I heard a powerful quote from Les Brown. It said, “Most people fail in life, not because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit it. Some people don’t aim at all.” Powerful!
It’s very important to set your goals before you step out and begin to do anything. Before someone leaves to go on a road trip they first have to determine where exactly they are going. Then they will select the route and the method that they will use. After these things are determined they can have a clear picture of how long it will take to get there. 20 minutes, 3 hours, or 2 days. (I think you get the picture). Our goals in life are the same way.
We have to know exactly where we are going before we start out on any journey. What does the end, or finish product look like? This goal has to be implanted in your mind so that when you reach your goal you will know that you made it. If you don’t set specific goals for yourself, you might as well just not start.
Another key factor when setting goals is to ensure that they are SMART goals. SMART is an acronym that stands for establishing Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-targeted (SMART) goals. Ensure that the goal that you set can meet all 5 of these criteria before you start or you might be setting yourself up for failure right from the start. (You can read more about SMART goals here.) In addition to having SMART goals we need to ensure that we stay focused. Focus is very important in reaching your goals. It is important that you stay focused on your goal until it is just about complete before you start on your sent one. If you become distracted on other achievements then you may fall into a situation where you have a lot of unfinished projects. That’s not a good position to be in. If you get an idea for another project it is important to write it down to start to work on it at a later time. Stay focused until completion of your current goal.
Know where you want to go and how you are going to get there. If someone ask you what you want to do you should be able to tell them every detail of your plan. The ‘happy path’ and also back up plans if something happens. As long as you keep your goal in mind and think about how you are going to bring it to pass you will be fine. The next step is execution… Or as I like to say, making it happen!
Go and be GREAT!
