Summarize the following:
The first step in setting any goal is deciding what you want. Most people have a general sense of things they want. It might be happiness, health, wealth, or a better relationship with your spouse. Your first tasks is translating that into some things you'd like to actually accomplish.  A good place to start is defining your terms. If you want to be happier, think about what happiness means to you. What does a happy life look like? What would you need to do to be happy?  It's okay to be general at this stage. You might decide happiness, for example, means having a fulfilling career. Your general goal might be to get a job you find personally satisfying. You may have several goals at this stage, some long-term some short term. It's a good idea to write them down. Before you can determine if a goal is realistic, you have to make that goal specific. This will provide greater clarity in terms of what you actually would have to do to achieve it. Specific goals are also more motivating and achievable than vague ones.  Your task at this stage is to take your general ideas and get as specific as you possibly can. For example, imagine you goal is to start a new, more satisfying career. At this stage, you need to decide what career would be most satisfying to you. You might decide you'd like to become a professional musician. That's a great start, but you can get more specific. What style or styles of music do you want to play? What instrument or instruments do you want to play? Do you want to be a solo artist, or play in a band or orchestra? Determining how challenging a goal is might require some research, if you aren't already familiar with the process. The more you know about the process the better. As you do your research, try to answer questions like:  What skills will you need to learn? What lifestyle changes will you need to make? How much will it cost? How long will it take? To determine if a goal is realistic, you must know exactly how a goal would be achieved. In this step, you need to break your goal or goals into parts or steps.  Breaking your goal down into subgoals will also help you make a plan for achieving it later on. It's a good idea to write the steps down as you go. For example, imagine your goal is to become a professional cello player with a classical orchestra. In general terms, this goal breaks down into several steps. You'll need to buy a cello, if you don't have one. You'll need to get very good at playing it. This will probably require taking lessons. You probably will even want to attend a conservatory or other music school or college. Along the way, you'll probably need to learn some musical theory. Then, you'll need to get a job playing for an orchestra. This will mean at least one (and probably several) auditions. Depending on where you live, this might require moving to a town with a professional orchestra.

Summary:
Think about what you want to achieve. Get specific. Do some research. Determine the steps.