Setting Successful Goals
The functional structure of any successfully achieved goal starts
at the goal and backs up to the seed. Whether the goal is long- or
short-term, there is a beginning
and an ending. The vision of being
a teacher or running in the
marathon may be the major goal,
the ending, but that goal requires
steps that become evident the more
one pursues it. For example, to be a
teacher, you will need an education degree. To get the degree, you
may have to attend a university for a fi ve-year period. To pay for
the university fees and living expenses, you have to work in the
summer and maybe part time in the winter as well. To run the
marathon, you need to prepare your body and increase its
endurance. To prepare your body, you will need to follow a
dedicated training and eating schedule.
Successfully achieved
goals are the outcome of imagining yourself at your goal and
then backing up to the beginning, which is determined by your
situation in life at the point of creating your goal. You then move
forward toward your goal, beginning with short-term goals that
will help you achieve your major goal. If, at all times, you carry
the vision of achieving your goal, the required steps along the
way will fall into place. Achieving your goal is all a matter of
“baby steps.”
Setting a goal is taking your imagination and motivating
yourself to turn a vision into reality. If this idea is as simple as
it seems, why do so many people fail to reach their goals while
others continually succeed? The successful goal setters follow a
plan.
FIVE COMPONENTS TO SUCCESSFULLY
ACHIEVING GOALS
It’s all about D-R-I-V-E. Do you have the drive to achieve
your goals, or are you missing a component?
D—Definition
R—Realism
I—Inscription
V— Visualization
E—Emotion
Definition—Successfully achieving a goal starts here. Too many
people fail to reach their goals because they do not define them
correctly. To achieve your goal, you
must first define it and then narrow
it down. You must be absolutely
clear as to what goal you want to
reach. You must know what you
want before you can go after it.
How did you arrive at this goal?
Did you watch a person or an event
that impressed you so much that your creative juices started
fl owing? & e light went on, but what or who fl ipped the switch?
Knowing how you came up with your goal will help you defi ne it
more precisely. Once you understand your major goal, you need
to break it down into subgoals (babysteps). & ese subgoals will
help you stay on the right path and give you confi dence and
immediate focus as you achieve each one. Small-action goals or
steps will lead to major results. Defi ning your goals, big and
small, is necessary to starting on a clear and organized path.
Immediate is the key word here. (Refer to chapter 29 on time.)
You control your focus at the moment. & e only thing that exists
is the present. & e past is a memory and the future exists in your
imagination, so defi ne your smallest subgoals for your present
reality. A present-reality subgoal might be meeting with a
university counselor to learn exactly what is required to become
a heart surgeon. You may want to go to the motor vehicle branch
to fi nd the requirements to get your driver’s license endorsed for
air brakes for commercial truck driving. It doesn’t matter what
your interest is; there are immediate subgoals. Defi ning subgoals
will enhance your present reality. You will be inspired, because
you have actually taken immediate action. As you reach each of
your present-reality goals, you will fi nd that your major or longrange
goal will be that much easier to see in your imagination
because you know you are doing rather than just dreaming.
You may want to ask yourself if your work is just a job to
support yourself. Have you really thought about what you want
from life? Have you ever written anything down? Defi ne your
goals and establish clarity.
Realism—You want to be successful, so it is important for you
to set realistic goals that you can actually achieve. Your goal
should be realistically attainable. When you have no chance of
reaching a goal, your motivation, enthusiasm, and confi dence
will be diminished. A two-hundred-pound person should not
harbor visions of becoming a professional jockey. This may seem
obvious, but many goals are in a grey area. People who take
honest, accurate assessments of themselves arewell on their way to
creating realistic goals. & roughout your life, many other people
(parents, teachers, employers) have set goals for you, presumably
all with good intentions. & ese goals may be unrealistic for you
if they have not considered your interests or ambitions. Your
passion may be lacking and this lack will thwart your chances of
success. Start by settingan attainable goal in your mind.
Many people never reach their short-term or long-term goals
because they have set them too high. A young student of mine
came to see me one day, quite discouraged. He wanted to run a
marathon. On his fi rst day of training, he went out and ran ten
miles. & e following day, he could barely walk. He had set his
immediate short-term goal too high for his physical condition.
A week later, he was under proper progressive training with a
knowledgeable coach.
People also fail by making their goals too easy. & ere is almost
a direct correlation between the level of diffi culty of a goal and
the satisfaction a person gets from achieving it. When the goal
seemsunimportant, a person may put lesseff ort into achieving it,
even though it may be a stepping-stone to a more signifi cant
goal.
Inscription—Writing your goals down on paper is imperative
Younow have physical evidence of what you are thinking. You are
already completing the fi rst step toward your major goal. & e
actof writing your goal on paper, or
typing it on your computer,
completes a subgoal. You are now
organizing your imagination, a
very powerful step. Writing your
goal will give you satisfaction and
improve your life now, not
tomorrow.& ere is only now;you can live only in the now, not the
future. You may plan the future, but you will always live in the
present.
You may be a well-organized person in your mind, but
committing your goals to paper adds a number of advantages. A
fl owchart of your goal with its subgoals will bring clarity to your
project and can be revisited again and again. You can alter your
goals; remember, they are written in ink, not stone. Your written
goals will serve as a measuring tool. Are you meeting, completing
your subgoals? Are you keeping to the schedule you set for
yourself? & e written goals will encourage you to be honest with
yourself. Are you making the eff ort, taking the action, sacrifi cing
the time required to complete the task? Writing a goal and its
subgoals will greatly enhance a discussion with a colleague, a
parent, or a friend. It can be very benefi cial to hear another’s
comments on your thoughts, althoughit’s entirely up to you, as it
always is, as to whether you want to share them.
Visualization—Since the beginning of time, everything that
man has created has begun as an imaginary idea, a visualization.
& e amazing accomplishments of man—landing on the moon,
for example, or fl ying fi ve hundred people through the sky
comfortably at fi ve hundred miles per hour—began as thoughts.
& is visualization leads to desire and passion, which in turn lead
to action.
& is key component to realizing your goals is something
you have always had and you use everyday. Has anyone ever told
you that you are a dreamer? Dreams are fi ne, but they are just
fantasies, unless you act upon them. Now imagine shaping and
directing these dreams and ideas to a specifi c target.