Which of the following measures how long a person can sustain effort toward achieving a goal?

We all know that ‘goal setting’ is very important, but remember that setting your goal is only one of the steps on the journey in order to achieve it...

To set a goal you need to decide what it is that you want to accomplish and – this is the important bit – write it down. It’s as simple as that. You have set your goal by writing it down. Goal setting is easy.

But you want to achieve that goal, don’t you? Ah, now that takes a little more effort. That takes application and action.

Read more: Is waking up at 4am really the secret to success?

Much has been written on the importance of goals and their relationship to success and happiness. As entrepreneurs, I am sure most, if not all of you already know the importance of taking action to achieve your goals.

But how many of us practice this on a daily basis?

To help keep me focused on achieving my goals, I follow a simple seven-step outline. Practice this and I believe it will help propel you towards the success to which you aspire:

Get your goal out of your imagination and on to a piece of paper. This then becomes a statement of intent. The process of writing down your goal or target forces the subconscious to accept the commitment you have made to work towards your target.

It has been suggested that you should write your goal out not just once, but once every morning to keep you focused throughout each day.

Set a target date by which you will complete your goal.

If your goal is a larger, more complicated challenge, break it down into smaller steps and determine a deadline for each separate step. Put these important dates into your diary or computerised planner.

You can begin to work on your mindset long before you tackle your first goal. Develop a positive, “glass-half-full” approach to every aspect of your life, including your thoughts about how you will achieve your goals.

Read inspirational books, hang out with other motivated people, and believe in your own abilities. Work on your own attitude at every opportunity. This should remain a lifelong process.

It is very possible that a new goal will necessitate learning a new skill or will require some form of personal growth. Figure out what new knowledge you will need, or what new skills you will have to develop. Find the best source for gaining this knowledge and invest wisely to develop the assets you need on your path to success.

It is important not to procrastinate. The moment when real action is required is often when many goals fall by the wayside. You don’t need to wait until everything is just right. Get started now and make adjustments as you go along. Take that first step.

If you wait for the moment when everything is in perfect alignment you will never get started. This first step is always the hardest one to take. Once you have made a start the next step will be slightly easier, and the one after that easier again. Try to make your first step an easy one to commit to. This will encourage you to make it as soon as possible, so you quickly begin the journey towards achieving your goal.

The path to the ultimate completion of your goal is unlikely to be a straight and simple one. Do not give up when you encounter the first or any subsequent obstacles.

Always keep the end result in focus, maintain your excitement and enthusiasm, and keep moving forward. See each difficulty you meet as an opportunity for learning and growth.

Commit to doing at least one thing every day that will move you a little closer towards your goal. Do not halt this forward progress on your path to success until your end result has been achieved.

When you complete your goal it is important to reward yourself for this achievement. Look back over your accomplishments and enjoy the satisfaction that success brings. This will train the subconscious mind to focus on activities that produce successful results.

Once you have enjoyed your reward, set your next goal, making it bigger and more challenging than the last.

We can all have goals, but to be a ‘top-achiever’ you must be focused. You must know, understand and follow these basic skills for setting and attaining your goals every time. I wish you good luck with whatever goals you set – may they be achieved in the finest of style.

Ian's book '7 Simple Steps to Goal Achieving Success' is available on Amazon.

This is a guest blog and may not represent the views of Virgin.com. Please see virgin.com/terms for more details. This blog was originally published in 2014

The first step to improving employee happiness is making sure your workforce is motivated. These are the top 10 things you can do to help your employees stay engaged at work.

1. Lead with vision

Everyone wants to know that their efforts are driving towards something. What’s the next step? What does success look like for the company? A destination helps to motivate the journey, so make sure the vision for the company is clear.

2. Make sure everyone understands the ‘why’

Your employees will know what needs to be done, but you need to explain further; you need to communicate the ‘why’ of each task. The why is the company’s overall mission. If everyone knows how their individual actions can personally add to the overall goal of the company, it brings much-needed intrinsic motivation to even the most simple task.

3. Set frequent clear targets

You obviously have big targets that you want to hit as a company, but smaller goals are the key to motivation. All goals should add to the overall target, but breaking this into more attainable chunks feels less overwhelming. If employees are frequently hitting targets, the feeling of satisfaction grows and will act as a great motivator to continue on to the next set of goals.

4. Recognise and reward great work

Employees need to know that their managers appreciate their hard work. Giving well-deserved recognition not only increases self-esteem but also enthusiasm and team morale.

A recognition platform is an effective tool to celebrate star performers who embody your company values. It's important to support employees all year round with team-building exercises, wellbeing schemes, secondment opportunities and EAP programs. However, for more special occasions, such as a 10-year work anniversary or employee of the month, we recommend going a step further and rewarding your teams.

The reward doesn't necessarily have to be monetary, it could be a gesture, such as giving them a day off. Rewards are particularly good promoters of motivation and job satisfaction. So if you want to encourage your employees to go the extra mile, make their effort worth it with a gift or thoughtful act.

5. Give your team autonomy

Time is precious. So when we don’t feel in control of our time and energy, motivation levels can really drop. Allowing for some elements of freedom in the workplace, whether that’s flexible working hours or unlimited time off, demonstrates trust from leaders to employees. This adds motivation, as the satisfaction of a job well done comes with the feeling that they were in control and did it on their terms.

6. Create a welcoming workplace environment

No one wants to sit in a gloomy office and desperately wait for home time every day. If workplaces create a friendly culture, with areas for rest and play, employees will look forward to coming into work. The saying ‘work hard, play hard’ is important here. As motivation and mood go hand in hand, a poor mood can affect the ability to concentrate and will lower the feeling of energy in the workplace.

7. Offer impressive benefits

Make everyone feel that they are working in the best place they can be. Offering employee benefits and perks, such as the wide range available through our perks platform, and fringe benefits that aim to make your people's lives better both in and outside of work, helps to boost the mood and sense of loyalty to the company. Make sure your benefits suit your employees' unique needs; for instance, if they live in London, they may require a London weighted allowance.

8. Encourage teamwork

Collaboration between teams in the company allows ideas to be developed further. Working with those with different skill sets will, in turn, create more innovative results. In teams, there’s power in numbers and anyone experiencing a lack of motivation should be boosted by those around them.

9. Create a career path

No one wants to be static for long. We all want to know that we are going somewhere and focus on that next step. Ask employees what they want from their career, and lay out what they need to do to get there. Have growth conversations with team members to design a career path; this will help to create the drive to reach the next stage and feel that they have a long and productive journey ahead within the company.

10. Support staff motivation by supporting employee wellbeing

When organisations are implementing motivation strategies or employee incentive schemes, they often overlook wellbeing.

There's no dispute that using rewards as an incentive is a great motivator. However, if an employee is feeling tired or overwhelmed they won't produce their best work – no matter how hard they try.

Taking a well-rounded approach to wellbeing, so addressing your teams' mental, emotional, and physical health is a great way of keeping them healthy, happy, and at the top of their game.

Read next: 19 effective employee engagement ideas