Great topic. I was telling a friend today that my approach to my training througout has been:
"Plan your work and work your plan."
I actually "fired" a flight instructor who refused to sit down and go over his written plan with me on how we were going to finish my IR. (it was pretty well documented on these boards).
I try to set realistic goals and work hard towards them. Sometimes I fall short when I try to do things by a specific date, but I have yet to fail at taking my aviation goals to fruition thus far.
It's good to look ahead towards the future and what your ultimate goal is, but that is the peak of the mountain.
You will have a LOT of hills to climb along the way. Just keep your main focus on one "hill" at a time (i.e. PPL, Instrument, Multi-Engine, Commercial, CFI, etc.) and don't deviate.
Realize that you WILL experience setbacks, but don't let them stop you.
My plan is that I fly - on an average - of three times a week as wx permits. Sometimes it's less - sometimes it's more. Depends.
But I just keep my head down and bullrush the goal. I'll get there by following that plan until I get to where I want to go.
That's been my experience so far. Your mileage may vary.
Best of luck!!
R2F