Those old adages are quaint, but not always true.

In my experience, people who have goals, design a plan and who take action steps somehow seem to get further, faster.

On track?  Off track?  A little of both? (if that's not an oxymoron)

It's important to recognize whether the groove we're in will get us to where we want to go.  Will the kinetic energy of our current motion get us there?  A groove, cut deeply enough, is called a rut.

So, how can we know if traction awaits us?  Well, for one thing, our goals have specific characteristics:

Specific - something like - "I will grow my top line revenue 20% by the end of the year", rather than "I sure would like to grow my business".
Measurable -  the achievement of my goal can be measured.  If my goal is to lose 20 pounds, then I can measure whether or not I lose 20 pounds.
Actionable - my goal is something I can take action on to achieve (my high school grammar teacher is rolling over in her grave about now).  It's not theoretical or impractical.  My actions steps are defined and I will take them, come heck or high water
Realistic  - this goal is realistic for me.  It's within my scope to accomplish.  It means something important to me, achievement of the goal is something I value greatly, and is something I can achieve (note:  I didn't say it would necessarily be easy).
Time-bound - my goal has a deadline for achievement.  It's on the calendar, and on that day I will hold myself accountable.  It could be March 31, 2012.  Maybe December 31 at 11:59:59pm.  Its a date - clear, defined, inarguable.

So, that's it. S. M. A. R. T.  What, you were expecting something more complicated?

So, what keeps us from achieving our goals?  Distraction and lack of focus are the chief culprits.  We have the best of intentions (which pave the road to  H E double hockey sticks.  And then, along comes something that takes our eye off the ball.  Things like old habits, the crisis of the day/hour/minute, lethargy, inertia, fear of the new and different, or just something shiny that looks oh so very cool.

OK, so what can you do to remind yourself of your goals and action steps?  A few things come to mind...

1. Write down your goals, make several copies of them.  Post them in places where you see them several times a day - your bathroom mirror, on the passenger seat of your car (to be read only while sitting at a stop light), on your desk.   
2. Create an alert on your smartphone or desktop calendar, maybe several of them for each day.  That binging will remind you to look at your goals.
3. Make appointments with yourself, just like you do with clients.  Schedule time to work on your action steps.  How much time?  Well, as any good lawyer will tell you, it depends.  How big is the gap between your current state and your goal?  The bigger the gap, the more time you will need to spend making the change.  Mostly, I have found that realistic achievement of your goals will take about 15% of your time as a focus element.  Yep, you heard me right - 15%.  So, while you're busy scheduling the new and different, you also need to determine what you will stop doing or do less of to make space for the new start doing or do more of.
4. Place a small dot of bright red fingernail polish on the center of your wristwatch crystal or on the screen of your smartphone.  Then, every time you look at your watch/smartphone, there it is, the reminder to be doing the new, and not the old.  And don't worry, that bright red dot will come off easily with a small dab of fingernail polish remover. 
5. Last ditch effort (or maybe not last ditch effort) - Hire a coach - it's what we do, help you get very, very clear on your goals, define action steps including the start doing/do more of/stop doing/do less of stuff.  And, we'll hold you accountable to whatever you define/design.  Its what we do. 

My clients had a good year achieving the goals they set for 2011.  Super good.  Double darn good, in fact!  Why? Well, one reason is that coaching holds you accountable to your goals, your plan and your action steps.  At the end of each session, I ask my client "What do you want to get done before we meet next time?", and they tell me.  And then, as you might speculate, how so I start the following session?  You guessed it - "Last session you said you wanted to get xyz done.  How'd that go?"  Voila!  Accountability.  As your coach, I am not your boss, or your spouse, or your daddy.  I am merely your coach.  It's my job to help you be accountable to yourself and your goals.  That's why you hired me.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Time to summarize (after all, you've already read the previous few paragraphs):  Your goals are clearly stated, they are measurable, you can define action steps to achieve them and you are taking those steps, they are reasonable for you and you have a deadline to achieve them.  'nuff said?