I remember a time when very little mattered. My only concerns where how long I’d be allowed to play outside and whether there’d be tomato sauce that I could add to almost everything I ate. Then something happened. I think it’s called ‘growing up’ but I’m sure there’s another more horrible sounding phrase to describe it. The fun almost completely dried up and I was loaded with life-altering decisions, the need to earn money, bills, and having to wear a tie and closed shoes. In the middle of this big change came the revelation that you could get this all wrong. You might plough along, trying to keep your head above water, but do it all without an actual goal in mind and everything you do could be without any point. The idea, it seems, is to set goals. Without an idea of where it is that you want to end up, how will you know what to do in order to get there? A light bulb moment indeed. It all sounds so simple; but how do you even select the goals in the first place? Oh dear, so many questions!
I’m convinced that goal setting is not rocket science, and if I were to ask you whether you’d like to work towards something specific or just float around aimlessly, I’d think you would want your life to head somewhere concrete. Let’s get some help with this one. The very successful people of this world have always known what it is that they want to achieve. Whether it is to be able to run a marathon, or earn a million dollars, or finally finish that DIY project, no destination means no idea. This whole topic of goal setting has different avenues to achieve similar results but I’ll pick one so we can get started and that’s what we want and need; to get started!
Before we get to a very structured part of this, courtesy of a website I’ve used for many years now, let me just say this: Setting goals and setting out to achieve them is not just because someone says you should or because you feel you ought to. This is an opportunity to think big and let your passion for life and for achieving something great, just fly! This is a time to get excited about the life you’ve been given and that you can achieve great things for yourself or your family and to serve others and to be a more meaningful member of society. Dreaming big and setting goals is exciting. Be excited!
As I suggested, we need to start somewhere. I’ve been a fan of Mind Tools for some time and to get the ball rolling, let’s check out their video on the basics of goal setting. Remember, be positive in your goal setting, see yourself achieving great things and moving your life forward. Watch a few motivational clips online, stick pictures or quotes up where you can see them and move to the next level. You know you want to!