How to succeed by setting Goals
Gita Ramachandran
“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” Tony Robbins
Earl Nightingale, in his Audio Book “The Strangest Secret” says that if a man is working towards a predetermined Goal and knows where he is going, that man is successful. If he’s not doing that, he’s a failure.
Goals give direction to our life, and the way we spend our time. People with goals succeed, because they know where they’re going. To succeed we need to plant a goal in our mind, nurture it and work towards achieving it.
History shows us that those who set goals and worked towards achieving them found success. They achieved what they had dreamt of, despite setbacks and obstacles and became icons for all of us to emulate and follow.
Henry Ford, Thomas Alva Edison, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Marconi, Abraham Lincoln, Michelangelo, Columbus, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi are all famous personalities who pursued their Goals with persistence and self-belief and accomplished what they aimed
Set Goals, with deadlines attached to them. Goal setting is a formal process where we define targets that we want to achieve. When we set goals, we bind ourselves to outcomes that will be accomplished. Goals are dreams with deadlines, or dreams with dates attached to them. When we document and announce the date for any Task, Job, or Project, we observe that we go out of the way to ensure that we meet it. This is one major quality that we can observe in people who are successful and what distinguishes them from those who are not.
Goals are great for setting the direction. They give direction to our life, and the way we spend our time. One of the primary reasons why so many of us struggle with being productive is because we don’t know what is to be done right now, or today. Most of us set Long-term goals, to be accomplished, in the future. When we don’t know the exact action to be taken today, procrastination sets in. To overcome this, we need to develop daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly list of goals with deadlines attached to them. This will help us navigate to the Goalpost of success.
Our optimum goals are those which causes us to “stretch” but not “break” as we strive to achieve them. The intention of setting stretch goals is to push ourselves outside our comfort zone. Stretching our goals demand more quantity and quality of work and force us to innovate more often than ordinary goals. In the pursuit of these Goals, we grow our skills to where they need to be in order to get it done.
Based on the Long-Term Goals, define daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals centered on the principle of SMART goals
SMART Goals, a term heard so often, simply means Goals which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant & realistic and Time bound.
S=Specific: Being explicit about what we want to accomplish. The more we can narrow our goals down, the better we will be able to plan the steps needed to achieve them.
M=Measurable: There should be some indicators to prove that we are making progress towards our goal. Setting milestones will enable us to re-evaluate and make corrections if needed.
A=Achievable: Set goals that we can probably complete within the set timeframe. As we keep achieving them, we get motivated to do better.
R=Relevant: When setting goals, we need to consider whether they are relevant and realistic or not. Our goals should align with our values, objectives, and long-term goals.
T=Time-bound: Set goals with dates or time frames assigned to them. An end-date can help us prioritize and make us understand as to whether we had overestimated or underestimated the timelines and whether they were unrealistic
Evaluate the goals defined by us periodically and take course correction if need be, so that the pursuit of future goals is not hampered.
Be aware of what can hamper us from accomplishing our goals, and either prevent or avoid them. We may face lot of obstacles and it’s all about getting through those obstacles to our desired goal that most people seem to have a problem with.
It’s only normal to encounter obstacles in the pursuit of one’s goal. It’s kind of a test to see if you’re worthy. However, when these obstacles start to become a nuisance to the point of almost putting a stop to your goal(s); or worse, making one completely abandon his/her goal, one must take action and think things through.
It is suggested to think positive and not quit. To quit is tantamount to going back to the starting line of goal accomplishment. That is time, energy, money, and a whole lot of things are wasted and lost. Especially when one is midway in working for a goal, there should be no room for quitting. It is costlier to quit than to find a solution to the problem, not to mention the frustration one feels.
Behind every successful personality, we may observe hidden struggles and milestones that shaped their future or career. But, they motivated themselves to design, develop and shape their destiny from their dreams, without quitting. They persisted and persevered
Once the goals are defined and documented with deadlines, execute them by putting one’s whole being into it. Focus and concentrate. Keep a clear, open and tense-free mind. Be ready to receive new ideas. Think on a wide scale and be open to new options to eliminate obstacles you may face. Simulate and try to picturize a possible solution to help overcome and/or solve the obstacle that’s holding you back. Keep your attention focused on achieving any goal that you put your mind to.
As Tony Robbins puts it , “Goal setting is the secret to a compelling future”. Let us dream of that captivating future by setting our Goals.“To attract Success like a Magnet,
“To attract Success like a Magnet,
Setting Goals is the very first Step.”
Are you with me on this Growth Mindset?
If yes, let us move forward to motivate oneself.
For more on setting Goals and other tips to succeed from first hand experience refer book authored by me “Skyrocket To New Heights” and available at https://geni.us/Of6VS
Follow me on https://gitaramachandran.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gita-ramachandran-3276a413a/
