"The difference between setting a goal and achieving it is in having a good plan and working it."

You know how people often talk about setting goals? It’s such a common thing—like, "I want to lose weight," or "I’m going to write a book." But setting a goal is just the start. The real magic happens when you make a solid plan and actually stick to it. That’s where the success lies.

Think about the New Year’s resolutions. Every January, gyms are packed, but by March, they’re almost empty again. People set goals to get fit, but most don’t have a plan that guides them through those tough winter months. They also don’t have the discipline to keep at it when their initial excitement fades. So, the difference between just wishing for something and making it happen boils down to having a roadmap and putting in the work.

Let’s go back to 1969, the year we landed a man on the moon. It wasn’t just a sudden decision or a dream someone had overnight. President Kennedy had set that goal eight years earlier, in 1961. But it wasn’t just about saying, "Hey, let’s get to the moon!" NASA had to create an incredibly detailed plan. Every tiny step was mapped out—the rocket design, the astronaut training, the trajectory calculations. And then they executed it, one small step at a time (no pun intended). They faced setbacks, sure, but they kept working the plan, adjusting as needed, until they finally achieved their goal.

Now, let’s bring this back to something more down-to-earth. Imagine you want to run a marathon. You don’t just wake up one day and decide to run 26.2 miles without any preparation. You set your goal, right? But then you need a training schedule—maybe you start with short runs, gradually increase your distance, incorporate rest days, and mix in some strength training. You track your progress, adjust your plan if you get an injury, and keep pushing forward. By race day, you’re ready because you had a plan and you worked it.

So how can you apply this to your own life? First, be clear about what you want. Then break it down into manageable steps. Write it out—make a checklist or a timeline. Next, commit to those steps. This means showing up even when you don’t feel like it. It means working through the boring bits and the hard parts. And it means celebrating the small victories along the way to keep yourself motivated.

Here’s a little story to illustrate this. A friend of mine, let’s call her Sarah, wanted to write a novel. She’s great at starting things but not so much at finishing them. This time, she decided to approach it differently. She set a goal: finish a 60,000-word novel in six months. She broke it down—500 words a day. She made a writing schedule and stuck it on her fridge. Every day, no matter what, she wrote. Some days the words flowed, and other days it was like pulling teeth. But she didn’t let herself off the hook. By the end of six months, she had her first draft. It wasn’t perfect, but it was done, and she had something to work with. If she hadn’t planned and stuck to it, it would still just be an idea floating around in her head.

So remember, setting a goal is awesome, but the plan and the work you put into it are what make it real. It’s not always glamorous, and it’s rarely easy, but that’s what turns dreams into achievements.