Why are goal important? How to set goal in life?

Why are Goals Important?

On the brightest sunny day, the most powerful magnifying glass will not set a piece of paper afire if you keep moving the glass. But if you focus the light and hold it on one spot, the paper will burn. This is the power of concentration. A man was traveling and stopped at an intersection. He asked an elderly man, "Where does this road take me?" The elderly person asked, "Where do you want to go?" The man replied, "I don't know." The elderly person said, "Then take any road. What difference does it make?" How true. As the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland told Alice, "When you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there." Suppose a soccer team is all charged up, enthusias- tically ready to play a game, when someone takes the goalposts and goal lines away. What would happen to the game? There is nothing left. How do you keep score? How do you know you have arrived? Enthusiasm without direction is like wildfire and leads to frustration. Goals give a sense of direction. Would you board a train or plane without knowing where it was going? Of course not. Then why do people go through life without having any goals?

Dreams

People confuse goals with dreams and wishes. Dreams and wishes are nothing more than desires. Desires are weak. Desires become strong when they are supported by :-

* Direction

* Dedication

* Determination

* Discipline

* Deadlines.

These are what differentiate a desire from a goal. Goals are dreams with a deadline and an action plan. Goals can be worthy or unworthy. It is passion, not wishing that turns dreams into reality.

Steps to turn a dream into reality :-

1. Have a define, clear written goal.

2. Have a plan to accomplish and write it down.

3. Read the first two twice a day.

Why Don't more people set goals?

There are many reasons why people don't set goals, including :-

1. A pessimistic attitude- Looking for the pitfalls rather than the possibilities.

2. Fear of failure - thinking. "What if I don't make it?" People feel subconsciously that if they don't set goals they can't fail. But they are failures never- theless for having no goals is the sign of a failure.

3. Fear of success- low self-image or fear of having to live up to their success causes some people to fear success.

4. A lack of ambition - a result of our value system and lack of desire to live a fulfilled life. Our limited thinking prevents us from progress. There was a fisherman who, every time he caught a big fish, would throw it back into the river, keeping only the smaller ones. A man watching this unusual behavior asked the fisherman why he was doing this. The fisherman replied, "Because I have a small frying pan." Most people never make it in life because they are carrying a small frying pan. That is limited thinking.

5. A fear of rejection - worrying that, "If I don't make it, what will other people say?"

6. Procrastination - thinking "someday, I will set my goals." This ties in with a lack of ambition.

7. Low self-esteem internally driven and has no inspiration.

8. Ignorance of the importance of goals - nobody taught them and they never learned the importance of goal setting. 9. A lack of knowledge about goal-setting - people don't know the mechanics of setting goals. They need a step-by-step guide so that they can follow a system.

Goal setting is a series of steps. When you buy a plane ticket, what does it say?

* Starting point

* Destination

* Class of travel

* Price

* Starting Date

* Expiry Date

If you ask most people what is their one major objective in life, they would probably give you a vague answer, such as, 'I want to be successful, be happy, make a good living, and that is it. Those are all wishes and none of them are clear goals. Goals must be SMART.

1. S- specific. The statement, "I want to lose weight" is a wishful thinking. It becomes a goal when you pin yourself down to "I will lose 10 pounds in 90 days."

2. M- must be measurable. If you cannot measure it, you cannot accomplish it. Measurement is a way of monitoring your progress.

3. A – achievable. Achievable means that your goal should be challenging, but it should not be out of reach, or the pursuit of your goal becomes dis- heartening.

4. R – realistic. If your goal is to lose 50 pounds in 30 days, you're being unrealistic.

5. T- time-bound. You should set a starting date and a finishing date to reach your goal.

Goals can be:

1. Short-term- up to one year.

2. Mid-term - up to three years.

3. Long-term – up to five years.