“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or objects” – Albert Einstein

Setting goals can be as an inconvenience like cleaning one’s storeroom and requires time and effort. Many despise setting goals as it requires the all-important task of thinking. Goals are the prime difference between highly successful individuals and average successful individuals.

One of my past employers told me that in the pursuit of happiness, it is not the happiness, but the pursuit that is more important. At that time, I thought this was another strategy to get us to work harder. But a decade later, I’ve realized that this statement is so true and powerful.

Happiness can mean different things to different people depending on their purpose. For some, happiness means money & financial stability, while to another it could be freedom & respect, family & friends, or achieving something tangible. Happiness will truly depend on your purpose. Unfortunately, most people define happiness based on financial success.

To reach success in one’s life, one should first learn the art of creating goals in one’s life and having an action plan to achieve them. Goals are what defines how far you wish to go and how committed you are to achieve them. John Goddard considered “the world’s greatest goal achiever” at the age of fifteen after hearing many adults complaining about their lives and expressing regret for not achieving anything significant, listed 127 goals he wished to experience or achieve during his lifetime. These were not simple or easy goals. They included climbing the world’s major mountains, exploring from source to mouth the longest rivers of the world, piloting the world’s fastest aircraft, running a mile in five minutes, and reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica.

At present, he has accomplished 109 of these quests and has logged an impressive list of records in achieving them. He had later expanded his goals to 600 goals and had achieved over 500 before his passing in 2013.

Setting goals is a fundamental component of long-term success. The basic reason for this is that you can’t get where you are trying to go until you clearly define where that is. Research studies show a direct link between goals and enhanced performance in business or personal growth. Goals help you focus and allocate your time and resources efficiently, and they can keep you motivated when you feel like giving up.

Many people feel as if they’re adrift in the world. They work hard, but they don’t seem to get anywhere worthwhile. One of the key reasons the rich get richer while the poor keep getting poorer is the setting of goals and defining an action plan to achieve them.

Spend some quality time on your own and reflect on the goals in all areas of your life. Goals can be segmented into three categories: goals that you set for the short term, medium, and long term. Consider where you want to be in three months, one year, three years, and ten years time. Write it down. A written goal represents a real commitment. Commitment is what separates our dreams from our goals. Keep a copy of your goal plan in sight and refer to it often.

Harvard Business School researchers studied what made the difference in success or failure in people of similar backgrounds and educational standards. Their studies found that 3% of people were successful, 30% were moderately successful, and 67% just existed. The significant difference between the 3% who were successful is that they wrote down specific goals. The 30% who were moderately successful had a general idea of where they were going but didn’t have any goals formalized. The rest were happy to watch the world go by.

SMART Goals

A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants, SMART usually stands for:

•         S – Specific (or Significant).

•         M – Measurable (or Meaningful).

•         A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented).

•         R – Relevant (or Rewarding).

•         T – Time-bound (or Trackable).

For example, instead of stating “I want to lose weight” as a goal  it’s more powerful to state

” I’m going to lose 7 lbs this month or say I’m going to finish this project by December 31, 2019.” Make note, this will only be attainable if a lot of preparation has been completed beforehand!

What is interesting is that people in the 30% category only needed to put in a small amount of effort to jump into the next group. The secret behind the effort is the development of habits and strategies that support the achievement of clear goals. Successful people form habits to do the things that less successful people don’t like to do.

Start small and start simple. Create a to-do list on a daily basis planning your schedule for the next day. This is after all a goals list for the day. The to-do list is task-based, whilst goals are more specifically related to a long term vision. Ensure that your daily tasks are in line with your longer-term goals making sure that you prioritize and identify the single one most important thing you must do that day and do this first, and follow with smaller goals.

In his book ‘Make it Happen’ author Aravind Devalia explains the importance of setting goals based on your core values. The book states “Find out your true core values within you, create your goals for the future based on the awareness of your values. Getting clear about your values will help you to go out and seek the people, situations, and things that support those values. Define clearly what success in life means for you. This will indicate what is really important to you, and just how you want to lead your life. Ultimately, it will help you identify your way of being. Write down your goals. There is far more chance of making them happen once they are written down, even if you do not do anything about it consciously. Write them in big bold letters and hang up next to your computer, by your bedside and anywhere else, where you can’t fail to see them several times a day.”

When pursuing your goals, it is only normal for frustration and distraction to set in and sometimes even prompt you to call quits. During these emotional, down-times keep focusing on the bigger picture and pursue your goals in small steps. Eventually, the passion will drive you to get back to your stroll and the distraction will be a passing cloud.

If you have a goal and work towards this with sheer purpose, you will achieve this goal with great success. Perseverance and small steps are key. Earl Nightingale said if you work on a subject or skill every day for one hour continuously for 5 years, after years you will be an expert on this topic. The key here is every day, not someday, in small portions above average. It’s better to have consistent growth than large growth someday.

Charlie tremendous Jones said “The only difference from today and 5 years is the people you meet and the books you read.”

Goals help you to channel your actions into energy.