There is an extra ordinary version of any ordinary thing. Whatever you are doing today there is someone doing it in a better way. In order words, don't ever think where you are today is all you’ll ever be. There is always room for expansion.
For you to attain the next level of greatness, you have to stretch yourself beyond your current capacity, strength and ability. To get satisfied with where you are is to get complacent. To get complacent is to be irrelevant. If you must maintain relevance in whatever you do be it business, career even ministry you have to keep developing yourself. Nothing happens on its own you have to make them happen.
WHAT IS A GOAL?
A goal is something you want to achieve or something you want to get done. It's that simple. Without bothering us with much semantic. Every year, people set goals, make resolutions, make plans.... It's a tradition already. It's something that you should do... It's almost a bandwagon. But before the first quarter of the year many people have even forgotten about those resolutions or goals or plans.
Setting personal goal(s) is one most important thing that one can do to change the course of his life or situation. While setting your goals one thing is important... It's crucial you ask yourself this question, WHAT DO I WANT? Until you come up with an answer to this question, you are not ready to set a goal....
It's getting answer to what you want... that you set up a goal. So you don't just set a goal because Franklin is having a goal Or because Judith is setting a goal. NO. You must want something. You must have a desire. Your desire must be spelt out e. g. I desire 20% increase in the profit margin of my business. I want a cgpa of 5.0. I want to get married before December. I want to get a job before I round off my NYSC. It's until you realize what you want that you can begin to set goals.
HOW DO WE SET GOALS?
I know we are used to the convectional "50 ways to setting and achieving your goals in 2018". I really do not have that.... I've tried so many methods, but they seemed not to work out well for me.... Until I came to light of a method which I'd be sharing. Often times we set goals around desires instead of setting goals around habits.
We don't set goals around our desires. I give examples of desire, I am a 500l Student, and my desire is to have 5.0 cgpa this semester. That should not be my goal. Then what should be my goal? I should list the habits that can give 5.0 GPA and build my goal around those habits.
Habits like;
- Read for 10hours daily
- Go for night class 5 times a week
- Keep up with class attendance
- Roll with class scholars
To mention a few.
One thing is certain these habit must give results when committed to. Those habits should be my goals. Rather than saying this semester I must have a 5.0 cgpa. At the end of the semester you might not have 5.0 and you might be frustrated when you pitch your goals around desires. But when you build your goals around habits that gives 5.0 even if you don't hit 5.0, You know you are moving, You are doing what you should do, And you are seeing results. It's cause and effect.
My profit margin must increase by 40% in 2018... That's desire Not a goal... How do I get this done (habits)? That's the goal. Building your goals around habits helps you to be consistent and committed to the goals.
Focus on the how than the what. It's cause and effect... Get the habits that would produce the results. Pitch your goals around habits and results are around the corner.
GOAL EXECUTION
It's not just about setting goals. But the joy of every goal is gotten when they are executed. So many people desire so much but achieve so little. Most people lack the confidence to achieve their goals. More 70% don't even take any step towards the achievement of their goals.
So we would be looking at how can we bring our goals in to reality. I would not want to bore us with too much semantics, so we go straight to the point.
I want to talk about creating SMART goals.
SMART is an acronym.
S - specific
M - measurable
A - attainable
R - realistic
T - Timely
SPECIFIC: A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal you must answer the six “W” questions;
Who: Who is involved?
What: What do I want to accomplish?
Where: Identify a location.
When: Establish a time frame.
Which: Identify requirements and constraints.
Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
Example; a general goal would be, “Get in shape.” But a specific goal would say, “Join a health club and workout 3 days a week.”
MEASURABLE: Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal. To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as……
How much?
How many?
How will I know when it is accomplished?
ATTAINABLE: When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals. You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals, you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.
REALISTIC: To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress.
TIMELY: A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there’s no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10kg, when do you want to lose it by? “Someday” won’t work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, “by May 1st”, then you’ve set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal. Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.
T can also stand for TANGIBLE – A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing. When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable. That is that about SMART acronym.
It takes sacrifice to be successful. If you must achieve your goals, you must be willing to sacrifice your comfort. If you must get something you don't currently have then you have to be prepared to something you don't currently do. As humans, we tend to choose comfort, but it you must execute your goals, you must get out of your comfort zone and take those inconvenient actions
Remember this, you need commitment to start executing your goals but you need consistency to get to the finish line. You must be intentional and deliberate about your set goals if you must execute them. Even though your goals seem difficult, you have to be personal about them and do all it takes to execute them. Be sure of this; Your major problem is to breach the gap between where you are now and the goals you have set to reach.
CREATE AN ACTION PLAN
PLANNING is not negotiable if you must execute your goals.
Plan yearly.
Plan quarterly.
Plan monthly.
Plan weekly.
Plan daily.
Break your goals into bits and units and plan. Plan for the next month at then end of the current month. Plan for the next week at the weekend of the previous week. Plan for the next day at the evening of the previous day
Do something daily about your goals.
Be strategic in your approach
Above all TAKE ACTION
There are 7 strategic ways to take action
- Take action
- Take action
- Take action
- Take action
- Take action
- Take action
- Take action
In summary, success is not an accidental event, it's an intentional act. If you must succeed or achieve your desired dreams, then you must be future oriented. Successful people don't live in the past or dwell in the present, but they pitch their tents in the future, making solid plans on how to make their dreams come true and backing their plans with proactive execution and super responsive actions. Here are some major things you need to do:
- Identify your goals and set them
- Write down your goals specifically and detailed, as goals not written down are mere fantasies
- Set deadlines to get your goals achieved
- List out how you intend to achieve your set goals
- Make an execution plan
- Follow the law of priority and sequence
- Take action, ensure you do something every day with respect to your set goals.
Don't forget life is all about “cause and effect.”
I believe this piece of information was useful.
See you again next time.
I remain my humble self Pee.
Don’t forget to push the button.