https://youtube.com/watch?v=RTUqorI6fjc
Goals are major to a genuinely success oriented person. Without them, you’re just playing around. The difference between a goal directed individual and someone without goals is like the difference between a Wimbledon champion and a kid batting a tennis ball around on a court with no net, no opponent to bring out the best in him and no way of keeping score. Despite everything that’s been written about the importance of goal setting, very few people actually put it into practice. It’s always amazed me, the way the average guy puts more thought and effort into planning his two week vacation than he devotes to planning his life. What’s he taking a vacation from? He hasn’t really decided what he’s trying to do in life, but for two weeks out of the year, he just decides he wants to do something else.
And this is what he plans very carefully. Challenge creates strong character and goals represent challenge in its most positive form. Leaders have their personal goals clearly in focus, as well as the goals of the organization. In fact, one of the principal responsibilities of leadership is defining goals for the vast majority of people who aren’t able to do it for themselves. Over the years, I’ve developed some
ideas about effective goal setting, and I’d like to share those with you in a moment. When I was a kid, I used to dream what it would be like to buy a ticket on a railroad train and just go someplace. I really didn’t think about where I’d be going or how long it would take to get there. I just loved the idea of getting on the train and just letting it take me some place. I guess there’s still something appealing about that idea, but it’s not really the way you want to live your life as a mature human being. When you grow up, you buy a ticket on a train or a plane because you want to go someplace and you know exactly where you’re going.
You may have to change planes in a different city, your flight may be canceled and you may have to switch to another flight. You may not feel like talking to the person seated next to you, but you will persist. You know where you’re headed and you’re quite determined to get there. That’s goal directed behavior in its simplest form. There are short term goals and long term goals. Sometimes you’re flying across the country, other times you’re just walking down to the corner grocery store.
Long term goals are the equivalent of a major journey. When you reach the point where you’ve achieved your long term goals, your life will be fundamentally changed. And the process of getting to that point will transform you into a stronger, wiser, higher performing person than you are now. How can you identify your long term goals? On a sheet of paper or in a notebook, write, these five headings. Number one, what do I want to do? Number two, what do I want to be? Number three, what do I want to see? Number four, what do I want to have? And number five, where do I want to go? Now, under each of these categories, write down several possible long term goals. Be very relaxed about this, just allow your mind to flow and come up with three to six ideas for each category. Don’t worry about a lot of details at this point. And don’t spend too much time describing a particular goal. In category number one, for example, “What do I want to do”, suppose you want to write a book about the history of your family going back to the arrival of your great grandparents in the United States.
Just quickly jot down “Family history”. Then as you look down the list of categories, it occurs to you that you’ve always wanted to see
the pyramids in Egypt. So you write “Pyramids”. Keep writing down ideas as long as the list of categories continues to inspire you. You’ll probably be surprised at some of the things that turn up. You may have kept a great many desires and aspirations hidden in the back of your mind.
But the opportunity to write them down will move them to the forefront of your consciousness. That’s one of the benefits of this technique. When you’re satisfied with your list of long term goals, read through the list once again, then beside each item, write the number of years that you believe it will take you to achieve that particular goal. It’s best to round off the numbers into one year, three year, five year, ten year categories. For example, you may estimate that it will take you ten years to research and write the book on your family history. But you’ll need only five years to get yourself into a position where you can take a trip to the pyramids.
Create a timeframe like this for every one of your long term goals. Immediate goals, those that will take less than a year to achieve, are important too of course and we’ll deal with those separately in a moment. When you’re finished entering your timeframes, there should be a fairly balanced distribution of all your goals. If there are many one and three year objectives but only a few in the ten year category, maybe you need to think more about what you really want your life to add up to. What kind of life you really want to build over the long run? But if there’s a preponderance of ten year goals
and relatively few of the shorter term variety, this may be an indication that you’re putting things off, that you’re focused too much on where you’ll be at the end of the day and not enough on what you can accomplish right now. Keep working on your list adding and subtracting goals with various timeframes until you’ve created a more or less even distribution. Now comes the really challenging and interesting part. So far, you’ve just been adding things to the list, but now it’s time to start making some selections. Now you’re going to start asking yourself what’s really important compared to what might just be sort of fun. Choose four goals from each of the four timeframes, one year, three year, five year and ten year.
Now you have sixteen separate goals. So far, you’ve only referred to them in shorthand fashion. But now you’re going to start seeing them
very, very clearly in your mind’s eye. You’re going to see each goal just as if it were being realized this very minute. And you’re going to write down a detailed description of exactly what you see. Do you intend to open a handmade furniture store in three years? What will the store look like from the street out front? Will there be gold leaf lettering on the windows or will there be a sign hanging over the door instead? How many square feet will the store contain? Will there be a showroom area for the furniture in front and a workspace in back? Or will the furniture be built at a different location? Do you intend to have any employees or will you run the business entirely by yourself? Think of all the questions that need to be answered in order to see your goal with absolute clarity.
And then write the information down in a notebook or on a piece of paper. That will become one of your most important personal possessions. But that’s not all. Any goal is a powerful motivator, only if there’s a powerful reason behind it. Why do you want to achieve your goals? Why do you want to own a handmade furniture store? Or a private airplane or a newspaper in a small town in Vermont? Why do you want to compete in a triathlon? Or visit the Australian Outback? Or be the first woman in your family to earn a Ph.D? Write down your reasons for wanting each goal in the same degree of detail that you use to write your descriptions. If you can’t find a clear and convincing reason for each of your sixteen goals, do some serious reevaluating. You may have more whims or pipe dreams than real goals and now is the time to make that discovery. Keep working on your list until you have sixteen, clearly envisioned, strongly motivating long term goals.
Review what you’ve written at times and keep track of your progress toward these objectives, above all, persevere. Goal setting is a very important first step, but goal achievement is a continuous, lifelong process. That’s what makes it so challenging. That’s also why it’s so extremely rewarding
to finally attain your long term goals. With regard to immediate goals, those that require anywhere from a day to a year to achieve, I recommend creating lots of objectives that can be accomplished in a month or less. Write them down. Read what you’ve written at frequent intervals. Keep track of your progress and do something often that brings you closer to realizing these very short term objectives. That way, you’ll always
have something to celebrate. These goals are not only important in their own right, they’re also confidence builders and motivators toward
a lifestyle based on perseverance and achievement.
