SET GOALS AND ACHIEVE THEM
There are over a million motivational books(soft copy & hard copy) and sermons in the world. About 70% of these books and sermons keep saying these same words “set your goals and achieve them” in a lot of different ways.
The fact that these books and sermons still emphasizes on these goes a long way to show us the relevance and importance of these words.
People set goals for different purposes but most times only 2 out of 10 seem to strive to the end and achieve their goals.
Why does this happen?
Most people could not achieve their goals because they did not set their goals right. There is a right and wrong format to use while setting your goals, most unachieved goals can be linked to the use of the wrong format while setting the goals.
It is important that you use the right format to set your goals in order to avoid getting disappointed.
Dreams are completely different from goals, it’s just like a vision statement and a mission statement. A vision statement is what you hope to have achieved in the future while a mission statement is the strategy and steps you use in achieving your vision statement.
Your dream is the mental picture you have about your future while your goals are the steps and tasks you need to take in order to achieve your dream.
Why do we set goals?
My 3year old niece was crying and making a fuss in the house because she wanted her mom to give her Ice-cream. I tried appeasing her by giving her a little scoop of ice cream from the freezer but my nice gesture was not recognized instead she got more pissed and cried even louder.
I got confused, I just gave her what she was asking for but she doesn’t want to stop crying. What did I do wrong?
I was still trying to figure out what to do when her mom took the cup of ice cream from me and started feeding it to her.
Immediately she stopped crying and she happily licked her ice cream. That was when I understood that the ice cream was not her goal rather her mom’s attention was her goal. The Ice cream was just an added benefit, I was really amazed.
At such an early age my niece has already started setting goals and she was achieving them.
Humans grew up subconsciously setting goals for themselves and achieving them too. Setting goals and achieving them fills us with a sense of completeness, satisfaction, and happiness.
Goals serve as a pointer or a compass used during a journey to get to a particular destination.
Most times our lives feel like a boring series of repeated routines but through the addition of daily tasks and goals, our lives have become less boring.
Every time we successfully complete a task, dopamine a neurotransmitter associated with the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment is released.
6 reasons people don’t achieve their goals.
- Using the wrong goal-setting format = A lot of people don’t know that there is a right way to set their goals. They just get an idea and put it into writing within following the steps highlighted in the right goal setting format.
- Procrastination = This is the most common reason lots of people’s goals were abandoned. “I will do it later” has ruined many people’s chances and opportunities to achieve something really great.
- Excuses = Humans tend to bring up different kinds of irrelevant excuses as the reason behind their failure in completing a task or achieving something. The more you keep making excuses, the farther you are from achieving your goals.
- Lack of motivation = Most people are so pessimistic that they are unable to motivate themselves. They feel like they are a lost cause and not even quotes, books or sermons can ignite a shimmer of hope within them.
- Laziness = This particular word has lead to the ruin of so many goals and talents. It works in sync with procrastination and excuses.
- Third party opinion = People’s opinion has ruined a lot of businesses and careers in their infancy state.
How do you set a goal?
- Make a decision about what you want to do, it should be something that you are really interested in not something that was suggested to you by people. Research has shown that people are more likely to achieve goals that are meaningful to them. Whatever you have decided to do should be something that can motivate you to leave your comfort zone. It shouldn’t be something that doesn’t push you to make an effort but rather it should be something that energizes and ignites you to move beyond the limits you had mentally set for yourself.
- WRITE THEM DOWN
Put your goals into writing,
goals not written down are just ideas that can easily be forgotten. Writing down your goals helps you to keep track of how far you have gone with a particular task and how many things you need to do to completely achieve your goals.
When writing your downs, don’t write them in a negative and depressing way instead write them in a positive and encouraging manner. For example instead of writing ( I don’t want to be boring, sad, and antisocial you can write I want to be more sociable and friendly).
Don’t forget to write down the benefits you will receive when you achieve your goals, it will serve as a reminder for the things you will lose out from if you fail to accomplish your goals.
- TALK TO SOMEONE
“Communication – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success.”
Paul J. Meyer
There is a famous saying that a problem shared is a problem half solved. Could this be true?
It depends on the kind of person you talk to about your goals. Talk to positive minded people who are intelligent, smart, and genuinely interested in you and your goals. Talking to optimistic people who can offer you ideas on how to achieve your goals is very ideal.
- BREAK YOUR GOAL DOWN
Most times our goals can be very big, vague, and unclear so it important that we break down our goals into different steps.
Breaking down your goals enables you to achieve smaller goals faster and fills you with a sense of accomplishment and happiness.
- HIGHLIGHT YOUR FIRST STEP
This tends to be the most difficult part, you might have figured out the goal you want to achieve, you have written it down and even spoken to someone about your goals but the problem arises when you can’t figure out the first step. The perfect first step in achieving your goals could be to conduct research. The internet is filled with so much knowledge much more than you can ever imagine so it advisable that your first step should be extensive research on your chosen goals. Never forget the popular saying that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a step.
- DON’T STOP
Trying to achieve your goals can be quite tiring and frustrating especially when things are not going exactly the way you expected it to go. This should not make you quit, you are allowed to take a break but not allowed to stop.
Always remember that;
“Winners never quit and
Quitters never win.”
- CELEBRATE
Celebrate little milestones, don’t wait till you achieve all your goals before you celebrate. Try to congratulate yourself and give yourself a treat whenever you successfully complete a little task.
How to achieve your goals?
- Your goals should be S.M.A.R.T. They should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound. When making your goals, try as much as possible to choose well defined goals that are realistic and possible to achieve within a given period.
- You need to eliminate pessimistic thoughts. Your mind can picture lots of situations both negative and positive but in order to achieve your goals, you need to drive out the negative thoughts and engage your mind in positive and beneficial thoughts.
- List out the steps that need to be taken in order to achieve your goals.
- Allocate specific time to each task and try to complete them.
- Give out special treats to yourself for successfully completing every task.
Every human has a dream but our dreams can’t be achieved without setting goals that can help accomplish them. A goal is not a hope for the future, they are workable plans and strategies that can be used to achieve the dream you envision.
Set realistic goals, if they seem vague and unclear you can divide them into different steps. Focus on achieving these tasks and give yourself rewards for every single milestone you achieve.
You deserve to enjoy the wonderful life you picture about your future every day so set those goals and don’t give up until you achieve them.
I have recently started a blog, the information you offer on this web site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work. “Show me the man who keeps his house in hand, He’s fit for public authority.” by Sophocles.