Goals

What are Goals?
Goals are defined as, 'An observable and measurable end result having one or many objectives to be achieved within more or less fixed time frame. Now, goals are closed ended, i.e. quantity and time are defined, you achieve it at a given point and you know that point. It is predetermined and quantifiable. Goals define what we want to be, what we want to do and when would we want to do so.
Goals don't only refer to destinations to be reached but the paths to be taken to reach there as well. 

Goals As Wheels
I don't consider goals as a wheel per se, but more like a checkpoint in a race, a place to save your game. A point from where you can always pick up in events of future failure. Now, it is so because you can set goals, you can walk with them in mind but you cannot have them while you are pursuing them. So, they do not technically fit in our wheel metaphor (Read Introduction) but they are important to maintain a healthy journey.

Goals Vs. Objectives
It may sound awfully like a management studies class but I would like to clarify what I mean when I say Goal. It will help you coincide with my thinking process and may explain it better. So, Objectives are closed ended, that is like in sport, scoring goals and in the same scenario Goal would be to win the match. Goals and objectives describe what the program/project is striving to accomplish. Goals depict the general programmatic outcomes, while objectives specify more specific outcomes. It is common to have several objectives for each program/project goal.

Importance Of Goals
Now, goals are important because they prevent us from walking blindly and shooting arrows in the air. It provides you with purpose in life, purpose gives you a reason to wake up and to go to sleep with a target in mind. It defines YOUR success. I read somewhere, 'without purpose in life, you'll die everyday' i.e. if you don't have any purpose in life you'll castigate your existence. Without a goal, you'll not have anything you want to take your 'CART' of efforts to, and you'll wander till 'Your Wheels Fall Off'.
Goals also provide refueling utility, i.e. once you achieve something, your Confidence boosts up, so does your faith in your future and it also develops a positive attitude that says 'I Can and I Will'.
Goal setting is used by top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in all fields. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helps you to organize your time and your resources so that you can make the very most of your life.

Shaping Goals

Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality.

The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have to concentrate your efforts. You'll also quickly spot the distractions that can, so easily, lead you astray.

You set your goals on a number of levels:

• ·       First you create your "big picture" of what you want to do with your life (or over, say, the next 10 years), and identify the large-scale goals that you want to achieve.
•       Then, you break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit to reach your lifetime goals. 
•       Finally, once you have your plan, you start working on it to achieve these goals.

This is why we start the process of goal setting by looking at your lifetime goals. Then, we work down to the things that you can do in, say, the next five years, then next year, next month, next week, and today, to start moving towards them.

        

SMART Goals

A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants (some of which we've included in parenthesis), 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).