HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Most businesses have finalized their income and expenses for 2009 and are putting the finishing touches on their 2010 budget. The budgets that are developed consist of a series of incremental goals that will enable them to achieve their objectives. Trying to run a business without setting financial goals would be disastrous to say the least.
So why is it that 97% of all Americans do not set personal goals for themselves? Most people spend more time planning their two-week vacations than they do planning their lives. You are cheating yourself if you simply “winging it’ with the hope that it will all work out.
Everyone needs goals, a direction and a purpose for their life. And because everyone needs goals, they have the opportunity and personal obligation to learn how to set and achieve them.
Goal setting is the foundation for success in life. A builder wouldn’t construct a home without a set of blueprints. A pilot would never fly across the country without a flight plan. A minister devotes hours to his message before delivering a sermon. You simply can not design a successful life without a solid foundation of goals.
If goal setting is SO important, why do most people fail to do so? I think that there are five basic reasons why people don’t set goals.
The first reason is that they are simply not serious. Whenever I speak to anyone who has achieved something remarkable, I learn that the achievement occurred after that person decided to “get serious.” Imagine an athlete becoming successful who was not serious about training for success. Success is not going to jump in your lap. Until you become completely serious and totally determined about your goals, nothing sustaining happens.
The second reason is that they don’t understand the importance of setting goals. If your parents or other people outside your family circle didn’t have goals, didn’t talk about goals and didn’t encourage you to set goals, then you more than likely grew up with no knowledge of the importance of goal setting.
The third reason is because they don’t know how to do it. One of the greatest tragedies of our educational system is that you can receive a high school and/or college education and never once receive a single hour of instruction on how to set goals.
The fourth reason why is fear of criticism. The fear of criticism is caused by destructive criticism you received in your early childhood and is manifested in adulthood in the fear of criticism by others. Many people hold back from setting worthwhile goals because they have found that every time they do set a goal, somebody steps up and tells them that they can’t achieve it, or that they will lose their money or it is a waste of their time. This criticism crushes their dreams, so they learn to snuff their dreams before someone else does it for them and belittles them in the process.
The fifth, and perhaps the most important reason of all, is the fear of personal failure. In fact, the fear of failure is probably the greatest single obstacle to success in our adult life. It holds you back more than any other psychological problem.
Initially setting goals can seem overwhelming. However, like anything else it needs to be broken down into small, bite-sized chunks. So how does one get started? First, let’s identify the ten most critical goal areas in a person’s life. These are…
Personal Goals: help you focus on goals that are related to yourself. They involve improving your self-image, enhancing your creativity and intellectual abilities. Ask yourself these questions: What self-limiting thoughts or fears will I like overcome? What attitudes or beliefs about myself will I change or improve? What dreams, hopes and visions in my life have I been saying ‘no’ to for years due to fear or insecurity of some type? When will I begin?
Health Goals: help you develop goals related to diet, fitness, addictions, and physical appearance. Ask yourself these questions: What would I like to weigh? What is my waist size? What would I like my body to look and feel like at the age of 80? What physical activities like walking could I do everyday? What do I want my cholesterol level to be? What will I learn about food? What will give me the most energy? When will I begin?
Recreation Goals: will help you to focus on and develop goals related to adding new dimension and diversity to your lifestyle. Ask yourself these questions: What will do on my next vacation? Where will I go? What countries will I visit during my lifetime? What musical instrument(s) will I learn? What specific books will I read for pleasure? When will I begin?
Family Goals: will help you develop goals related to beginning, strengthening, clarifying, and enhancing your relationship with your mate, children, siblings, and parents. Ask yourself these questions: In what ways can I be less selfish with my relationship with my mate? What will I do, give up, or compromise on in order to improve my relationship with my mate? What will I do to enhance or bring the laughter and spontaneity back into my relationships with the ones I love? What kind of relationship would I like to have with my children? What could I do that would produce a quantum leap in my relationship with the people I love? When will I begin?
Friendship Goals: will help you develop goals related to deepening and balancing relationships with old and new friendships. Ask yourself these questions: What can I do to keep in better contact with old friends? With whom might it be profitable to spend less time in the future? When will I begin?
Community Goals: are related to your social responsibilities to local and global communities. Ask yourself these questions: What charitable public service or organization, e.g. Big Brothers and Sisters, will I become involved in and volunteer with? What lasting contribution will I make to mankind before I die? What organization or event will I support by donating my time, talent and money? When will I begin?
Career Goals: these are related to your vocation: paid or unpaid. While the term “career” too often implies “paid professional activity”, career goals can also specifically be related to a parent who stays home to care for and possibly educate their children. Ask yourself these questions: What specifically can I do to be considered the best at my profession? What specific things can I do, change, or eliminate to become better organized? Who will I have as a career mentor? What additional education will I attain in order to advance in my career? When will I begin?
Financial Goals: are related to your material wealth and satisfaction, present and future. Ask yourself these questions: How much money will I earn this year, in five years, in ten years? How much money will I save and invest this year? How much life insurance will I have to protect my family in the event of my death? At what age will I retire? Where will I live when I retire? When will I begin?
Household Goals: are related to the maintenance and enhancement of what may well be your largest material investment. Ask yourself these questions: What will my ideal home look and feel like? What new furniture or appliance would I like to have? How can I make my home safer? What improvement will I make to my home? When will I begin?
Spiritual Goals: are the foundation upon which you build peace of mind and heart. Ask yourself these questions: What can I do each day to ensure spiritual growth and development in my faith? How will I conduct myself every day in order to be at peace with myself? How can I improve my family’s involvement in our place of worship? What spiritual materials will I study and gain a deeper understanding of my faith? When will I begin?
Start with these questions and add to the list. After all, this is your life. Only you can create the blueprint for your success when your goals are well defined in writing. It is imperative that each of your goals is a SMART goal: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Your written goals provide you clarity of what you want for your entire life, regardless of how many years you have lived or have left to live. Developing your goals enables you to visualize yourself achieving them. Make sure you realistically analyze your current reality, define any obstacles you are facing, identify the investment and sacrifice you must make, gather the needed information, develop an action plan, set a reasonable deadline, and identify the abundant benefits you will enjoy. Most importantly, don’t forget to reward yourself. Remember: No Goals, No Success!
