Goals

In life there are often times that invite us to review the past and look forward to the future. It is at these times we are most likely to find things in our life we don't like and/or wish we could make better. We often want to change and set resolutions and/or goals. Here is a quick guide to help you achieve your goals and make the changes you wish to make.

First you need a Clear and well defined Objective. It doesn’t need to be wordy or anything like that. In fact often the best goals can be explained in one sentience or less. It could be something like “Get a job” this is a clear goal but it still could be better defined. “Get a good job” Is better defined but not very clear. “Good” for one person can be bad to another. You may understand what a “good job” is but the people you are going to need to get help from to achieve your goals may not see it the same. A clear well defined goal should be easy for others to understand what you are trying to achieve. “Get a job as a programmer” “Get a job that pays 60k a year” “Get a job that is 9 to 5” each of these are well defined and clear. It is easy for others to understand what the goal is and it is easy for you to know if you have achieved the goal.

The second thing you should keep in mind with setting and making goals is that simply having the goal, changes your direction. If you would achieve the goal whether or not you made the goal, it isn't so much a goal but just a statement of where you are going. Even if you don't ever achieve your goal, setting the goal should change the direction you are heading in. You should learn and grow from every goal you set. It should invoke some kind of change in your life. It should move you to learn and to make changes to achieve it.

With every goal you set you need to have a vision of the journey. By vision I don't mean some other worldly experience. I mean simply you must know the path to your goal. The day to day things you need to change to achieve the greater ambition. If you set the goal to lose X amount of weight you need to know how your are going to change your diet or what new work out you are going to do. It isn't enough to know what you want to become but you need to have a idea on how you are going to become it. Part of setting goals is taking the time to understand what is required to achieve the goal. It isn't enough to say you want that job but youneed to find out what you need to do to have the job. What you may need to give up or may need to learn.

This brings us to one of the often forgotten parts of goal setting. Goals are not written in stone. You need not fear setting a goal. Goals should be corrected for new insights. That is to say if you set the goal to be a something and then later find that you don't really want to be that or do that, it is okay and in fact a great idea to changes your goals. They are there to serve you, not to in slave you. Sometimes you will set a goal and later set another only to find that you can't do both, that one has to be put on the back burner or even forgotten altogether. It is good to understand that goals set and change often. That so long as you are always becoming better because of the goals you are setting and not just the goals you're achieving, you're using goals right.