The following Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Marxist and is narrated by Brock Armstrong.

From desire to reality, why setting goals is critical for success.

This is a guest post from Dr. Alessandra Wall.

As someone whose business it is to help others create change,

there is something magical about the new year.

It is so full of hope and motivation.

It is a time to evaluate growth and direction and to dream.

Over the next month or so, millions of people will share resolutions to get fitter, healthier, and more financially responsible.

People will dream of the life they want and declare their desire to make the changes necessary

to achieve it. Unfortunately, a great deal of them will remain dreamers. Their resolutions unmet will

nag at them and then be forgotten until next year. The sad part about this whole thing is that their failure is

not due to lack of ability or laziness or unrealistic aspirations. It's mostly likely due to lack of

planning. A goal without a plan is but a dream. Helen Thayer, Explorer, age 76. I agree wholeheartedly with

Helen Thayer, which is why her quote resonates so much with me. The difference between a dream and a goal

is planning. It's also the difference between a resolution and a goal. A dream, a resolution, or a desire is something we would like to achieve, whereas a goal

is something we are working to achieve.

It's the distinction between passive and active engagement.

This doesn't mean that dreaming isn't valuable. Actually, it should be the

starting point of your plan, but on its own it will not take you very far. So how does one go

from shifting from dreams to reality? Create a goal and make a plan. From desire to reality,

a five-step approach. Number one, dream away.

I'm serious. The best way to stay motivated with your goals is to create ones that are based on

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