What a great topic this time!
Goals are a key part of everyone’s day to day life. They are everywhere, and are usually either long or short term.
Sometimes they are imposed on us by parents, bosses, etc. Most times, we end up defining them ourselves… From the moment someone asks us what do you want to be when you grow up? They are asking us what our goal in life is! And that is not an easy answer! We answer “firefighter” or “astronaut”, because at the time it’s obvious we haven’t set that big a goal yet!
Actually, the answer to what do you want to be when you grow up? is the big goal in our lives! After all, we keep growing up all the time. As such, that big goal keeps changing as we define ourselves in the world.
On setting goals
This is obviously the easy part! But don’t be fooled…
We can divide goals into 2 big groups:
- - Short term, I have to finish homework till Thursday
- - Long term, I want to learn the guitar to a good level
And we should probably think about a few things when defining a goal:
- Is it achievable?
- Is it long term or short?
- Is it important?
- What if I can’t reach the goal?
These are self explanatory, but I probably forgot a few not so obvious ones. A goal that is clearly defined is a big step in the direction of achieving it. Unrealistic goals are bad in the sense that you won’t give your best if you know it won’t be reached, even if you do give your best.
On achieving goals
This is the tricky part!
Achieving a goal depends obviously on a few things:
- - Difficulty
- - How hard we work towards it
- - Unpredicted events
Working towards a goal is not usually easy! Sometimes its a good idea to find incentives, especially if the goal isn’t that motivating by itself. Rewarding our achievements by going to a fancy restaurant, for example, is a way to do this. If our goals involve other people, thinking about rewarding them, even in a symbolic way, upon completion of the goal, is a very good incentive for them to meet the goals.
Setting intermediate goals, especially if the main one is a long term one, or very hard, is a very good idea as well!
I Hope your goals will be better and easier to achieve after reading this!
João
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