) and then they dumped the entire team off a ledge, myself included.
In the hiring interview the producer asked me "What is your six month goal, year, three and five year plans?" Oddly the hiring meeting helped me prepare for the layoff meeting and the next 18 years in my career. She referred to my near-term goals, which had changed, obviously but I was able to take the firing calmly because I saw it was a twist and event in part of a broader, longer-term plan.
The vast majority of people I know are nearly headless when it comes to goals. You don't have to define a 3,000 point plan, but if you can learn to set a horizon and a few steps towards the point you want to reach, you can in turn focus on the immediate and near-term and actually become much more flexible in your approach to the outcome. You learn from practice whether something takes you closer or further away from that 1, 3, or 5 year plan and make better personal decisions.
If you simply can't seem to meet any goals, there are tons of books and audio sources for basic goal and discipline building. Your goals may be unreasonable or you may lack the underlying strong habits to push for a better outcome.
I would suspect that you are lacking discipline. If you're undisciplined you may need to find other sources of drive to meet your goals. If you're an entrepreneur, you need to get some mentoring and find someone willing to help keep you focused and on track.
http://lifehacker.com/#!281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-...
& the comment thread
The hardest thing seems to be to dream big/bold enough.