If I told you to write down your goals right now, would you be able to? Maybe you would write down the general direction you'd like your future to take. Maybe you would write down that you want to be a middle class citizen capable of sustaining yourself and your family. You might even write down that you want your monthly salary to be $1000 greater next month.
These all seem like possible and even probable goals, and that is what makes them awful. I say this a lot, but the fundamental problem with limiting your goals is that you also limit the amount of effort you are willing to put in. It is basic human nature to do the minimum amount of work to reach a goal. Suppose your boss asks you for a rough draft of a report by tomorrow. Are you going to work hard and get a perfect finalized and completed copy into him by tomorrow? Probably not, that would be a waste of time since nobody asked for it. If he asked you for a finalized and completed copy by tomorrow, you would be much more inclined to do it. Success and achievement aren't about exceeding all expectations, but rather meeting the high expectations your yourself.
If you've worked or studied in the United States, you may have heard of SMART goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. In my opinion, these are horrible constraints on any long term goals for success. You shouldn't waste time calculating the specifics of your goal like SMART suggests, you should go full into your goal with a whatever it takes mindset. The fact of the matter is the SMART goals are for the average people, who dream of nothing more than average, and will accomplish nothing more than average.
How high do I set my goals? Think of it at first like an arrow aiming at a target. Many people will tell you that the target is your goal, and you need to aim for it. Now anyone who knows anything about archery knows that gravity will carry the arrow down over a long distance. If the target is far away, you need to aim far above it to have any realistic chance of reaching it.
But we can go bigger. Imagine you are in a battle and you have a mortar. You want to fire it at the perfect angle so it goes deep into the enemy's territory. If you aim it straight at the enemy, gravity will bull down the projectile and it will never reach them. If you point the mortar vertically, your projectile will travel far, but fall right back and hit you. If you aim it a 45 degree angle, it will go high enough and far enough to hit the enemy. The vertical distance the projectile travels is representative of your goal setting. The horizontal distance the projectile travels is representative of the work you put in. In essence, either one is useless without the other. You can't set a big goal and do nothing to reach it. You can't put in enormous effort and have no goal.
What should your goals look like? No matter how difficult they may be, you need to always have the mentality that you can overcome the difficulties and accomplish them. Writing them in the present or past tense gives you a taste of the sweet success, and motivates you to continue working at your goals even harder. I am a relatively private person, but I will still share some of my goals so you can get an idea. You need to write down your goals at least once a day so you never forget them. You're goals may change over time, but it should always be because of success, never because of failure.
Goals:
- I am a successful entrepreneur with an annual salary large enough to travel my private spaceflight ventures
- I have a degree in engineering and innovate my field every day.
- I have and maintain a strong and healthy relation with my friends, family, and spouse.
- I am the biggest names in the private space flight industry.
- I make it possible to send people to other celestial bodies.
- I have traveled to other celestial bodies.
An those are just a few of my goals. Notice how they may seem extremely difficult and even selfish at times. These goals will not be easy to reach, but I will give it my all until I do. And when I do? I will set higher and even more difficult goals. You may be asking, well where is the reward? Well the reward for me is knowing that I make a difference.
I want to leave a legacy. Call me selfish. Call me unreasonable. I couldn't care less. If my goals make life on this planet better, they are worth it. Your biggest critics are those who are jealous of your success. The best way to punish them is to be even more successful. It all comes down to setting your goals high and working hard to make them a reality.