Competing against others is challenging. Yet you are your own toughest competitor.

Whether in business or in sports, most of us want to be the best – perhaps even a champion!

But although so many people dream of becoming exceptional, most end up staying average at what they do. Why is this? Essentially, they expect far less of themselves than they should.

The exceptional few rise above the rest because they take their dream and use it to create process goals. Process goals let you turn your dreams into reality!

By helping you make and sustain your commitment, process goals help you realize your true potential.

So how do you develop your own process goals?

Start by picturing your dream as a ladder. Each step of this ladder represents one day, one challenge, one possible output, all which lead you to your desired outcome.

Say your goal is to win a sports tournament. Your goals may involve lots of training and everyday practice. As an athlete, you may want to tweak your workout, find an expert to teach you new techniques or improve your diet to ensure peak performance.

Now let’s say you’re a salesperson looking to make $150,000 in commissions this year. You might start setting yourself a goal for the number of calls you make before 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m. and so on, in order to track your effectiveness and efficiency.

As you start to set process goals, some might seem impossible from the outset. As a result, most people tend to set low goals as they’re afraid of failing.

Yet when you set yourself very high goals – goals that many would consider unreasonable – you will, eventually, achieve more than those people who settled for less.

Remember: never set limits on what you can accomplish. You’ll reach any goal if you persevere!