INTRODUCTION
Today we shall continue with the topic we started last week on Goal Setting and Prioritisation.
Everyone at every point in life will have an opportunity to get ahead in life. No matter the life experiences, you can rewrite your story. People’s accomplishment in life depends on:
• Personal choices and
• Other variables outside their control
Your success in life does not depend on the number of chances you get, but on the ones you take, willing to pay the price, expend the time and effort necessary to maximize them to your advantage. There is a price to pay for every success. Success isn’t free.
The starting point of goal setting is to realize that you have unlimited potential to be, have or do anything you want in life if you want it badly enough and are willing to work long and hard enough to achieve it.
The second part is to accept complete responsibility for your life and everything that happens to you with no blaming and no excuses. You are responsible for the overall management strategy of your life. If you are not happy with your current income, you can decide to earn more; set it as a goal; make a plan, and get busy doing what is necessary to achieve your goal.
With these two concepts clearly in mind, you are ready to move to the next step to begin to design your ideal future.
Please note the following:
• A person of average intelligence with a goal is better than a genius with no goal
• Any plan is better than no plan
• There is no limit to your imagination
• There is no limit to what you can achieve with a clear goal, except the limits on your level of imagination
• Your ability to set goals is the master skill of success.
Therefore, why wait till tomorrow to plan, or start that business? Why push forward what you can do now? Some would say, I’m too busy, and it’s not a priority. Some are just too scared of failure, too frightened of the unknown; they don’t believe they can do it. The solution is to set a goal for yourself.
THE 4 Ps TEST
The real goal has to pass the 4 Ps test;
• It must be stated in the POSITIVE – I will, I am.
• It is PERSONAL – it must be your goal.
• It must be POSSIBLE and realistic. Reaching for the impossible can only lead to failure and depression. A large goal can comprise of several small achievements, stepping stones to a dream.
• For an individual to achieve a goal, it must be PRIORITIZED and stated in the present and be time-bound. Without a deadline, it will drift, you might not necessarily fail, but you might not probably succeed either. At what point will you admit success or failure?
WHAT IS A GOAL?
The object of a person’s ambition or effort: an aim or desired result. According to Wikipedia, a goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieving. People endeavor to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.
A goal is a dream or want though a goal is more specific. Goal setting is the process of deciding what you want to accomplish and devising a plan to achieve those desired results. For effective goal setting, you need to do more than just decide what you want to do; you also have to work at accomplishing whatever goal you have set.
PURPOSE OF A GOAL
• It gives direction
• It gives focus
• It gives urgency
By better understanding the reasons behind setting a goal, the more likely you are to:
• Set goals
• Be excited about those goals and
• Hit those goals.
TYPES OF GOALS
• Long Term Goals:10-year, 5-year, and 1-year goals
• Short Term Goals: Goals for the next nine months, six months, and three months.
• Immediate Goals: 1-30 days from now
“TIME IS LIFE. TO WASTE YOUR TIME IS TO WASTE YOUR LIFE; TO MANAGE YOUR TIME IS TO MANAGE YOUR LIFE.” — ALAN LAKEIN
HOW TO SET GOALS
Learning how to set a goal is as important as knowing what it should contain. It is necessary to set goals with; the right and correct F.R.A.M.E. of mind. What is meant by FRAME of mind?
(To be continued next week)
Sunday Ade Bello (SAB) is a multi-talented and an analytically inspired management trainer, writer and examiner. He is the CEO of WorkLife Training Professionals, Lagos.
