Today we continue with the journey to your personal greatness, prosperity, and success. If you succeed as an individual, your family will succeed. Successful families build successful
communities. Together, we will change our communities and our nation. Let’s continue:
FUNDAMENTAL #2: Set SMART Goals
Goal setting is one of the few success virtues you must have in order to succeed in any area of your life. Success is impossible to achieve without setting clear goals. Goal setting is simply an organized personal planning process that involves defining what you want to BE, DO, HAVE and CONTRIBUTE in life. It is the discipline that separates the high achievers from failures.
I am sure you have heard of the term “SMART goals.” Goals must be Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Recorded and Reviewed; then they must be Time-framed. It is vague to say in 2018 I want to be fit. What is “FIT”? This is not specific enough. You cannot measure what is not specific. You also need to set a deadline for achievement. You would rather state: “30th June 2018: I have lost 20kg, I have reduced my sugar intake by half and I run 10km every day to keep fit”.
When setting your goals, you need to address a number of issues:
1. Write down the goal in the present tense. Make sure that it passes the SMART test.
2. Set a deadline for reaching the goal.
3. Clearly state WHY you must reach your goal.
4. List, in writing, all the benefits you will get once the goal is achieved.
5. List, in writing, the skills and types of knowledge required for you to reach that goal.
6. List, in writing, WHO you need to work with in order to reach your goal.
7. List, in writing, all the resources you will need.
8. Identify all the challenges you might face and how you will deal with them.
9. List, in writing, all the specific action steps that you will have to take to achieve your
goal.
There are seven major areas in your life where you need to set goals: Spiritual, Career, Social, Mental, Physical/Health, Family, and Financial. You need to set specific goals in each of these seven areas and start working towards them in order to achieve your desired goals. You need to live a balanced life and don’t let one area negatively affect the others.
ADDITIONAL TIPS IN GOAL-SETTING:
When setting goals, first let your mind go free! Don’t restrict your thinking. Don’t let today’ facts put a limit on your dreams. You need to realize that nobody can set a limit to what you can achieve in life except yourself. Know that “As a man thinks, so he will become”. Always remember:
1. Everything is created twice; first in your mind, then in reality. You must first conceive it
in your mind before it can become a reality.
2. If you can think it, you can do it!
3. Don’t settle for mediocre goals when you have the capacity to achieve BIG goals
4. Today’s impossibilities are tomorrow’s achievements
5. You have so far used only less than 10% of your full potential
6. You are born to succeed. The question is, will you?
ACTION: This weekend, take at least half a day for Goal Setting. Go somewhere quiet, with just your pen and hardcover notebook. Set BIG goals for 2018. These must be in line with your long-term vision of WHAT and WHO you want to become by 2025.
Thanks for reading – join me here.
