9
“Today’s class is part workshop and part lecture,” said Professor Ismat as she entered the classroom and handed out copies.
“The first part of the class will be a hands-on exercise where you spend time working on setting goals and dreams. In the last part of the class, we will be talking about things that can help you get to your goals. Are you ready to start?” asked Professor Ismat with contagious enthusiasm as the students excitedly responded in the affirmative.
“As the American author Stephen Covey said, you must begin with the end in mind. Goals help you do that. A long time ago, a man named Jim Rohn changed the way I set goals and dreams for myself and I want to share that approach with you,” said Professor Ismat as she put aside her notes.
“It is a blueprint for designing your future. When you know where you’re headed, the journey gets easier. As it’s often said, if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there!” exclaimed Professor Ismat as she picked up her mug to take a sip.
“Goals can be divided into long-range goals and short-range goals. Long-range goals are your dreams for the next few decades. They are your dreams for the rest of your life. And as I said earlier, make sure that you continue to dream! You’ve got to have dreams in order to make your dreams come true! The dreams for your family, your work, and your future. The dreams for what you want to become on this journey called life! These are important dreams,” continued Professor Ismat with a smile.
“Short-range goals, on the other hand, are goals for your immediate future. The goals for tomorrow, this week, this month, and this year. These are goals that will boost your confidence as you achieve them. Achieving these short-range goals will give you the fuel to work towards your long-range goals and dreams,” added Professor Ismat as she took another sip.
“As it’s often said, the devil is in the details. Make sure you are as specific and detailed about your goals as possible. Know exactly what you want, when you want it, and how you’re going to go about accomplishing it,” she stated. “Your goals should be divided further into categories to make sure they are holistic and covering everything that’s meaningful to you. The first category is economic goals or your goals for money, business, and income. How much do you want to earn? What kind of lifestyle do you want to live?” asked Professor Ismat. “These are questions that you will have to answer for yourself,” she added.
“The second category is things, or essentially the stuff that you want. Make sure to write down both the small stuff and the big stuff. As Jim Rohn used to say, part of the fun should be checking off the items from your list!” she gushed.
“Also, once you achieve a goal, make sure to reward yourself! We tend to grow in two ways, either from the pain of losing or the joy of winning. Amplify both of these as much as you can. Reward yourself for winning but then at the same time, make losing painful. If you don’t achieve something you wanted to achieve for yourself, add a price that you must pay,” she emphasized.
“The third category of goals is personal development or in other words, the kind of person you want to become. This is different for different people. It could be as diverse as becoming a better speaker to learning a new language,” continued Professor Ismat as she put her mug down.
“Before we move on, does all this make sense to you?” asked Professor Ismat as she looked at the students expeditiously taking notes.
The students were so caught up that they nodded in unison without even raising their heads.
Professor Ismat laughed and then continued speaking.
“Great!” she said.
“Now, the first step that I want you to take is take the piece of paper I handed out and write down 5 things you’ve already accomplished that you’re proud of. The reason why we do this is to take credit for things that we’ve already accomplished on our own,” she continued with a smile.
As Sarah handed out the paper to me, I noticed that it was titled ‘Vision Board’.
Professor Ismat continued speaking.
“Sure, other factors may have contributed along the way, but you were more often than not the primary driving force behind these accomplishments,” she added.
A few seconds passed. I glanced around and noticed that the students had already started jotting down their accomplishments. The problem was, I didn’t know what would constitute an accomplishment in my case. Should I mention the job? The A grade I received in my high-school English paper? Anything? Professor Ismat’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Now, you’ve all accomplished some things in life but the problem with your approach is that you’ve done it haphazardly,” continued Professor Ismat as she wrote the letters A and B on the board and drew a dangly line between them.
“Once you learn a systematic process for achieving your goals, imagine how much bigger and better your accomplishments would be! They could easily be 5 times, 10 times, 20 times bigger than what you’ve currently accomplished!” exclaimed Professor Ismat excitedly as she picked up a different colored marker and drew an unswerving line between the two points.
“Remember, the most important reason we set goals is what they will make of us in the process of achieving them,” she continued. “The goal is important, but who you become in the process is even more important,” she emphasized in a matterof-fact manner.
“Now, the next step that I want you to take is to quickly write down 30-50 goals that you want to achieve in the next 10 years. This might seem excessive but remember, this is your life we’re talking about! You cannot afford to take it easy!” emphasized Professor Ismat.
Her energy was truly contagious. Without resistance, I began writing.
“Once you’re done with that, add 1, 3, 5, or 10 in front of the goal that you’ve written down. This is a measure of how long you think it will take you to achieve that particular goal,” she added as the students continued writing.
That’s a lot of goals, I kept thinking to myself. I put my head down to concentrate and started writing down what came to my mind.
I had always wanted to become a writer. I noted that down. I wrote down the CGPA I wanted to graduate with. I noted down the kind of life I wanted to build. Interestingly, as I began to imagine the possibilities for myself, my old self-talk got activated.
Who was I to write something? Did I even have something valuable to say? Who did I think I was to accomplish all these things? Others would soon find out what an impostor I was! A long time ago dad had shut me down when I had told him about my dream of becoming a writer. He had instead made sure that I worked towards what he considered was a ‘real career’.
With a lot of mental fortitude, I consciously interrupted my self-talk and continued to write down my goals. I had to guard my mind against my self-imposed limitations before I replaced it with more positive beliefs. As Professor Ismat had said, I had to continuously stand guard at the door of my mind. I had to stop the weeds from taking over.
A few minutes passed. I continued writing speedily for a while as Professor Ismat pulled a chair to the front of the classroom and took a seat.
I was surprised to find that as I gave myself the freedom to dream, the goals kept coming! I was already at goal 32 when I heard Professor Ismat’s comforting voice.
“Now, if you need time, remember this is an ongoing process and you can come back to it later. It is your list and it is up to you how often you want to revisit and revise it,” she said as some of the students hesitatingly put down their pens.
“Let’s now talk about the most important part of the puzzle.
Highlight your top 4 1-year goals and mention why you want to achieve those goals. Jim Rohn used to say that when the why got stronger, the how got easier. Once you know why you want something or in other words the purpose behind driving your goals, you almost always figure out the ‘how’. The price gets easier when the prize gets larger!” exclaimed Professor Ismat.
As I followed her instructions, I began to evaluate why I wanted to achieve all these things that I had written down. I recognized that almost every item on the list gave my life meaning and value. I was doing it for myself for a change, not for someone else. I was living up to my expectations for a change, not my Dad’s. Maybe Mom was in there somewhere, but I knew this was what I wanted for myself. That mattered more than anything else.
“Now,” continued Professor Ismat.
“Take a quick look at your goals and make sure you have a good balance between the different 1,3,5, and 10-year goals that you’ve set. If you have too many in one category, make sure to add some more in other categories once you get home,” she insisted.
I took a quick note in the margins to remind myself.
“We now come to the most challenging part of the exercise,” declared Professor Ismat.
The students leaned forward in anticipation.
“Take a look at your goals and then on a separate page, write down the person you must become to accomplish those goals,” stressed Professor Ismat as she paused to take a quick sip from her mug.
“What skills would you have to acquire? What talents would you have to develop? Who would you have to reach out to? Achieving goals takes hard work. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Write down what comes to your mind right now; you can revise it when you get home,” maintained Professor Ismat.
“Figure out the exercises or actions that you need to do every day that will help you move in the direction of your goals. And children, continue to revisit this. Life change is a daily process,” she added.
The class buzzed with activity as the students followed the professor’s instructions.
“Keep going back to your goals and if possible look at them 2-3 times every day. Morning, noon, and night. Write your goals down in your journal and revisit them. This process will not only help you stay on track, but it will also allow you to understand yourself better. You’ll find out what you value in life and what you don’t. You’ll figure out the patterns in your choices and what you want. Your goals affect you so make sure you set goals that help you become the person you intend to become!” exclaimed Professor Ismat excitedly as she put her mug down.
“Regardless of how big your goal is, once you break it down into small and manageable pieces, it gives you the courage to attain that goal,” she added.
“When Jim Rohn was asked how much time was to be spent on each sub-goal, he had a wonderful answer which he called ‘Reasonable Time’,” said Professor Ismat with a smile.
“If a thing takes time, put in the time. If a thing can be done immediately, do it immediately. ‘Reasonable Time’ is a good measure for you to assess how much time you should be spending on each phase of the process,” she continued.
“It is also important to recognize that how you do something is almost always how you do everything. Everything affects everything else. Be mindful of how you cater to the small stuff, it will influence how you do everything. Don’t wait for life to grant you bigger responsibilities; work with what you have today. As Jim Rohn used to say, ‘If you’re disciplined and faithful when the amounts are small, then life will see to it that you get what you deserve.’ Do as little or as much as you can, but don’t stop!” insisted Professor Ismat.
“Ambition is a minute by minute thing; hold your head up and keep going after the things that you want. Whatever happens, happens to us all. How you react to adversity is more important than the adversity itself. You will inevitably face setbacks but a year from now, the joy of persisting in the face of difficulty will be worth any price that you have to pay. As the revolutionary leader Dorothy Height said,” continued Professor Ismat as took out the clicker and pressed it.
“Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals.”
“Believe in your ability to turn it around because you can! As Will and Ariel Durant wrote in the classic Lessons of History, ‘To endure what is, we must remember what was, and dream of things as they one day will be.’” continued Professor Ismat with a smile as I frantically took notes.
“However, keep evaluating your strategy to assess whether there’s a better way to get to where you’re going. Do you know what Einstein said about insanity?” she asked.
A boy raised his hand in the front row and Professor Ismat signaled him to continue.
“Didn’t he say that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?” the boy continued.
“Yes, well done!” she exclaimed.
“There is a difference between sheer persistence and sticking to a strategy despite it not working. Evaluate your situation, yourself, and the tools that you’re using to get to your destination. Assess what works for you and what doesn’t. Some of us need hard deadlines to accomplish something; some of us prefer to wait for inspiration to strike. You know what works for you; make it work. And remember, no one else can do it for you,” she continued.
“When things go wrong, don’t go with them. When we’re doing well with a certain goal in life, the moment we get off track a little, we tend to lose all momentum. Doesn’t this happen to you when you set new year goals?” she paused to see if everyone was following.
“We believe that we need to be perfect in the attainment of every goal when in reality that’s ineffective at best and futile at worst. Maintaining momentum is key,” declared Professor Ismat.
“Let’s take an example. If you’re trying to lose weight by following a strict diet, the moment you cheat on your diet a little bit, you’ll more often than not feel like disregarding all the progress that you’ve made that day and decide to start again tomorrow. And as we talked about earlier, the problem with tomorrow is that it never comes. As Jim Rohn would say, today is yesterday’s tomorrow! Things are bound to go wrong regardless of which path you take, but the real challenge is sticking to the course once those mistakes have been made. That is the mark of true champions!” emphasized Professor Ismat.
“Don’t throw away all the effort you’ve put into developing yourself for momentary pleasure. Treat these setbacks as opportunities for bouncing back. Your personal greatness does not lie in your perfection; it lies in the handling of your imperfections! The joy you receive from becoming a worthy individual and the contributions you’re able to make will far outweigh any temporary discomforts you will have to experience,” said Professor Ismat.
Just as she was getting ready to speak the next sentence, she was interrupted by the alarm on her phone. This had been an action-packed lecture but the time had flown by.
“Well, I guess we won’t have time today to talk about the importance of surrounding yourself with the right company!” said Professor Ismat with a soft chuckle.
“However, I do hope thinking about your goals and dreams will keep you occupied over the weekend. I will see you next week. Till then, take care and dream big.”