In order to give meaning and purpose to one's life, we all must have a goal. It is something we will live for - something to encourage us to go on despite the trials. However, too many people make the too-eager mistake of setting unrealistic goals. These are goals which are too difficult to reach, thus deflating whatever huge dreams one has in life. When your dream is implausible, you lose interest, drive and patience - thus causing you to be goal-less.
So what are the characteristics of a successful goal? Go through this list and determine how yours fares. If your goal isn't quite close to any of these characteristics, then maybe it's time for a re-thinking.
SPECIFIC. Your goal must be thought off with targeted accuracy. It must be specific, and as detailed as possible. If you want to buy a house, you cannot just think any house - you must know where it is, how much it is, how many rooms, what it looks like, and how you intend to buy it. Write all your plans down on paper, and remind yourself about it as often as you can. Why is there a need to be specific? Because there has to be a plan in place - you list down your sources of income, or possible list of banks and financial institutions where you can avail of a housing loan, and determine if your possible plans of purchasing a house are realistic - given your limitations and financial condition. There is no point in aiming for a mansion, if all you can reasonably afford is a flat.
MEASURABLE. Your steps toward the fulfilment of your goal must be quantifiable. There must be measures in place which will tell you if you are halfway or nowhere near your goal. This is important to determine progress. If no progress is happening, you might as well abandon your plan and go search for a more reasonable goal - something which will not cause you much frustration and misery, if ever you do not attain it. Why is this important - because you need to keep that fire in you alive. You must see improvements and movements in your plan in order to get that determination going.
ATTAINABLE. Again - a goal must be realistic. No sense having a goal you know you cannot fulfil. If you find a specific goal too difficult to achieve, you lose your drive. The key is to break down that huge goal into smaller parts. Each day, work towards the achievement of every small part. At the end of the week, you will be surprised at the number of small parts you have attained. You can even surprise yourself even more because you may not have realized it, but you are so close to the achievement of the total, initially daunting big dream.
REWARDING. For a goal to be worth your effort there must be a really good reason behind why you want it. If you want that house, then envision you and your family enjoying your future in your new beautiful house. Imagine spending quality time with them, and having more kids, or more free space for your dogs to run around. The benefits from achieving a goal must be concrete - they must be worth looking forward to. Why, because this makes the entire difficult journey easier to fathom, and suddenly, all your sacrifice and hard work seem so purposeful and so worth it.
TIME-BOUND. A successful goal must be achieved within a reasonable and specific amount of time. This is necessary because if it has been 20 years and you still are not even halfway done, then you will have very little time left to pursue another goal, in place of the initial unsurmountable goal. If you want a house, then set yourself up for a long-term sacrifice - around 10 to 25 years. There are other short term dreams that need to have time limits too. If your monthly goal, for example, has taken you 1 year to accomplish, then you know you have a problem somewhere. Maybe you have been procrastinating? It's time to re-think a goal or even change it - rather than life in a lifetime of frustration, constant and seemingly endless sacrifice that leads to an unfulfilled goal in the end. Remember, if it takes you too long to achieve a goal, your interest wanes, your wants change, and your needs are left unmet - thus making you unhappy.
----------------------------------------------------
Michael Griffiths is the CEO and Founder of Secrets Of A Super Life, providing individuals with personal development strategies to increase their purpose, passion, happiness and life fulfilment. For your free life success pack please visit http://www.mysuperlifetoday.com
EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=294060
No comments:
Post a Comment