Without some well defined goals in place you are a bit like a sail boat with no sail. You will probably drift around for years and maybe even end up back where you started.
So what exactly is a ‘well defined goal’? Let’s look at a couple of goals and how we can define them.
You could say ‘I’d like a new house’. That’s a good goal and it’s something that many of us want at some stage. Now lets look at changing that simple want into a well defined goal.
We are going to have a new house within 5 years. It will have a 2 car garage so we can keep both cars in at night. Our kids will have their own bedrooms instead of having to share the one room. We will have a big back yard with a barbecue and a pergola. The new house will have an extra room where our guests can stay and a room that will be the home office. Our new large dining area will be great for entertaining prospective and existing clients.
Okay, that’s a start. We’re coming up with some nice features for the new house – but what other changes will it make?
It’s going to be great having a decent sized laundry where you can actually move around… and we’ll be able to have the whole family over at christmas or thanksgiving. It’s going to be nice not having to worry about the car getting stolen or damaged out on the street. Having a room for the home office is going to get all that clutter out that normally gets spread over the kitchen table.
Do you see the difference between a basic ‘I would like to have…’ and actually fleshing out all the reasons that you want something new or to change some other area of your life? Just saying you would like to have this thing or make this change is kind of a hope with no real substance. Once you start coming up with all the reasons though, it transforms that basic want into something that has so many advantages and positives that you just have to have it.
That’s what goal setting is about. Looking at the changes you want to make and then coming up with a list of reasons that makes those changes so irresistible that you will do whatever it takes to achieve those goals.
