Chapter 28 Setting Your Goals.
Have you ever watched a dog chase its tail? Or a gold fish going round and round in the fish bowl? They spent much time and energy, getting nowhere. Many people are like that, wandering through life without any aspiration or mission. They are 3rd class humans, who have no dream or ideal. They drift along and have no real purpose for being alive. These reactive people do not make things happen, instead, they let things happen to them! So if you do not make plans to establish your destiny, the world and its circumstances will. Then you will have no control over your future, and little of life will yield to your hearts desire. You might as well be sleepwalking. Mark Twain prompted us, ‘Plan your future because thats where you are going to spend the rest of your life.’
Isn't life funny? You become what you think about and get what you wish for. Life is not merely a game of chance, you can be excellent, mediocre or lousy, whichever you choose. People are not really useless, they just do not have enticing goals to inspire them. Many are simply lazy; others may be working hard but not working smart. In life, you need objectives and direction, otherwise you are barking up the wrong tree. Goals are a God-given instinct, even animals have them, and birds and insects migrate thousands of miles a year. Years ago, a group of scientists did experiments with moths. A male moth was released 6 kilometres away, but soon came tapping on the window of the female moth. I have read about hundreds of successful people; all of them had the ability to dream, to define purpose and objectives. They were single-minded, determined and often obsessed. Let me tell you the story of Lloyd Collier, as narrated by Napoleon Hill in his book The Master Key to Riches. He was born in North Carolina, USA. An illness in his teens paralysed him below the waist. Normally, one would have resorted to sitting in the mall waiting for charity, but he did not. He learned watch-repairing, and soon plied a successful trade with his confident, friendly and cheerful ways. His pre-set objectives, positive attitude, and daily affirmations eventually brought him the finest jewellery store and prettiest wife in town! He also owned a beautiful home and raised a happy family. All these, from a disabled man in a wheelchair!
Goals, like dreams, are wonderful, for the following reasons:
1. Goals are dreams alive with a purpose, they lead to achievement.
2. Knowing your destination and getting started is half the journey. You cannot hit the target if you dont have one.
3. When you set goals you have made a commitment to yourself and others, so you tend to fulfil them.
4. Your greater long-range goals will somewhat protect you from the frustrations of smaller short-term obstacles.
5. With your attention focused on your target, your concentration is powerful and unlikely to dissipate time and energy.
6. Purpose & anticipation enhance your enthusiasm and happiness.
7 Goals prepare the way for the concerted efforts and culmination of all your success ingredients and resources.
8. They allow you to assess and fine-tune yourself along the way.
9. A sense of direction triggers action, and eventual accomplishment. Your aims determine your thoughts, which in turn control your actions; your actions then mould your life.
You have hidden, God-given potentials that will never be realised unless you discover yourself, and allow your dreams to emerge and take expressions in your motives actions. Now that you know the importance of having ideals and objectives in life, it is time to set goals. The earlier you do it the better. You will be steps ahead of the pack; you will have the extra time to assemble your resources and perfect your skills. However, only you can decide your own aims in life. I can only show you the ropes, and here there are:
Step 1 : Form a vision. Start with the end, and visualise the distinguished person you want to be, at say age 60. You are happy, vibrant, outstanding, prosperous, in love with life and contributing to society. Stretch as far as you can. Narrow goals create limited lives. Make an inventory of all your hopes, wishes and dreams.
Step 2: Write down a preliminary set of goals. If you don't write them down, forget it, because you'll surely forget them. Only written aspirations can bring commitments from yourself. Your first list may be quite a mouthful but it is okay. Be clear and specific, not wishy-washy.
Step 3: You evolve an improved and edited list over time, during which you evaluate your talents, hobbies, heartstrings, availability of conducive environment and your ability to create them. Make your perfect setting for top performance. List the resources at your disposal, as well as the traits and personality you need to develop to be effective. Select and emulate successful models among people you know.
Step 4: Put your goals in ranking order of importance, and also in chronological order, specifying short, medium and long term targets. The terms can be 2 years, 10 years and 30 years respectively. Short term accomplishments are important because they all add up! The hours, days and weeks are so crucial, and will shape your destiny; besides, big achievements are easier when divided into small tasks.
Step 5: Modify your goals along the months and years, as your skills grow and values change, but never slack and stray from your main ambition. Keep your targets in sight, and set deadlines. I should have provided rows and columns for you to fill in your goals systematically. Anyway, write them down meticulously along the steps listed above.
Step 6: Formulate your strategies and action plans, as well as contingencies for problems, identify stumbling blocks. Then, go!
I have several points of caution for you. Firstly, goals are quite useless if they are unchallenging, not enjoyable, unrealistic and immeasurable. They must satisfy the senses. Secondly, do not set too many targets to disperse your focus and dissipate your energy; you will become a tired jack of all trades and a master of none. A few interlocking or related goals are best, with varying priorities. Thirdly, assess and reward yourself along the way, adjust and sharpen your attack. Fourthly, avoid all negative thoughts and influence on the journey. Lastly, and most important of all, remember always that beautiful thoughts without actions are as worthless as actions without thoughts! You must keep at it until you succeed. Cultivate courage, a positive attitude, determination and perseverance. Believe deeply that If you press ahead everyday, who can stop you? Your success will be a certainty. In the coming chapters, we will see many touching examples of marvellous rewards after numerous, and sometimes rather eye-popping failures along the way. Many failed, not realising that the darkest hour is just before dawn. Many men of great achievements admitted that if they had given up when they were most tempted to, they would have missed everything, and the magnificent payoff!
Let me end this lesson with a poem from Barbara Burrow:
Hold on to your dreams as the years unfold
Don't compromise the ideas that you hold
For on history's pages are written the deeds
Of those who had the courage to live by their creeds
Who held to their dreams and at last achieved
The lofty goals in which they believed.
So be true to yourself in all that you do
Reach for the stars and your dreams will come true.
"Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work!" - H. L. Hunt.
"This one step - Choosing a goal and sticking to it - changes everything." - Scott Reid.
"Better get a stiff neck for aiming too high than a hunch back for aiming too low." - Jacques Chancel.
"The beauty of starting out with the end - is that the goal itself will begin to define what it is you have to do to attain it." - H. Geneen, of AT & T.
"It is not enough to take steps that might one day lead to a goal; each step should, in itself, be a goal, and at the same time, carry us closer to the greater goal." Goethe.
"When you reach out for the stars, you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either." - Leo Burnett.