Goals and personal development are a hot topic in modern times, but there are areas that are discussed less frequently than the normal how you can create good goals and what to do to keep yourself motivated. In this article, we want to cover these other topics, such as what you can do if you miss your goal, how you can use laughter to make the journey to completion easier and what can happen after you successfully reach your goal. A near miss is the failure to reach a goal, despite coming so close to actually achieving it. Failure is often part of the goal process, but these misses are often regarded as the end of achievement altogether. Faltering along the way should not seem so drastic. The main goal is still, and will remain, attainable if you think about near misses differently. Near misses are worth noting because they can actually encourage you to continue trying. It can indicate that, if something was already well within your grasp, you can get there again and with just a little more effort, succeed. It increases tenacity. Completing many near misses can make the final victory so much sweeter. By proving over and over again your dedication and effort towards the end goal, somehow makes the win more pertinent and earned.

You can find examples of near misses in all walks of life. Many artists can easily discard their earlier works due to feeling their skills were not at a high enough standard back at the start of their careers. There are millions of unfinished novels and poems all over the globe, increasing year upon year. The most well-known near miss would be the frustration of receiving 2nd place to someone else. However, it is common that coming so close can spur athletes and individuals on even more – the beauty of the near miss is that it provides more drive and determination to win the next time around. You can try to make your goals easier by laughing along the way. Understandably, achieving your goals can sometimes be difficult, however humour can help you to focus your attention more efficiently by putting yourself in a good and positive mood. This could potentially prevent doubts or negativity, helping you to get much more accomplished. It can lighten your burdens by creating a psychological distance, give you more energy and allow you to see situations in a new, potentially more optimistic perspective. Laughing can help strengthen your immune system, make pain easier to resist and can reduce cravings. This is particularly useful information to know if your goals are to stop smoking, eating chocolate or to attend the gym more! Apart from these health benefits and easing the journey, laughter also helps to keep relationships strong and fresh. These may be the same relationships that you are relying upon to support you whilst you are working towards your dreams. So, what do you do when you finally achieve what you’ve been working so hard for? It can be daunting once you’ve reached your goal because it could seem that everything from that moment on is downhill. Goals that are a one-off event, such as completing a marathon or reaching a specific weight can be especially difficult to move on from. The way to deal with this could be to create more goals, either related to the completed ones or in a completely new area of life. Perhaps you could decide to quit while you’re ahead – finish on a high note and just relish in your success. Conversely, you could use your experience to help others do the same. You could easily become a mentor, trainer or public speaker, encouraging and driving others on to fulfil their dreams too. Occasionally, achieving your goal can be a negative experience, which is normally unexpected. An imagined outcome of a goal may not reflect the true reality of it, perhaps it does not fulfil your need or give you the thrill that you’d hoped for. The end can be anti-climactic. Sometimes we can pick the wrong goal completely or our needs shift part way through completion, making the end result not what we wanted after all. This is why it is so important to think about your goals in detail before you start, and re-evaluate your progress regularly. However, the positive outcomes can outweigh all of the effort you will expel. The journey to completing your goal should change you as a person. You may have made commitments and sacrifices to get to your end point and these changes may well have become just another part of your day to day life and who you are. The experience and opportunities you will have met along the way may have impacted your opinions and given you a fresh new way of looking at life. Setting goals, planning them correctly and keeping all of the problems and challenges you may face at the forefront of your mind can only help you to succeed in the end; even if that’s after many near misses!