In life, the gap between successful minds and unsuccessful ones is quite big. But how comes when there are so many opportunities out there? Contrary to what most people believe, the difference between the two is not avoiding failure. Even successful people do fail once in a while. It’s only that they are able to pick themselves up, learn from the failure, and overcome it. As for the unsuccessful minds, they stay down for long as they complain about their failure. In the end, the failure appears more of a punishment than a lesson to them.
According to Ben Stein, a motivational speaker, what makes successful minds to take failure as a lesson and not a punishment is the fact that they have goals. These people are visionaries and so their focus is never wavered by an upset. So, goal setting is very integral in the path to success. Be it your career, marriage life or in leadership, you can become successful if you set clear and practical goals. Ben Stein insists on defining what you really want and strategizing how to get it. This is actually what goal setting is all about.
Setting and sticking to your individual goals will guarantee you the following benefits:
- Clear Direction
Generally, goal setting offers you something to aim at. With a clear destination, you become aware of the route to take to reach there. Regardless of the little challenges that you encounter along the way, your mind is always fixed on your goal. What do you really want to get in life? Once you have this question in mind, all you can see is a ‘clear path’ to get it. The term ‘clear’ is not used to refer to a smooth path but one that can be followed, challenges notwithstanding.
- Overcoming Procrastination
So often in life, we don’t achieve the visions and dreams that we have because we procrastinate things. We always assume that there will be time to do them and it doesn’t have to be now. Before you know it, the time has passed and you can’t do anything about it. Procrastination can be a dream killer and it’s time you start overcoming it. It begins with setting life goals and finding the drive to achieve them. With this in mind, you don’t have to entertain ‘thoughts of excuses’ – because this is what procrastination is all about.
- Peace of Mind
Goal setting allows you to be organized. Since you have a vision that’s clear, you are able to properly allocate your efforts so as to achieve everything as planned. Therefore, you don’t have to panic because things are not working. All you have to care for is the attainability of the goals. You are able to keep your mind off things that stress you for nothing and those that you can’t do anything to change. Goal setting generally gives you the belief that things will turn out for the better. Along the way, you are able to measure the milestones achieved as you look forward to greater achievements.
- Prioritizing What’s Important
When you set goals, your focus is only on the things that are important to you. So, you are able to aspire to accomplish them because you feel that they will change your life for the better. The moment you sit down trying to come up with the goals, you are able to review your life so as to point out the things that really matter to you but you haven’t been able to accomplish them. As you reflect on your visions and dreams, you are able to assess their practicality so as you can stick to what is achievable. What makes most people become unsuccessful is the fact that they didn’t define their goals in the first place. So, to be a winner, you need to define your goals and work towards them.
- Time Management
Time is your most valuable asset in life and once wasted, it can never be recovered. With a life goal, it becomes easy to manage the amount of time that you have so as to direct most of it towards it. This means that you don’t have to waste precious time trying things that may never benefit your life at all. Goal setting allows you to plan for specific tasks (what we call milestones). You are able to allocate enough time for each milestone. The milestones act as your short-term goals and they are able to contribute to your long-term aim. In the end, you become more productive for using time properly.
- Control of the Future
Without clear goals, you can’t really have control of your future. Goals are there to help you shape your future however you want. The moment you write them down, they act as a perfect plan for facing the future. You gain full control of it and are able to channel efforts towards making it more successful than the past or the present. So, you don’t have to wander aimlessly in life without clear goals. Instead, put your life in order and take control of your future by setting achievable goals. This gives you a sense of responsibility. In the long run, you become accountable for your accomplishments or failures.
- Establish Limits
When you don’t have a goal in life, it becomes easy to be influenced by people that you associate with. People with no goals usually find it difficult to say no. Since they are ‘too nice’, they always want to please everyone without realizing that they are messing up their lives. Goal setting allows you to set boundaries in life. You are able to define your limits. This helps you to push the distractors away. In this case, what matters to you are the goals and therefore anything that doesn’t contribute to them is considered a distraction.
- Personal Drive
Lastly, goals allow you to be hopeful about the future. When you are hopeful about something, you become motivated to work towards realizing it. If the goals are long-term, you are able to achieve short-term ones in the process. This gives you the drive to continue staying hopeful and to always aim higher. The moment you have the focus, it fuels a desire in you and you become excited about achieving more.
Final Thought:
There are so many reasons why you should set goals in life but the above 8 top the list. They show that your life can become better if only you have clear aims. In the new year, you have the opportunity to start shaping your life the right way. It begins with setting attainable goals. You’ll savor the beauty of the milestones when you do so. These goals will help you expand your business, relationships, and more!
