Goals are important in the journey of life. A goal is something you envision to achieve in order to fulfil purpose. Goals can be set in different spheres of life be it family, personal, career, spiritual, health, fun or business.
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” –Bill Copeland
Imagine not setting goals, it is a recipe for average living, and you will feel adrift in this world. Time will fly past without you achieving anything. Often, we do not set goals and when we do set goals, there is a tendency to get distracted and drop off without achieving the goals.
Goal setting is a common trend especially around this time of the year. What are your plans for 2021? While 2020 might have been a deviation from other years with the global disruption. The year propelled or delayed actualisation of some goals. Some goals were premised on travels which were disrupted due to the pandemic, some goals evolved to adopt new ways of achieving them while other goals suffered and were not delivered. In some cases, it is the person’s mindset that affected achieving set goals.
Whichever category you fall in, as we round off 2020, you can change your strategy to achieving goals. The new year 2021, presents an opportunity to refine yourself, set audacious goals and follow through with executing the goals. There is a need to adopt a new approach and anticipate “VUCA” – volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguous environment. A critical skill required to thrive in such an environment is adaptability. You need to be ready to adapt to changing trends, industry shifts and dynamic environment.
There is a need to create time to set goals and develop a corresponding plan of action to achieve the goals. To define your goals, it is important to make it “SMART”, that is
S-Specific, M– Measurable, A-Achievable, R– Realistic and T– Timebound.
Note that there are no unrealistic goals, we sometimes have unrealistic timelines. Some goals are audacious and need more time to plan and achieve.
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” –Henry Ford
Further to your goals being SMART, these 4 steps will enable you achieve goals with the right mindset.
- Make it visible – where did you place your goals – in your mind, on paper, digitally. Is it visible and a constant reminder? You need to have them as constant reminders – on a vision board, as a screen saver on your mobile phone or laptop, in your bathroom. Decide on a location you will see as often as required to continuously have it in your mind and this will propel your actions
- Take action despite fear – Yes, there will be fear. Don’t be discouraged. Find creative ways to stay focused and keep progressing even amid fear. Most times you are afraid of things outside your control. Identify your fears and put plans in place to address them. Learn to Do it Afraid
- Acknowledge that there will be distractions. There will be challenges or distractions on the way to achieve your goals, how do you respond to this? Do you just resign to fate, that there is nothing you can do, or do you still check for other available options to achieve the goal even if it is 70% or 80% completed? Adopt the later approach
- Reflect and Measure progress – This is an important step. You need to reflect on progress. Decide on how you will measure progress. Is it every month end? Or at the end of a quarter? Am I progressing well, or do I need to change how I plan to achieve this? Do I need support from anyone? Then go for it.
Follow these steps and you will be amazed at the outcomes.