Why set goals?
Earl Nightingale put it this way, "People with goals succeed because they know where they are going. It's as simple as that."
In this post I'm going to answer the questions "why set goals?"
5 Top Reasons to Set Goals
1. Goals can give you a target to aim for.
1. Goals can give you a target to aim for.
Dr. Maxwell Maltz, author of the classic Psycho-Cybernetics, said that human beings have a built-in goal seeking "success mechanism" that is part of the subconscious mind. This success mechanism is constantly searching for ways to help us reach our targets and find answers to our problems.
According to Maltz, we work and feel better when our success mechanism is fully engaged going after clear targets.All we have to do to use this mechanism is to give it a target. Without one, our success mechanism lies dormant, or worse, pursues targets we didn't consciously choose.Goals provide your success mechanism with clear targets of your own choosing based on what is most important to you
2. Goals can help you concentrate your time and effort.
One important reason goal setters achieve such outstanding results is that they have learned how to focus and concentrate their time, energy, and resources on a single objective; even if it is just for a few hours at a time. Their concentrated power can produce results that are much greater than those achievable through the diffused and unfocused energy many people use to get through their days.
A clear example of the power of the concentration and focusing of energy can be seen in a simple magnifying glass. The light from the sun arrives at the Earth as diffused energy.We know the energy is there because we can feel the heat from sunlight on our skin. When this diffused energy is concentrated through a magnifying glass, and then focused on a specific point, it can easily burn a piece of paper or wood.
The same amount of energy that in one instance could only produce a very slight increase in temperature, when focused can start a fire.
Another example is the laser beam. When all the light waves from a given source are concentrated so that they are all in phase, we end up with a laser beam. When a laser beam is focused on a given target, the results can be astounding: the light waves from a powerful laser beam can easily cut through a thick piece of metal. When we focus and concentrate our time, energy and resources, we can similarly cut through many of the challenges and obstacles that are standing in our way.
One major time management challenge we are facing today is that there are more things available for us to do than anyone could possibly attempt, let alone accomplish, in an entire lifetime. If we are not careful, it is very easy to diffuse our time and energy with many different trivial pursuits, aimless distractions, and general busyness.Goals provide a way to focus and concentrate your time and energy into carefully chosen targets that are designed to make significant positive impacts in your life.
3. Goals can provide motivation, persistence and desire.
Most significant accomplishments are riddled with obstacles, struggles, and failures. It is estimated that Thomas Edison failed over one thousand times before he finally discovered a way to make the light bulb work.
It is very rare for something important to be accomplished successfully on the very first try.If you want to achieve anything significant, it is likely that you will struggle and fail many times before you finally reach your target. High achievers keep picking themselves up after each fall and continue working steadily toward their targets until they finally reach their goal.
Struggle and failure are often part of the price you have to pay for high achievement.As you can see, any major accomplishment requires motivation and persistence.
Where does this motivation come from? It comes from your desire and purpose, from the reasons why you want to accomplish it.It's been said that a person with a big enough "why" can bear almost any "what" or "how." When your "why" is big enough, you find a way to reach your targets, even if you have to struggle and try many different things to get there.One of the main reasons people give up so easily in the face of failure is that they loose sight of their "why." Goals can help you remember your "big why" when you need to pick yourself up and keep going in the face of adversity.
4. Goals can help you establish priorities.
You will find many forks in the road between where you are now and where you want to be. Instead of just going with the flow and letting the "current" or other people's interests determine where you end up, you have to consciously decide which way to go.
Goals and the missions, visions, and dreams that inspire them, provide a natural framework to help you identify and establish your priorities and make the "right" choices based on the long-term view of what is most important to you.
5. Goals can provide a roadmap to take you from where you are to where you want to be.
A well crafted strategy with an accompanying set of intermediate goals provides a framework to reach far away targets. One of the best ways to deal with large or seemingly "impossible" tasks is to break them up into a series of intermediate achievable steps and get to work on each piece. As Brian Tracy likes to say, "By the yard it's hard, but inch by inch it's a cinch!"Your intermediate goals give you valuable feedback: they tell you whether you are making progress or not, and can warn you if you are getting off course.
In almost any endeavor, you will need to make adjustments to your plans and overall strategy as you learn from your mistakes, face and overcome obstacles, and experience unexpected setbacks. As the old adage states, "No plan survives first contact with the battlefield."Your strategy will also need to change and adapt based on the situations and circumstances you experience.
Note that in all the five reasons above, I say that goals can help you in various ways. In order for goals to help you, they have to be the right kind of goals and you have to use them in the right way.
Now you know the answer to "why set goals?" I will move on, in the next post, to how to set goals.
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