Don’t do it, you’ll only end up kicking yourself.  Perfection does not mean paying every bill on time, wearing the right kind of shoes, or having a reputation as a “saint.” 

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We’re human for a reason, you know.  If we could be perfectly consistent like a machine, the human ego would have almost no reason to step down.  We’re made prone to error, failures, and their regrets if only so that we can laugh at ourselves. 

Vowing to be “better” is less likely to falter if instead the vow was to be more truly “ourselves.”  Trying to rearrange and beautify our exterior layers (by losing weight, quitting smoking, or getting fit) is like putting on a designer bandage, the wound still festers beneath. 

The all-or-nothing approach, trying to radically change your entire life in one shot is just as doomed.  If you observe nature, with the exception of the rare cataclysms, change is a gradual, gentle process.  Change in nature is “effortless”, there is no struggle. 

Worthy goals however should be to gain what is in your reach, not that which is beyond your present ability to realize.  This means that you have to focus on the things of your life in the present moment and realize their full value.  It is always easier to pine after some unattainable dream than to do the arduous work of opportunities right under our nose. 

You’ll recall the story of Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell, the founder of Temple University, where a wealthy farmer is told that if he had a handful of diamonds he could put his family on thrones all over the world.  He became very discontented, sold his farm, and went in search of diamonds.  He never found them.  Yet the person who bought his farm discovered a diamond mine on the farmer’s very land.  The lesson from the story’s author: "Your diamonds are not in far-away mountains or in distant seas; they are in your own back yard if you will but dig for them."

But if you do have a burning desire within you that keeps you awake at night, such as to do important things, acquire some coveted goal, or to get to some Shangri-La; then I would suggest this:

1. Believe that anything is possible, as long as you can contain it within your mind.  This references the Law of Thought Transference outlined in my ebook “The Secret Laws of Happiness and Prosperity.”
2. Disregard all voices without (and within) to the contrary.  They do not want you to succeed because then they will have to succeed. 
3. Emulate those who have preceded you on this particular path you want to follow.  Read their books, study what they studied.  Do what they did. 
4. Those who succeeded did so because the dared to believe and applied the laws of mind.  Formulate your plan with realism and be prepared for however long of a learning curve there will be. 
5. Do not give up.  Tenaciously hold on to your vision.  In the end, all who win do so because they held on the longest. 
6. Stay at peace.  Most setbacks and self-defeats come out of frustration, a sense of helplessness, and consequent premature withdrawal. 
7. Cultivate the paradox of attachment/detachment to the fruits of your efforts.  You have to really want you objectives to manifest, but at the same time you must be detached enough from them to let universal forces work through you and accomplish them for you.  Letting universal forces work through you produces far superior results. 

Do you need to make goals?  Is not everything you need right within your grasp now?  Do not distract yourself with goals that are not really important to you.  Seek to find happiness right now, then the next step in your life will present itself to you.   Cultivate within yourself manifesting qualities and attitudes and then goals will no longer remain as haunting landmarks producing mostly envy, despair, and suffering. 

CB