The Value of Goals
Up until a few years ago, I thought people who consciously set goals were a little obsessed with living life according to some unseen code instead of enjoying that which was happening all around them every day. I suppose I could be forgiven for this. People often have an “either or” attitude to approaching things in life - it’s all or nothing like some sort of with us or against us dichotomy. I feel for these people.
My current outlook has me approaching life a little differently. I’ve come full circle in the realization that living for a purpose is as enjoyable - in fact more so - than living solely in the moment. Rather than being mutually exclusive, the two philosophies can work together. As such, setting goals has become an important part of my thinking. In today’s post, I’m going to write a little bit about why and how I set the goals I do. Tomorrow, I’ll speak to acting towards your goals by discovering a personal strategy.
What Are Goals?
When we refer to the word “goal”, what exactly do we mean? Often, a goal contains two things: a task or challenge that must be completed or overcome, and a date or deadline by which it will be accomplished. Without one, the goal is not effective; merely a hope or dream.
For many, these goals become hard targets - a point of measurement that defines success or failure. When linked to a specific time or date, they often reduce one’s choices in life to always attempting to achieve one goal or another. I find this approach to limiting, therefore I reject this definition and replace it with one that holds a goal to be a “milestone” of sorts - a point of evaluation, that until reached is strived for, once achieved celebrated, and when found wanting re-evaluated.
This approach holds the goal simply as a pathfinder - a stepping stone that translates hope into reality, vision into existence. When the desired end point changes - as life itself changes - the goals accommodate accordingly.
Looking at goals like this tends to adjust the way you approach life. My goals are larger and more encapsulating than others’. For example, it’s been a long time goal of mine to eventually become a pilot. Another to be financially independent, yet another to run my own business, and of course to raise my son (and his future siblings) to be successful - respectable - human beings.
For some, my goals may seem too feeble. For me, I keep them as direction points, guiding my decisions along the way. They’re open to being re-prioritized based on things that happen in my life. I don’t let my goals control me - I control them!
Why Set Goals At All?
Have you ever met a person that lived each day as if they were identical? Get up, Go to the same job, come home to the same house, watch TV, go to bed. Day in, day out. If you ask them where they see themselves in five, ten or fifteen years, they make a funny quip or change the subject. The truth is, they don’t know. They either haven’t thought about it, or are so thoroughly defeated by life that they understand desire only as something never attained.
These are the people who have no goals.
Having a goal doesn’t necessarily mean it will be accomplished. In fact, that isn’t really the primary benefit to setting goals. The reason is that a vast majority of us - myself certainly included - perform best when we have a purpose. That purpose is your goal, and the act of having a goal allows you to improve your life right now - today. Goals give you hope, allow you to have passion, aide in your decision making and let you take risks.
The Long Term Outlook
Keeping goals long term and of the big picture is keeping the end in mind. Your goals act as a compass: your own moral guide when confronted with choices in life. Because you know where you’d like to end up, you’re aware of how a particular choice you make will interfere (or not) with you achieving a particular goal.
Life is about living, but having an intended direction makes living enjoyable. Living without purpose, or living exclusively for one, can be debilitating. Setting loose, long term and big picture goals is a good way to find balance.
But once we know which way we want to go, how do we set about achieving anything? Clearly, a goal means that there is an expectation it will be achieved. Tomorrow, I’ll cover the concept of living strategically, and how you can use this to move your goals into the “done it” column.
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