ART OF GOAL SETTING - III

ART OF GOAL SETTING - III

In the earlier issue, we have seen the importance of setting a goal in our life. We have also seen that while setting a goal it should satisfy some conditions. We can broadly classify the conditions as SMART.

S - Specific, Simple, Significant
M – Measurable
A – Achievable, Action oriented
R – Realistic, Reachable
T – Time bound

SPECIFIC:

If we fix a goal that ‘I should become rich or I should be well educated’ it is not enough. It is not specific. You have to specifically fix the goal. There should be specific objective.
If you want to become rich, specify the amount. Let it be Rs.10 lakh or Rs.50 lakh. If you want to get educated well, what type of education you are planning for. Specify it.
Unless you specify the goal, your sub conscious mind will not take it seriously and will not take you to the right status. Top achievers know that to reach their goals, the brain must know exact, precisely, what they are trying to accomplish. Never use words with vague terms like ‘some’ or ‘ a little bit’ or ‘more’ in your goal statement. Be specific. If you want to lose 5 KGs and reach a weight of 70 KGs, specify those exact numbers. If you want to save Rs. 1 lakh in your bank account, be exact. Your sub conscious mind can help you to achieve that goal, provided if you give it a clear picture about your goal.

SIMPLE:

Your goal should not be a complicated one. It should be a simple one. Goat statement should not contain any jargon or difficult phrases. It should not contain any ‘if’ or ‘but’ conditions. Many people describe their goals in complex terms of retiring in a farm house in a suburb, with luxury cars and lots of money, etc. etc. Their list goes on and on. Any one of those things is a great goal, but the combination becomes over whelming and the sub conscious mind gets confused. If you want to retire in a farm house, just say so. If you want to increase your sales by 10 % this month or 20 % within 3 months, say so. Keep your goals simple, clear and focused.

SIGNIFICANT:

Your goal should be a significant one. You should give importance for that. Take for example, a goal of achieving a bank balance of Rs.10,000/- is not a significant one. Your goal should be a challenging one. Let it also an inspirational one. No one can muster the enthusiasm, hard work and courage to reach a goal they don’t really care about. A reachable goal is one you really, really want. It is something that will change your life, enhance your health or wealth and make you proud. It gets your juices flowing, gets you up in the morning and keeps you going all day long, because it is important. Set goals that are worth achieving.

MEASURABLE:

Your goal should be a measurable one at any point of time. Then only you will be in a position to know how far you have travelled towards your goal. A goal without measurable outcome is just a pipe-dream. You can’t achieve a KG of happiness or 5 inches of self esteem , but you can get a new job. You can run a mile in under 7 minutes or do 100 sit-ups. Someone has wisely observed that ‘What gets measured, gets done”. Define your goals in terms of height, weight, rupees, inches or hours. Then measure your progress until you achieve your desired outcome.

ACTION ORIENTED:

If you plan a goal and just leave it without any necessity to take any action to achieve it, then it becomes an useless one. You should fix a goal and you should work towards it. It should be action oriented. Your involvement should be there to achieve it. It cannot be expected to attain automatically. After fixing a goal, all your energies should be channeled towards your goal. All your focus should be towards your goal. When you are travelling towards your goals with actions, every small step will give you more confidence to achieve it. You will feel proud also. You will get motivation to go further.

REALISTIC:

Your goal should be a realistic one. If you are a person with just a graduation, then you want to become a doctor in medicine, then is it a realistic one ? If you are a lecturer, and you want to become a lawyer, is it realistic ? You have to select the concerned academic courses to achieve that goals. Being a person sitting at a remote village and fixing a goal of marrying Miss Universe, will it be a realistic one ? Your goals must make sense. When you tell your friends, family members and classmates or colleagues, your goals should create excitement, draw support and encouragement. If your goal is not a realistic one, it will invite criticism. Your goals can be just of reach, not out of sight. You can stretch a bit or more to achieve it, not strain after impossible dreams. Set your goals which you can achieve.

REACHABLE:

Suppose you are overweight by 30 KGs, you cannot reduce it within a very short span of time. You can reduce it only step by step. It may take a few months. Then your goal of reducing your weight will be a reachable one. If your fix a goal like. ‘ I will reduce my weight by 30 KG in a month’ then it is not a reachable one. Unless you believe it that your goal is achievable, your goal will not have any steam.

TIME BOUND:

You can set a goal like’ ‘I want to construct a house with two bed rooms in such and such locality’. It is OK. But when ? At the age of 70 or 80 ? It should be a reasonable period.
You want to reduce your weight by 10 KG. But when ? within 3 months or 4 months. Unless you specifically mention a date, your sub conscious mind will not help you to achieve it. You will not start your efforts towards your goal. If you want to have a bank balance of Rs. 10 lakhs by Dec. 2009, then you can measure your progress by every three months. You can check up whether you are going towards your goal or not. By implying a time bound on your goals, you further enforce the possibility of actually meeting your goals people generally will not start any new work unless some deadline is given. Even in the offices, many works will be started only after giving a deadline.

We will see the benefits of goal setting in one’s life. Till then, all the best.

"If you don't know where you are going,you might wind up someplace else."-- Yogi Berra