According to Webster, a goal is a place where something ends. Is a goal really an end or is it a beginning? Ironically, my personal goals symbolize the start of a new journey. Realistic goals are important to set for me. 

My goals are the motivators that lead me in an orderly expedition. To reach "genuine" success in life, I need to alter my goals to fit my unpredictable thought pattern and cater to my unique personality that shines differently in everybody's world. Goals can become overwhelming. 

It is important to remember, that goals do not control my personal life, goals are meant to be motivators NOT controllers. Many people find that after trying to reach a certain "goal", they loose interest in it. People change. Not only physically, but mentally and socially as well. A goal should always be a positive motivator; it should give me the "drive" I need to succeed. Sometimes goals can be frustrating, they do not just fall out of the sky and land on my head. I have to work hard and diligently to reach the desired "destination". Always keep in mind, that nothing should ever control or dominate anybody's life in a negative way: Yes, I will face many hardships in life but I am always in control of what the outcome will be.
 

My motto to life is this: Take one day at a time, when things get to overwhelming-STOP-and take a deep breath of the crisp, clean air and look around at the surroundings. Notice all the wonderful things that make this world a beautiful, unique place to live. 

From an early age, I never seemed to be one who would accept things on their face value or simply believe something because someone said it was so. I liked to check things out for myself to see how things really worked and why certain things in nature behaved the way they appeared to. I wondered why there seemed to be so many unexplained mysteries, which others seemed to just accept, without question. My immense curiosity caused me a lot of grief, as I would constantly conduct experiments and explorations in and around the farm in Belarus that would ultimately wind up creating small disasters. It would usually be marked off as just childhood mischievousness, but I think that those curiosities have helped me to understand meaning of creativity and success later in my life. 
 

Some might ask how I define success. 

This is more difficult. Success is relative: not everyone wants to put together a four-billion-dollar conglomerate, or become president of the Belarus, or win the Nobel Peace Prize. It is usually a mistake to begin with such grandiose ambitions, which tend to degenerate into lazy daydreams. I think, the best way to succeed is to begin with a reasonably realistic goal and attain it, rather than aim at something so far beyond my reach that I am bound to fail. 
 

It's also important to make a habit of succeeding, and the easiest way to start is to succeed at something, however small, everyday, gradually increasing the level of my ambitions and achievements like a runner in training, who begins with short distances and works up to the Olympic level.
 

I try to think of the success of my goal as a journey, an adventure, not a specific destination. 
 

My goals may change during the course of that journey, and my original ambitions may be superseded by different, lager ones. Success will certainly bring me the material things I need, and a good, healthy appetite for comforts and luxuries of life is an excellent road to success, but basically I know I'll have reached my goal when I have gone that one step further, in wealth, fame, or achievement, then I ever dreamed was possible.