HOW TO MANAGE YOUR LIFE BY SETTING GOALS

In 1953, Yale University surveyed its graduating class and discovered that only 3% had written
goals. Twenty years later, Yale surveyed the same class and learned that the 3% who had written
down goals had amassed a net worth greater than that of the other 97% combined. The moral of
this story is goals work and almost nobody uses them.

What is a goal?

A goal is a statement of results to be achieved in a specified time. Successful people succeed

because they know where they wish to go, get goals in that direction and strive towards
achieving the goals, while retaining a certain amount of flexibility to allow for changes that may
need to be made.

Goals let you tap into a source of limitless possibility and boundless energy that gives you the
power to accomplish what you might otherwise never have imagined. If you want to make things
happen in your life, you need to think about setting and achieving your goals. Setting goals is the
first step in being able to convert the dreams we visualized into reality.

When most people speak of goals, they are usually referring to professional ones; those that
relate to the qualifications that we may wish to acquire, the career we wish to pursue or the
extra skills that need to be learned. However to be truly successful and lead a balanced life, it
is necessary to have goals that cover all spheres of life. In Work Smart, Not Hard, Sullivan
suggests that we need to set goals in the following categories:

Career: To get the next promotion, to complete a project in a given time etc.

Financial: To earn a certain amount of money in a specified period, to save a certain amount
every years…

Educational: To get XYZ qualification, take courses in subjects one is interested in..

Physical fitness: To jog every day, to keep the body weight under XX Kg.

Community/charity: Do volunteer work, to actively participate in the neighbourhood cleanliness

drive….

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Personal: Cultivate new friendships, meet new people…

Leisure: Do something different such visit a new country, learn pottery making…

If you do not consider all areas of life you are likely to write down goals only in those areas that
are currently occupying your mind, thereby neglecting other important areas of your life and
might create imbalance and stress.

Attributes of a good goal

A goal should be SMART for it to be useful, i.e.

S(pecific) : The goal should not be a statement of intent(e.g. ‘to save money’ is
NOT being specific. ‘To save Rs. 2000/- per month during 1998’ is
being specific)

M(easurable) : The goal must be measurable. It must be easy for us to say whether
we have achieved the goal or not.

A(ttainable) : The goal must not be too easy to attain nor should it be beyond
reach. If it is too easy to attain then there is no satisfaction on its
achievement. If it is beyond reach, it will not spur us on in our
efforts.

R(ealistic) : The goal must be relevant and realistic. It must ‘make sense’.

T(ime bound) : The goal must have a deadline or time frame attached to it.

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How to meet goals

Meeting goals is the second step in the process of achieving your goals. To meet the goals set, it
is necessary to inculcate the discipline of monitoring and reviewing the goals. Only then can we
realise the benefits of the goal setting exercise.

To meet the goals you need to be involved in the process of

a. Monitoring goals (which involves a discipline of regularly checking the progress against the

goals and taking corrective action to achieve them.)

b. Reviewing goals (Goals need to be added/modified/deleted periodically. This so because our

life constantly keeps evolving and therefore, goals have to updated. The goals that have been
achieved have to be deleted and replaced by the new ones.

Typically, goal setting should be done once in a year while monitoring must be done on a weekly
basis (i.e. you must look at your goals at least once a week). The review of goals can be done
once in three months.

It helps to write the goals on a sheet of paper to which you have a constant access. It also helps
to share your goals with persons who are close to you and who are committed to your growth
and development (e.g. parents, some close friends, spouse, teachers’ etc.).

One way to make sure that you definitely achieve your goals is to visualise yourself as achieving
them. For example, if you need to shed weight, visualise a slimmer and trimmer you. As Charles
R. Hobbs, author of Time Power says, ”Dream a little. You have your whole life ahead of you to
achieve these goals”.

Types of Goals:

Our development, improvement and growth can happen in two ways.

• One through Incremental Goals: doing things more, better and more efficiently

• Secondly by Breakthrough Goals: breaking barriers, records, changing ways of thinking,

breaking away from the past (breakthrough goals).

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Neither is inherently superior to the other. The decision to be made given a situation is whether
it requires incremental approach or a breakthrough approach. E.g. A 100% growth goal could also
be an incremental goal if it involves doing essentially the same activity-but doing it
faster/better. On the other hand, reducing time to do something by 50% could be breakthrough
goal simply because the existing method of doing things might not be able to achieve that and it
might require breakthrough thinking.

Goal setting made simple

Conduct a simple exercise of yesterday and today on yourself. Give yourself a score of 0 to 10 on
the following parameters:

Yesterday Today

(what you were 5 yrs ago) (what you are today)

1. Career __________ 1. Career __________

2. Financially __________ 2. Financially

__________
3. Educational __________ 3. Physically

4. Physical __________ 4. Educational

__________
5. Community/charity __________ 5. Community/charity

6. Personal __________ 6. Personal __________

7. Leisure __________ 7. Leisure __________

8. Relationships 8. Relationships
__________

9. Spiritual 9. Spiritual

This exercise will help you analyse your achievements and performance vis -a -vis 5yrs ago. Have
you improved more than you realised in some categories? Have you come a long way? That feels
great, doesn’t it? If you haven’t come as far as you would have liked, or if you think that you

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were doing better five years ago that you are now in some areas, that’s a great message too -
one that may drive you to make changes to improve.

The best way to predict the future is to manage it. Here are some steps that can help you set
your goals:

1. Decide what it is you want in life. This must be consistent with your purpose and the kind of

person you visualise yourself as.

2. Determine long range goals (five years and longer) for achieving this purpose, wants and self-

image.

3. Set short-range goals (one year and less) for working towards your long-range goals.

4. Develop general plans for achieving these goals.

5. Break the plans and goals into small parts so you can achieve a little bit each day.

6. For each area, list down one or two goals to be achieved.

7. Ensure that the goals are SMART

Sometimes, you may have a broad, long-term goal, like say, ”Live a healthy life” This goal is not
specific and hence there is little hope of achieving it if it remained just this one sentence. The
trick here is to break it up into short range or intermediate goals, which will go towards the
achievement of this long-term goal. For example, the intermediate goals could be:

“I will exercise every day for 30 minutes”

“I will include salads in means at least once a day”

Remember that your goals can always be changed. The important thing is that you are always
working on some goals, your life only has meaning when you are working on goals to achieve
your meaning.

By making goals and plans for each of the areas of your life you will be developing your ‘whole
person’ and living a life of purpose and meaning. Some sample questions you can use to set
goals in all areas of life :

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/ What would you do to improve your physical strength? Join a gym? Eat the right foods? Go for
a run everyday?

/ What would you like to learn? What are some skills you want to master in your lifetime? Do
you want learn French? Or Chinese?

/ Who do you want your friends to be?

/ Would you like to conquer your fear of flying? Or public speaking? Or of swimming?

/ Do you want to travel the world?

/ Do you wish to contribute towards pollution - free environment?

/ What are your career goals? Where would you want to be one year from now?

/ Would you like to go abroad as a foreign exchange student?

/ Do you want to earn 1 lakh a year in first year of getting your job?

/ What would you like to be known for within your profession?

/ What kind of impact do you want to have?

/ By what age do you want to attain financial independence?

/ Would you like to build yourself a house? Buy a farmhouse?

/ Would you like to go hitchhiking around the globe?

/ Would you like to swim the English Channel?

Selection of goals is an important matter. We have to think of our major interests and assess
our abilities realistically. However to do this, we need to take a critical look at ourselves. This
would mean moving out of our ‘comfort zones’ the areas, where we are at home in. To set and
achieve goals, we need to move out of these zones and stretch ourselves.

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You can use this worksheet to help you define your goals

Area Long - Range Short Term What I Will Do

Goal Goal Everyday To
Achieve My Goal

Career (ambitions, dreams, hopes

etc…let your minds soar)

Financial (income, spending

habits, investments)

Educational (new programs to

enroll in, skills to acquire)

Physical (health, exercise,

appearance, etc.,)

Personal (knowledge, attitudes,

self-improvements, culture etc.,)

Family (relationship to others,

role, education of family
members)

Relationships (Relationships with

friends, expansion of friends,
community etc.)

Spiritual (contribution to projects

involving child/animal welfare,
society)

Leisure ( want to learn skiing, sky

diving, buy a sports car)

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To achieve your goals you need to develop some habits such as:

1. Always write down your goals and keep them with you.

2. Read your goals at least once every day.

3. For every major activity undertaken by you, ask yourself the question: ‘ How will this help me
achieve my goals?’

4. Make it a habit to make and honour commitments

5. Make it a habit to set meet daily and weekly goals. This habit will help you in setting and
meeting larger project goals.

6. Set goals and deadlines for every project that you are doing currently.

7. Be sure to clean up your goals (i.e. add, modify, delete them) at least once in three to four
months

8. Strive to maintain a balance between the goals across all areas of life.

Enjoy reaching goals

Remember the old adage, “The ends do not justify the means”. The same is true in every walk
of life. It is not enough if we set down goals for ourselves. We must enjoy the process of
reaching them. This will help in two ways; one, the probability of our dropping out in the
middle is lower if we find the process an enjoyable one; second, the process happiness together
with the end happiness we feel when we achieve the said goals will ensure that we are charged
enough to take on the next goal. Believe me, unless you value your goals and value their pursuit
personally meaningful, the chances of your attaining the goal are not very high. The goals that
you lay down will be one more set of New Year resolutions that you would give up at the first
sign of a hurdle.

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Formulating a Plan
To begin preparation of your comprehensive goals program, first write down all your goals on a
piece of paper and organize them in their proper order of priority. For example, you should
have at least one goal for each of the six key areas of your life. Next, select one major goal to
focus on initially. Finally, outline a detailed plan of action for its accomplishment by following
these specific steps:

Make sure the goal you select is meaningful, measurable and achievable. Choose one that is just
out of sight but not out of reach.

Specify the exact date by which you want to achieve your goal.

Identify and explore various options that alone or together will enable you to reach your goal.
Be creative. Don’t just look at the traditional ways that first come to mind.

Determine what actions you’ll have to take to (a) acquire the knowledge you’ll need, (b)
develop the skills you must have, and (c) meet the people you’ll need to know to assist you and
give you the necessary advice.

Compile a list of the major obstacles you’ll have to overcome to reach your goal. Determine
how to deal with each one.

Compile a list of the major benefits, both emotional and material, that you’ll receive when you
complete your goal on time.

Once you have completed parts 1 to 6, write them all down to form a master plant. Understand
that this plan is only a starting point, and will need updating and reworking as you take action
and become more knowledgeable.

Begin to implement your plan at once, whether you think you’re ready or not. If you wait until
you know everything, you’ll never get started!

Commit to do something every day that moves you closer to your major goal. The surest way to
overcome fear, doubt and lack of self-confidence is to see yourself making regular daily
progress. A walk of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And each step brings its own
rewards. Success comes from experiencing success, from seeing it materialize before your very
eyes.

Take 15 minutes twice a day, and read your master plan out loud to yourself. Best times include
first thing in the morning and again just before retiring at night. As you read your goal, believe,
we see and feel yourself as already having achieved it in your mind. Bask in the positive feelings
all this generates. By affirming, visualizing and emotionalizing your goal in this powerful and
purposeful way, you are driving it deep into your subconscious reality.

Animesh Bhatt
animeshbhatt.blogspot.com

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