Adebola Alabi
It’s a new year once again, and it’s another time for goal-setting frenzy. All over the world, people are now talking about goals, vision, and plans for the new year. To some, creating a new year resolution is the right way to set goals, while many others believe that having a written goal is the best way to accomplish their desires. Whether you believe in written goals or not, I know for sure you have desires and dreams that you would like to see come true. If so, this piece about creating, pursuing, and accomplishing your goals will help you.
According to a Harvard business review survey, 86% of the survey participants do not have goals; only 3% of people surveyed had a written goal. The survey revealed that people with written goals are 30 times more successful than those without any goals. Based on this survey, if you want to improve your chances of success, you should write down your goals. A person without a goal can be likened to someone embarking on a journey without any destination in mind. He will find himself anywhere, or he may get nowhere. A written goal backed by actions will provide the required motivation and ideas to get you from where you are to where you want to be.
It’s always a great idea, to begin with, the definition to bring more clarity into the discussion. Your goals are about everything you want to accomplish in life – in your personal, professional, spiritual, relationship, and physical realm. And goal setting is the process of identifying what you must do to accomplish your goals. When you have a written goal, you become a goal setter, and when you back it up by actions to execute your plans, you become a goal-getter. It’s better to be a goal-getter because they convert desires into realities; they turn wish lists into results.
To become a goal getter, all you need to do is answer five simple yet probing questions. These questions will bring more clarity to help you understand your situation; you will also gain the necessary confidence and the motivation to convert goals to results by answering the questions.
Here are the five-goal activating questions you need to ask to make your plans become a reality.
1. What is your situation:
From the definition of goals, I have established that goals are about everything in your life – relationship, career, financial, health, business, spiritual, etc. The question “what’s your situation” is meant to help you evaluate your status and determine whether you are happy and comfortable with what you have or you need a change. For example, what’s your financial situation? Are you satisfied with your current income, or do you need to earn more? Consider your weight, are you happy with it, or do you need to lose or gain some weight?
This is where responsibility comes in. You know yourself better than anyone else out there. You need to take some time and think about your situation to establish if you need to do anything about it. If you are currently happy with that situation or condition, congratulations, you can continue doing what you are doing since it’s working for you. However, if your situation is less than desirable, you should be willing to take the necessary steps to change it.
2. What do you want?
Obviously, you are not going to go after everything. I’m sure there are some things you are happy about. You need to power of focus to go after those things that you want to change. For example, if you currently weigh 250 pounds, and you know that for an ideal BMI (body mass index), you need to keep your weight under 200 pounds, then you need to ask yourself if you want to maintain a healthy weight. If you have a group of friends who do not add any value to your life, you must also ask yourself if you want to keep those relationships.
Knowing what you want is crucial for you to become a goal-getter. To understand what you want, you must ascertain your ideal situation – a condition where you are happy and contented with what you have, where you do not necessarily have to do anything to make it better. If your situation is less than ideal, you need to step up and do something about it. If your income is less than ideal, earn more; if your relationships are less than ideal, make it better. If you are overweight, that is not an ideal situation; you should consider losing weight. The deal here is to know and strive to reach your ideal position.
3. What do you need to do?
It will have been easier if everything ends at “what do you want”? But life is not like that. You must be willing to do something to get what you want. And that’s what makes the difference between being a goal setter and a goal-getter. A goal-setter set goals, but they will not achieve those goals until they become a goal-getter. A goal-getter does something about their goals so they can get results. What you need is about action; it is about commitment to those goals until you get to your ideal situation.
Acting on your goals helps you to turn your wish lists into reality. You can wish to earn more income, but you must back it by action and ask yourself, “what do I need to do to make more money?” You can “wish” to keep fit and stay in shape but to become fit, you must ask yourself, “what do I need to do to stay fit?” You can wish for better relations with your loved ones, but what must you do to fulfill your goals? Often, what you need to do will involve sacrificing some temporary pleasures to reap longer terms benefits. You may need to forego your favorite ice cream and cakes and exercise more to control your weight. You may need to keep driving the old jalopy to avoid getting into debt. Are you willing to make those sacrifices? Without sacrifice, there will be no benefits.
4. When do I want it?
Now that you are ready to make the sacrifice, you should also know that every smart goal is time-bound. You need to put a time frame to what you want to accomplish. The purpose of this is to motivate you to stay committed to your goals so that you can get your desired results. Putting a timeframe will give you the energy and the drive to continue to move towards your ideal situation. The time frame gives you a sense of being accountable for your goals. If, for example, you set a goal to grow your income by 10% within a year, at the end of the year, you can determine whether or not you achieve the goal based on your income at that time.
The time factor makes a whole lot of difference as to whether you accomplish your plans or not. If you plan to lose 50 pounds of weight, for example, you must put a time limit – is it in 10 weeks or ten months? If you have a goal to make an additional $1,000 in monthly income. You must put a time frame so that you can measure your progress towards your goals.
5. What will I become by getting it?
This is the ultimate reason why you have a goal. What or who will you become when you fulfill your dreams. What you become when you accomplish your goal matters a lot, and it can provide the inspiration and the drive to keep pushing forward, even when things appear not to be working. Again, for someone that is planning to lose 50 pounds of weight, the ultimate goal may be so that they can live to stay fit and live healthily. The person that has a goal to boost their income may ultimately want to attain financial independence. Someone seeking to get a promotion on the job may have the ultimate goal of becoming a business leader and helping their company become profitable.
Your goals are meant to take you from your current situation or condition to your ideal position; you have fulfilled your dreams. At this point – you are earning the income you desire; you have the kind of relationship you crave for, you are maintaining a healthy weight, you are making good progress in your business and career. You have become a goal-getter, and your goals are have been turned into results.
There you have it, five questions to help you go from a goal setter to a goal-getter. Whatever you want to accomplish in this new year, you can be sure to get results by asking those questions and taking actions to back up your desires.
