2008 is now history. All the plans for the year have either been achieved or deferred. When you sit to review the year, what are the achievements you have made? That, I am sure, is the question on your mind right now. I am also sure that you will realise that you have achieved much. You may not have bought that car you so much desired but you may have touched some lives. You may not have done some outstanding things by your own assessment but you have changed that little nagging bad habit that you have had for a long time. What I am saying is that you have achieved something and you should commend yourself for the little you have done. You should also thank your God that has given you the opportunities and enablement throughout 2008.
Even if you have not achieved much, the good news is that you can start afresh again in 2009. As the saying goes, he who fights and run away lives to fight another day. So you have not really failed. 2008 is actually a stepping stone for you to discover the opportunities available for you in 2009. Those goals you were not able to achieve in 2008 are now areas you should explore in 2009. It is never too late to start. So brush up those your goals of 2008 that you were not able to achieve, review them then take action at achieving them. That is the first step to take in preventing the repetition of whatever challenges you had in 2008 at achieving all your goals.
Now to progress in our series on achieving success in life and business, we shall review our last few postings on goals. We have looked at what goals are, what the importance of goals are, and reasons why some people do not set goals. From those readings I believe you have come to the conclusion that the journey to real success will be rough if you do not develop the habit of goal setting. If you have not started the practice of goals setting, this is a clarion call on you to commence. It is never too late to start. But if you are in the act of setting goals, then I say more grease to your elbow.
I will appreciate if you share your experience at goal settings with the readers of this blog. You contribution will, in no small measure, help someone to reach his destination of success faster and smoothly. I look forward to reading your comments.
In the next few postings, we will look at the act of goals setting. The components of goals setting, the steps involved in goals setting, and the generally principles to employ in goals setting. Subsequently we will consider all other things that are necessary for the achievement of our goals. Please come along with me in this journey to achieving success in life and business.
I love to see you succeed.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
7 Reasons Why People Don’t Set Goals
We have seen that goal setting are automatic characteristic of human and have also considered the benefits of goal setting, why is it then that most people don’t set clear, written, measurable and time bounded goals? We will discuss seven reasons why this is so.
Some people don’t set goals because they are simply not serious. They only talk and are not doers of what they say. They may have intentions, hopes, wishes or even prayers but these do not count, only the action they take counts. They want to improve their lives, they want to be more successful but they are not willing to make the necessary effort. One person who will take action is worth ten brilliant talkers who do nothing.
Another why some people don’t set goals is that they have not yet accepted responsibility for their lives. The irresponsible person is the person who is still waiting for real life to begin. Such a person gives different excuses for his failures instead of taking responsibility. He is always out in search of shortcut to everything. He expends his energy on irrelevant things that do not contribute to his progress.
Some people have some deep-seated feeling of guilt and unworthiness and this has prevented them from setting goals for their lives. Such a person has low self-esteem and is deficient mentally and emotionally. This may be due to upbringing in a negative environment or developing a feeling or attitude of “what’s the use?” or “I’m not good enough”.
A person who does not realise the importance of gaols will not set goals. If a person grows in a home where no one has goals or even socializes with a group where goals is neither discussed nor valued, he can easily reach adulthood without knowing that his ability to set and achieve goals will have more of an effect on his life than any other skill. If people realized how important goals are to a happy successful life then more people would have goals than do today.
Some people set goals because they don’t know how. Many people think that they have goals whereas what they actually have is a series of wishes or dreams. These are not goals rather they are merely fantasies that are common to everyone. A goal is distinctively different from a wish because it is clear, written, and specific. It can be quickly and easily described to another person. You can measure it and you know when you have achieved it. It is quite possible that in the whole of your education, you may not have been instructed in goal setting. The good news is that you can find a truck load of resources on goal setting.
Fear of rejection or fear of criticism is responsible for some people not setting goals. People are afraid that if they set a goal and are not successful, others will criticise or ridicule them. As a result they decide not set goals. To overcome this you should keep your goals confidential to yourself. If people don’t know your goals they cannot laugh at you even if you fail. However, you may share your goals with those that may help you in achieving them especially goal oriented people.
The most prominent reason why people do not set goals is the fear of failure. They discover that fear hurts and tried to be careful so that they don’t fail as a result they do not set goals. What they also fail to understand is that it is impossible to succeed without failing. You can learn to overcome fear of failure by being absolutely clear about your goals, and by accepting that temporary setbacks and obstacle are inevitable price you pay to achieve any great success in life.
There may be more reasons why people refuse to set goals. If you can overcome these above then you can go ahead and set your goals firmly resolved in your mind to achieve them.
Some people don’t set goals because they are simply not serious. They only talk and are not doers of what they say. They may have intentions, hopes, wishes or even prayers but these do not count, only the action they take counts. They want to improve their lives, they want to be more successful but they are not willing to make the necessary effort. One person who will take action is worth ten brilliant talkers who do nothing.
Another why some people don’t set goals is that they have not yet accepted responsibility for their lives. The irresponsible person is the person who is still waiting for real life to begin. Such a person gives different excuses for his failures instead of taking responsibility. He is always out in search of shortcut to everything. He expends his energy on irrelevant things that do not contribute to his progress.
Some people have some deep-seated feeling of guilt and unworthiness and this has prevented them from setting goals for their lives. Such a person has low self-esteem and is deficient mentally and emotionally. This may be due to upbringing in a negative environment or developing a feeling or attitude of “what’s the use?” or “I’m not good enough”.
A person who does not realise the importance of gaols will not set goals. If a person grows in a home where no one has goals or even socializes with a group where goals is neither discussed nor valued, he can easily reach adulthood without knowing that his ability to set and achieve goals will have more of an effect on his life than any other skill. If people realized how important goals are to a happy successful life then more people would have goals than do today.
Some people set goals because they don’t know how. Many people think that they have goals whereas what they actually have is a series of wishes or dreams. These are not goals rather they are merely fantasies that are common to everyone. A goal is distinctively different from a wish because it is clear, written, and specific. It can be quickly and easily described to another person. You can measure it and you know when you have achieved it. It is quite possible that in the whole of your education, you may not have been instructed in goal setting. The good news is that you can find a truck load of resources on goal setting.
Fear of rejection or fear of criticism is responsible for some people not setting goals. People are afraid that if they set a goal and are not successful, others will criticise or ridicule them. As a result they decide not set goals. To overcome this you should keep your goals confidential to yourself. If people don’t know your goals they cannot laugh at you even if you fail. However, you may share your goals with those that may help you in achieving them especially goal oriented people.
The most prominent reason why people do not set goals is the fear of failure. They discover that fear hurts and tried to be careful so that they don’t fail as a result they do not set goals. What they also fail to understand is that it is impossible to succeed without failing. You can learn to overcome fear of failure by being absolutely clear about your goals, and by accepting that temporary setbacks and obstacle are inevitable price you pay to achieve any great success in life.
There may be more reasons why people refuse to set goals. If you can overcome these above then you can go ahead and set your goals firmly resolved in your mind to achieve them.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
4 Reasons Why Goals Are Important
The successful people in life set goals and they create a plan to achieve them. They realise that they have to focus on where they want to go first then manage their time, money, and effort towards actions that take them closer to realising their goals. They are able to better prioritise their daily activities, weeding out the things that don’t bring them closer to fulfilling their dreams. It is a great habit to have and truly vital if you are going to learn to focus on what is truly important in your life.
Before we go ahead to discuss how to set our goals and develop plans to achieve them, it is important to know why we should set goals in the first place. What benefits we stand to gain when we set goals. This will give us a compelling reason to stick to the process of bringing those goals to reality. It is not easy to follow all the steps in achieving our goals but if we have a big enough “why”, we can be motivated through the entire steps and endure any difficulty on the way.
1. Goals are guideposts in our lives. Our goals help shape our decisions regarding what our course of action will be. If we know we want to save enough money for our kids’ education, we will find ourselves cutting back on frivolous expenses in order to use the money to build up their education fund. Why? Because the reason we are doing it is front and centre in our mind. We have a purpose, a plan, and ultimately goals that we want to achieve. Goals keep us focused on what we need to do.
2. Goals keep us disciplined and keep our eyes on the prize. By having our goals front and centre, we will be able to avoid the temptations of instant gratification and opt for behaviours that will lead to long-term prosperity. When we have clear written goals, we’re going to think about our goals often enough to avoid buying things that we do not need in order to save and invest our money.
3. Goals have the power to motivate. The goals we set for ourselves are what will determine our future. Those big dreams of ours are what are going to keep us motivated to make everyday sacrifices in order to make those dreams of tomorrow a reality.
4. Goals determine the level of success you can achieve. Goals bring to the present the future we desire and as such we are able to work towards bringing that future to reality. With clear goals we can achieve so much. Goals to a great extent help achieving whatever success we want in our life.
With these benefits of setting enumerated above, it becomes imperative that we take the issue of goal setting seriously. If you desire a beautiful future, set it as a goal. If you want to be wealthy set it as a goal. Whatever good things you want in life set them as goals. And you can be sure to attain all of them as you so desire.
Before we go ahead to discuss how to set our goals and develop plans to achieve them, it is important to know why we should set goals in the first place. What benefits we stand to gain when we set goals. This will give us a compelling reason to stick to the process of bringing those goals to reality. It is not easy to follow all the steps in achieving our goals but if we have a big enough “why”, we can be motivated through the entire steps and endure any difficulty on the way.
1. Goals are guideposts in our lives. Our goals help shape our decisions regarding what our course of action will be. If we know we want to save enough money for our kids’ education, we will find ourselves cutting back on frivolous expenses in order to use the money to build up their education fund. Why? Because the reason we are doing it is front and centre in our mind. We have a purpose, a plan, and ultimately goals that we want to achieve. Goals keep us focused on what we need to do.
2. Goals keep us disciplined and keep our eyes on the prize. By having our goals front and centre, we will be able to avoid the temptations of instant gratification and opt for behaviours that will lead to long-term prosperity. When we have clear written goals, we’re going to think about our goals often enough to avoid buying things that we do not need in order to save and invest our money.
3. Goals have the power to motivate. The goals we set for ourselves are what will determine our future. Those big dreams of ours are what are going to keep us motivated to make everyday sacrifices in order to make those dreams of tomorrow a reality.
4. Goals determine the level of success you can achieve. Goals bring to the present the future we desire and as such we are able to work towards bringing that future to reality. With clear goals we can achieve so much. Goals to a great extent help achieving whatever success we want in our life.
With these benefits of setting enumerated above, it becomes imperative that we take the issue of goal setting seriously. If you desire a beautiful future, set it as a goal. If you want to be wealthy set it as a goal. Whatever good things you want in life set them as goals. And you can be sure to attain all of them as you so desire.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Goals, what do they mean?
In the next few postings we will be looking at goals in our journey towards achieving success in life and business.
The ability to set goals and make plans for their accomplishment is the master skill of success. Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement. A person without goals is like a ship sailing without rudder and so is drifting aimlessly without direction exposing itself to danger of ending up on rocks. When you have goals, you are like a ship with a rudder, guided by a captain with a map, a compass, and a destination and therefore you can sail straight and true towards a port of your choosing.
Brian Tracy came to a conclusion that “Success is goals and all else is commentary.” So if you want to copy what the intensely successful people do, you need to be goal oriented. You will need to know what you want and get focused on achieving it every single day.
As a human being, you are a goal-centred organism. We are engineered mentally to move progressively and successively from one goal to the next, and we are never really happy unless, and until, we are moving toward the accomplishment of something important to us. Also, our brains have this goal-seeking function that guides us in actually seeking out our desires and looking for means to accomplishing them.
Because of this function, we almost always achieve any goals we set for ourselves. Once you are absolutely clear about your goal, you do not even have to know where it is or how to achieve it. By simply deciding exactly what you want, you will begin to move towards your goal and your goal begins to move towards you. Can remember that sometimes when you decide on something you want to do, somehow and somehow, things just fall in place for the accomplishment of that desire. This is what happens when you set goals for yourself.
What I want to you to understand is that you can achieve whatever goals you set because you are created in such a way to achieve them. So get started in goal setting.
The ability to set goals and make plans for their accomplishment is the master skill of success. Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement. A person without goals is like a ship sailing without rudder and so is drifting aimlessly without direction exposing itself to danger of ending up on rocks. When you have goals, you are like a ship with a rudder, guided by a captain with a map, a compass, and a destination and therefore you can sail straight and true towards a port of your choosing.
Brian Tracy came to a conclusion that “Success is goals and all else is commentary.” So if you want to copy what the intensely successful people do, you need to be goal oriented. You will need to know what you want and get focused on achieving it every single day.
As a human being, you are a goal-centred organism. We are engineered mentally to move progressively and successively from one goal to the next, and we are never really happy unless, and until, we are moving toward the accomplishment of something important to us. Also, our brains have this goal-seeking function that guides us in actually seeking out our desires and looking for means to accomplishing them.
Because of this function, we almost always achieve any goals we set for ourselves. Once you are absolutely clear about your goal, you do not even have to know where it is or how to achieve it. By simply deciding exactly what you want, you will begin to move towards your goal and your goal begins to move towards you. Can remember that sometimes when you decide on something you want to do, somehow and somehow, things just fall in place for the accomplishment of that desire. This is what happens when you set goals for yourself.
What I want to you to understand is that you can achieve whatever goals you set because you are created in such a way to achieve them. So get started in goal setting.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Situational Assessment
As I said earlier in my last post, to be truly successful in life, you need to determine where you are coming from, who you want to be, the means through which you will get there and then begin to take those actions that would guarantee success.
In determining these, you will need to sit down and do a situational assessment of your life. So let us proceed to examine the aforementioned issues.
Where you are coming from
There is a popular saying that if you do not know where you are coming from how will you know where you are going to. So you need to assess where you are coming from. In life, you must have a starting point. Your starting point is who you are right now, where you are right now and what you have right now.
Your past also matters but you will agree with me that your past contributed to your present situation. So when I refer to your starting point as your present state your past is already included in it.
You will need to do a complete analysis of your current situation. You will consider your strength, your weaknesses, opportunities available to you and the threats you face. This analysis is actually known as SWOT. You will need to do this exercise in every area of your life; your work/business, your skills, your relationship, your finances, your spirituality and so on. An important analysis that will complete the exercise is to find out how you got to where you are right now. You must look at your successes and failures as this will help you in determining how to get to the future.
At the conclusion of this exercise, you will be in a position to truly determine who you are and where you are coming from and whether you are ready to take any action that would guarantee you success. However, I wish to say that no matter your realization after this exercise, you need to take positive action towards achieving your goals of becoming successful.
Who you want to be
Without knowing where you are coming from or who you presently are, you wouldn’t know who you want to be or where you want to go. As George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Knowing who you are at the moment is important as it would enable you have a clearer idea of who you eventually want to be. You would also begin to know the things you need to change in your life so as to become who you want to be and also the things you need to add on. If you do not know yourself well enough, you won’t be able to clearly see who you want to be. Who you want to be should be all encompassing covering your emotional, spiritual, physical and intellectual life.
So the current state analysis which you carried out is a very necessary exercise in your road to success.
What do you want to be in the future? What are your dreams and desires for your life? How will you want your life to look like in 2, 5, 10 and many years to come? What picture do you have of your family, your finances, your work/business, your spirituality, your position in the society etc? Create a perfect vision of what you will look like if you were successful in every respect.
This aspect of situational analysis helps you to picture your future and see what you will be like then. If you seriously do this aspect there is a kind of feeling you get- a feeling of hope and possibility.
Now the next thing to do is to determine what you need to do to achieve this picture you have about your future.
How to get there
You have already looked at your past, analysed your current status and pictured your future. The next step is to find out how to get from where you are now to that beautiful future you dreamed of.
You should ask yourself very pressing questions. What do you do now, to get from where you are to where you want to be? Based on your experience, what should you be doing more of or less of? What should you start doing that you are not doing today? What should you stop doing altogether? What behaviour should you stop doing and what behaviour should you imbibe? What are the things in your life that you should change? What influence you positively that you must do more of? Etc.
By the time you have asked yourself these questions and more, you will then draw a step-by-step plan on how to get yourself to that future you have created in advance in your mind.
Goodnews
If you can ask and answer all these questions accurately, the strategic plan or blueprint comes together more easily than if we were trying to plan without being clear about where we were or how we go there.
Taking the time to honestly evaluate each part of your situation before you launch towards your goal will save you months and even years on your journey.
Let me assure you that whatever picture you have of your future is achievable. Napoleon Hill said, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve.” Do I need to say a word more? Ok, consider the achievement of Barack Obama.
We will be discussing goals in the next post. Do keep a date with us.
Written by Gabriel Gambo Nmadu.
You are free to use this article and others on this blog on your website, blog or forum once you include the resource box below:
Gabriel Gambo Nmadu is committed to helping you achieve success in your life and business. You can mail him on gabu4u1@gmail.com for advice or help in your your business, relationship or life generally.
In determining these, you will need to sit down and do a situational assessment of your life. So let us proceed to examine the aforementioned issues.
Where you are coming from
There is a popular saying that if you do not know where you are coming from how will you know where you are going to. So you need to assess where you are coming from. In life, you must have a starting point. Your starting point is who you are right now, where you are right now and what you have right now.
Your past also matters but you will agree with me that your past contributed to your present situation. So when I refer to your starting point as your present state your past is already included in it.
You will need to do a complete analysis of your current situation. You will consider your strength, your weaknesses, opportunities available to you and the threats you face. This analysis is actually known as SWOT. You will need to do this exercise in every area of your life; your work/business, your skills, your relationship, your finances, your spirituality and so on. An important analysis that will complete the exercise is to find out how you got to where you are right now. You must look at your successes and failures as this will help you in determining how to get to the future.
At the conclusion of this exercise, you will be in a position to truly determine who you are and where you are coming from and whether you are ready to take any action that would guarantee you success. However, I wish to say that no matter your realization after this exercise, you need to take positive action towards achieving your goals of becoming successful.
Who you want to be
Without knowing where you are coming from or who you presently are, you wouldn’t know who you want to be or where you want to go. As George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Knowing who you are at the moment is important as it would enable you have a clearer idea of who you eventually want to be. You would also begin to know the things you need to change in your life so as to become who you want to be and also the things you need to add on. If you do not know yourself well enough, you won’t be able to clearly see who you want to be. Who you want to be should be all encompassing covering your emotional, spiritual, physical and intellectual life.
So the current state analysis which you carried out is a very necessary exercise in your road to success.
What do you want to be in the future? What are your dreams and desires for your life? How will you want your life to look like in 2, 5, 10 and many years to come? What picture do you have of your family, your finances, your work/business, your spirituality, your position in the society etc? Create a perfect vision of what you will look like if you were successful in every respect.
This aspect of situational analysis helps you to picture your future and see what you will be like then. If you seriously do this aspect there is a kind of feeling you get- a feeling of hope and possibility.
Now the next thing to do is to determine what you need to do to achieve this picture you have about your future.
How to get there
You have already looked at your past, analysed your current status and pictured your future. The next step is to find out how to get from where you are now to that beautiful future you dreamed of.
You should ask yourself very pressing questions. What do you do now, to get from where you are to where you want to be? Based on your experience, what should you be doing more of or less of? What should you start doing that you are not doing today? What should you stop doing altogether? What behaviour should you stop doing and what behaviour should you imbibe? What are the things in your life that you should change? What influence you positively that you must do more of? Etc.
By the time you have asked yourself these questions and more, you will then draw a step-by-step plan on how to get yourself to that future you have created in advance in your mind.
Goodnews
If you can ask and answer all these questions accurately, the strategic plan or blueprint comes together more easily than if we were trying to plan without being clear about where we were or how we go there.
Taking the time to honestly evaluate each part of your situation before you launch towards your goal will save you months and even years on your journey.
Let me assure you that whatever picture you have of your future is achievable. Napoleon Hill said, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve.” Do I need to say a word more? Ok, consider the achievement of Barack Obama.
We will be discussing goals in the next post. Do keep a date with us.
Written by Gabriel Gambo Nmadu.
You are free to use this article and others on this blog on your website, blog or forum once you include the resource box below:
Gabriel Gambo Nmadu is committed to helping you achieve success in your life and business. You can mail him on gabu4u1@gmail.com for advice or help in your your business, relationship or life generally.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
What is Success?
Different people have their defination of this word- Success. To some extent it may be subjective. However, whatever your take on the matter, it must have a positive connotation to be widely accepted.
Success to me mean achieving that goal which you have already set for yourself. It may range from a myriad of subjects but based on the fact that you have achieve that set goal, you can say you are succesful.
Many may limit success to money. Wealth is viewed, by them, as the only sign of success. While achieving your financial goal is a success on its own it is not the only sign to distinguish success. Many have attained wealth but are not in good health or do they have good relationship with their spouse or relatives.
It is important that we view success in its composite terms.
The following may be identified as the ingredients of success:
Success to me mean achieving that goal which you have already set for yourself. It may range from a myriad of subjects but based on the fact that you have achieve that set goal, you can say you are succesful.
Many may limit success to money. Wealth is viewed, by them, as the only sign of success. While achieving your financial goal is a success on its own it is not the only sign to distinguish success. Many have attained wealth but are not in good health or do they have good relationship with their spouse or relatives.
It is important that we view success in its composite terms.
The following may be identified as the ingredients of success:
- Peace of Mind
- Health and Energy
- Loving Relationship
- Financia Freedom
- Worthy Goals and Ideals
- Self-Knowledge and Self Awareness
- Personal Fulfilment
These composite ingredients should be viewed as a whole in determining Total Success.
Be that as it may, I want to state here that success is a journey and not a destination. As such we are, everyday, striving to add to our success progressively.
To be truly successful in life, you need to determine where you are coming from, who you want to be, the means through which you will get there and then begin to take those actions that would guarantee success.
We will look at the last paragraph in detail in subsequent postings.
I am committed to your success.
Written by Gabriel Gambo Nmadu.
You are free to use this article and others on this blog on your website, blog or forum once you include the resource box below:
Gabriel Gambo Nmadu is committed to helping you achieve success in your life and business. You can mail him on gabu4u1@gmail.com for advice or help in your your business, reltionship or life generally.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)