The first step in achieving any success is to set your goals. Goal-setting is an activity you need to spend time on. And it is well-spent time. Once you recognize your goals you can strive to achieve your goals. You can focus your efforts towards attaining the goals.
What does it take to achieve your goals?
What is required to achieve your goals? Goals are lovely to dream of. But what does it take to achieve them? There is a starting point where you are at a particular point of time and there is a destination by way of your set goal. What makes the journey to the goal possible? It is of consequence to identify this. You need to make efforts conducive to achieving your goals. The effort has to be matched with the particular goal to be attained.
Let’s discover what it takes to attain our goals.
Goal setting
The first and foremost need is to set your goal. If you are lackadaisical and not serious about what you are doing, you perhaps have not set a goal as yet for yourself. So, do set your goals. Or you may be unclear as yet about what your goal is. You may be going to school each working day. But you need to set for yourself the goal of studying and doing well. After all you take the trouble to go to school, so why not study well and do well? And this is true whether it is academics, sports or other extra-curricular activities. Likewise, if you are a working professional set a goal for yourself. If you wish to reach the summit in any profession or work, make it your goal. And the exercise of setting your goals will make you more serious about achieving them too.
How to set goals and achieve them
Be clear about what your goal is. Is it to reach school? Or is it to reach school on time? It makes all the difference. And the outcome will be based on what you set for yourself as your goal. If you are reprimanded at school for arriving late, it is perhaps because you did not set your goal to reach school on time. So, be clear about your goal. Set meaningful goals.
You need to discover the goals which you consciously and sub-consciously seek to achieve. If you are observant and a little articulate you can spell out your goals. You need to set well-thought-out goals and then go on to achieve them.
There are many goals you could have
At any point in time, you will discover you have many small and big goals to achieve. They could be of the immediate term, short term, medium term, long term and of your life in its totality.
Reaching your office on time today is perhaps your immediate goal.
If you need to finish your assignment on hand and submit it at school or college or at the office to your boss within two days it may be your goal in the short term.
In the medium term you may wish to complete your target for the financial year at the office, or complete your syllabus for the annual examination at school or college.
You may wish in the long term to be successful with your business or complete your studies and become a professional architect or perhaps set up a large charitable hospital for the needy.
And, in general, your goal in life might be to be a good, righteous, happy individual, and do your duties towards your family and society at large.
You value each of your goals. And you wish to achieve each of your goals in their respective time frame. Isn’t it? Following are the ways which help you to set and achieve your goals:
- Be practical
Be practical about the goals you set. And likewise be practical about the efforts you need to invest to achieve your goals.
If you set a goal that you possibly cannot achieve, of what use is it?
If you set for yourself a goal that requires resources of any sort that you possibly cannot cough up with, there is no point is having such a goal. If you lack physical strength and stamina or have a health deficiency, but wish to become an athlete, you may not be quite successful. Of course, you could make efforts to gain health and strength too. But if it is well nigh impossible, avoid setting it as your goal.
Likewise, if you cannot have access to the required funds for overseas study, is there any use wishing to do your graduate studies, for instance, in a foreign country? There is no point making it tough for your parents to scout for the resources. Or they may just not be able to get you the necessary money. Make the most of what is possible. This is a dictum that will always stand you in good stead.
Put in the effort to achieve goals that can be attained. And you will meet with success. And you can build on a strong foundation.
- Follow your heart
Follow what your heart says when you need to set your goal and achieve it. For instance, you may wish to pursue your business on certain social welfare criteria rather than profit parameters. Follow what you wish to achieve. You don’t have to be in line with what the trend is. If you feel your responsibility is towards achieving greater social good rather than simply limitless profit, go ahead and follow that. You will have greater joy that way.
Similarly, you may have no interest in pursuing medicine as a career. But people around you may show you the benefits of being a professional doctor. Likewise, you may be coerced to follow the profession of your family. Don’t succumb to external pressure whether from peers, family members or others. Go in for the career of your choice. After all you need to work day after day to make a living. And, would you not be better off doing the work you enjoy doing? Certainly. And, it requires courage to go in for what you truly desire.
How to Achieve Goals in Life
Don’t be afraid to set your goals. Just be courageous in setting and achieving your goals. All great goals are achieved by people who had small and humble beginnings. No goal is too difficult to achieve if you have the keenness to achieve it.
Be ready to make the sacrifices you must to achieve your goals, big and small. Be bold.
If you need to say no to your friends who are taking your time in chatting on whatsapp or insisting on partying into the night, be bold to say it. Your time is precious. If instead of turning in for the night you are staying up late unnecessarily, you will not get up early and refreshed the next morning, and you will be late for your school, college or work place. If your goal is to be on time you have to be ready to say no to unnecessary, useless activities.
Or, for example, if you need to follow a particular diet plan to achieve your goal, be committed to it. It is in your interest to follow it to reach your goal. Isn’t it? So why grudge it?
Be bold to leave anything that obstructs your path to reach your goal. And, similarly have the courage to follow that which will ensure your success in attaining your goal. You need to keep in mind some key points in order to achieve your goals successfully:
- Time is precious
If you set for yourself a timetable to follow to achieve your goal, you need to follow it as meticulously as possible.
Time is precious and is a non-renewable resource. Time lost is not gained back. So, avoid wasting time on activities that don’t take you anywhere closer to your goal.
Try to be a little aware of the time you spend on any activity. It will help you be a little more efficient in the way you work. And do make an attempt at being a little innovative to save time. There could be a quicker or easier way to do things. So, be attentive to this. Being punctual is always good.
- Being steadfast will save time
Be firm about what your goal is. And be steadfast on achieving your goal. If you are vacillating, your efforts will keep varying in intensity and only be partial. And your goal will remain unattainable.
If you really wish to achieve your goal then make concerted efforts in the right direction. If you keep changing your mind and setting different goals that may require different inputs and call for your efforts in different directions you will achieve no single goal. You would have wasted your time and energies, both of which are to be judiciously used, given that both have a fixed supply.
So, spend time and set your goal. A goal is not set just for the heck of it or for the fun of it. Set a goal for yourself after weighing the pros and cons in great detail. And be a smart worker to achieve your goal.
If you are serious about reaching your goal, be serious about putting the efforts in the right direction. Perseverance is worth it. If you work consistently and with commitment you are sure to meet with success. You will also be able to apportion your time and resources well.
- Don’t get frustrated, encourage yourself
You should not have to depend on someone’s words of encouragement. If you are serious about your goal, even the obstacles that crop up and discouragement offered by others should not weaken you. In fact, instead of becoming diffident, you should become more confident to making it to your goal. Be happy to set goals for yourself. And be happy to make efforts too to reach them. If you are not happy to work hard to reach your goal, no effort is of any use. A happy mind empowers you and qualitatively ups the value of your efforts.
And the effort will not seem a burden but will rather prove purposeful and fruitful. If you do not meet with success as quickly as you want don’t abandon your goals all together. Don’t lose hope all too soon. Stay with your goal. You chose it and you can reach it. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again, is a saying you have heard often. Put it to use should you meet with failure. Failure is the stepping stone to success. Your failure in the first try may actually make many aspects clearer to you so your subsequent efforts can be more meaningful and productive.
