Do You Have A Goal?

As an individual, we all have goals at the back of our mind but have we ever written them down on a piece of paper? No. Then, now is the time to do so. Writing your goals and revisiting them after regular intervals are what will keep you stay focussed and motivated to achieve them.

The best practice would be to write down your goals, be it personal or professional. The goals that you want to achieve in the next 1 year, 5 years and 10 years. What matters to you the most, just write them down!

The next step is to create a list of skills that you need to acquire to get to that goal. If I want to perform guitar in front of a live audience, I will go and look for an institute within my budget, for sure! where I can get enroll and start learning. But wait a minute; did I forgot to buy a guitar? Neh! I have one borrowed from a friend. Friends are always there to help.

You also need to prepare a log of the activities that you do during the day and analyze where and in which activity you spend most of your time. This helps you compare your aspirations and see where you are wasting your time. For unproductive activities, I say, stop them the moment you realize that they will not add any value in your journey towards your goals.

The next step is to prioritize 2 goals at a time. The criteria to single them out of the long list of your goals are:

Look at the 1, 5 and 10 years list;

See which are most important and time-sensitive;

Is there a goal that will help you gain two or more skills simultaneously? and

Is there a goal that can be achieved in the next 6 months or sooner?

Preparing a To-do list is another challenge which for sure is taken up by all of us in our day to day jobs and as the figures speak 63% of professionals have a to-do list (which is a good number) but in that list, 41% of the tasks that are inputted are never got done[1]. Once you overcome the challenge of preparing a to-do list and sticking to your tasks which will help you advance towards your goal, its half the battle won. Now, just take a deep breath and wait for the fun element to come.

Look for your ‘accountability partner’. Someone whom you like; who is also goal-oriented. Beware that your partner should be genuinely excited to talk about your goal and need not necessarily have a similar goal. You can have chats with your partner on a weekly, bi-weekly or daily basis. Your ‘accountability partner’ can be your boss, your colleague or even public at large. Going public with your goals has its own consequences but if that what inspires you, be confident and move ahead.

You don’t set your goals and forget. You need to revisit them every 3-6 months. Why? To ask yourself “Whether I still want to achieve them?” Is there any change in the circumstances that I need to replace my goal? Or maybe you want to relook at the tactic which you were sticking to earlier but it doesn’t seem to be working anymore.

There will be a time in this journey where you might want to give up on some of the goals. Don’t worry, take a deep breath, clear your head and re-think. You need to inculcate a habit of reviewing your goals and how do you do that. Be patient! Give yourself time!

Once you achieve success, be it a small success on your way to achieving a goal, celebrate it.

Key Take-Away:

 Define your goals; short term and long term.

 Revisit your goals after regular intervals.

Stay aware of small successes and reward yourself for achieving them.