LESSON 13-14: Setting goals for success

Objectives

 Evaluate the power of one’s goal

 Reconstruct one’s goal which will lead one to good life
 Assess the effect of one’s goal to one’s self, family and Philippine society
 Identifying hindrances to the successful attainment of goal and how these can be overcome
Introduction

 “Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with
no destination.” -Fitzhugh Dodson

Everyone has an opinion about goals and goal setting. Some professionals love setting goals and swear
by them. Others hate them. The only truth is that nothing works the way it should unless you do the work.
The same is often true about goals and their ultimate purpose.

Setting goals is not about the accomplishment itself. It is also not just about "becoming the person
required to attain those goals." That's too fluffy. It is much deeper, and more important. It is about
combining the fortitude to achieve with clear thinking, while making sense of your purpose and defining
your ability to deliver value to others.

Goals provide clarity. We all know that when we have a clear vision or desire, taking the proper action is
easier. When you have to put the pen to paper, only the truth comes out. Whatever is written becomes
real. Writing down goals helps you define who you really are. Goals are tools that help us navigate foggy
situations.

Content
 Goal planning and setting

How to Set a Goal

First consider what you want to achieve, and then commit to it. Set SMART (specific,
measureable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) goals that motivate you and write them down
to make them feel tangible. Then plan the steps you must take to realize your goal, and cross off
each one as you work through them.

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.

Why Set Goals?

Top-level athletes, successful businesspeople and achievers in all fields all set goals. 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 most of your life.
By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of those
goals, and you'll see forward progress in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. You
will also raise your self-confidence , as you recognize your own ability and competence in achieving the
goals that you've set.

Starting to Set Personal Goals

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 setting goals 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.

Step 1: Setting Lifetime Goals

The first step in setting personal goals is to consider what you want to achieve in your lifetime (or at least,
by a significant and distant age in the future). Setting lifetime goals gives you the overall perspective that
shapes all other aspects of your decision making.

To give a broad, balanced coverage of all important areas in your life, try to set goals in some of the
following categories (or in other categories of your own, where these are important to you):

 Career – What level do you want to reach in your career, or what do you want to achieve?
 Financial – How much do you want to earn, by what stage? How is this related to your career goals?
 Education – Is there any knowledge you want to acquire in particular? What information and skills will
you need to have in order to achieve other goals?
 Family – Do you want to be a parent? If so, how are you going to be a good parent? How do you
want to be seen by a partner or by members of your extended family?
 Artistic – Do you want to achieve any artistic goals?
 Attitude – Is any part of your mindset holding you back? Is there any part of the way that you behave
that upsets you? (If so, set a goal to improve your behavior or find a solution to the problem.)
 Physical – Are there any athletic goals that you want to achieve, or do you want good health deep
into old age? What steps are you going to take to achieve this?
 Pleasure – How do you want to enjoy yourself? (You should ensure that some of your life is for you!)
 Public Service – Do you want to make the world a better place? If so, how?
Spend some time brainstorming these things, and then select one or more goals in each category that
best reflect what you want to do. Then consider trimming again so that you have a small number of really
significant goals that you can focus on.

Step 2: Setting Smaller Goals

Once you have set your lifetime goals, set a five-year plan of smaller goals that you need to complete if
you are to reach your lifetime plan.

Then create a one-year plan, six-month plan, and a one-month plan of progressively smaller goals that
you should reach to achieve your lifetime goals. Each of these should be based on the previous plan.

Staying on Course

Once you've decided on your first set of goals, keep the process going by reviewing and updating your
To-Do List on a daily basis.

Periodically review the longer term plans, and modify them to reflect your changing priorities and
experience. (A good way of doing this is to schedule regular, repeating reviews using a computer-based
diary.)

https://www.mindtools.com/page6.html

 Tips for setting powerful goals

The most important benefit of setting goals isn’t achieving your goal; it’s what you do and the person you
become in order to achieve your goal that’s the real benefit.
Goal setting is powerful because it provides focus. It shapes our dreams. It gives us the ability to hone in
on the exact actions we need to perform to achieve everything we desire in life. Goals are great because
they cause us to stretch and grow in ways that we never have before. In order to reach our goals, we
must become better.
What are the key aspects to learn and remember when studying and writing our goals? Here’s a closer
look at goal setting and how you can make it forceful and practical:

1. Evaluate and reflect.

The only way we can reasonably decide what we want in the future and how we’ll get there is to know
where we are right now and what our current level of satisfaction is. So first, take some time to think
through and write down your current situation; then ask this question on each key point: Is that OK?
The purpose of evaluation is twofold. First, it gives you an objective way to look at your accomplishments
and your pursuit of the vision you have for life. Secondly, it shows you where you are so you
can determine where you need to go. Evaluation gives you a baseline to work from.
Take a couple of hours this week to evaluate and reflect. See where you are and write it down so that as
the months progress and you continue a regular time of evaluation and reflection, you will see just how
much ground you’re gaining—and that will be exciting!

2. Define your dreams and goals.

One of the amazing things we have been given as humans is the unquenchable desire to have dreams of
a better life and the ability to establish and set goals to live out those dreams. We can look deep within
our hearts and dream of a better situation for ourselves and our families. We can dream of better
financial, emotional, spiritual or physical lives. We have also been given the ability to not only dream, but
pursue those dreams—and not just pursue them, but the cognitive ability to lay out a plan and strategies
to achieve those dreams. Powerful!
What are your dreams and goals? This isn’t what you already have or what you have done, but what
you want. Have you ever really sat down and thought through your life values and decided what you
really want? Have you ever taken the time to truly reflect, to listen quietly to your heart, to see what
dreams live within you? Your dreams are there. Everyone has them. They may live right on the surface,
or they may be buried deep from years of others telling you they were foolish, but they are there.
Take time to be quiet. This is something that we don’t do enough of in this busy world of ours. We rush,
rush, rush, and we’re constantly listening to noise all around us. The human heart was meant for times of
quiet—to peer deep within. It is when we do this that our hearts are set free to soar and take flight on the
wings of our own dreams. Schedule some quiet “dream time” this week. No other people. No cellphone.
No computer. Just you, a pad, a pen and your thoughts.

3. Make your goals S.M.A.R.T.

The acronym S.M.A.R.T. means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-sensitive.

Specific:

Goals are no place to waffle. They are no place to be vague. Ambiguous goals produce ambiguous
results. Incomplete goals produce incomplete futures.

Measurable:

Always set goals that are measurable. I would say “specifically measurable” to take into account our
principle of being specific.

Attainable:

One of the detrimental things that many people do—with good intentions—is setting goals that are so
high that they are unattainable.

Realistic:

The root word of realistic is “real.” A goal has to be something that we can reasonably make “real” or a
“reality” in our lives. There are some goals that are simply not realistic. You have to be able to say, even if
it is a tremendously stretching goal, that yes, indeed, it is entirely realistic—that you could make it. You
may even have to say that it will take x, y and z to do it, but if those happen, then it can be done. This is in
no way to say it shouldn’t be a big goal, but it must be realistic.

Time:

Every goal should have a timeframe attached to it. One of the powerful aspects of a great goal is that it
has an end—a time in which you are shooting to accomplish it. As time goes by, you work on it because
you don’t want to get behind, and you work diligently because you want to meet the deadline. You may
even have to break down a big goal into different parts of measurement and timeframes—that is OK. Set
smaller goals and work them out in their own time. A S.M.A.R.T. goal has a timeline.

4. Have accountability.
When someone knows what your goals are, they hold you accountable by asking you to “give an account”
of where you are in the process of achieving that goal. Accountability puts some teeth into the process. If
a goal is set and only one person knows it, does it really have any power? Many times, no. A goal isn’t as
powerful if you don’t have one or more people who can hold you accountable to it.
https://www.success.com/rohn-4-tips-for-setting-powerful-goals/

 SWOT Analysis

SWOT, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats, is a way to analyze and
evaluate your current situation and environment. While it's typically used for strategic planning in
business settings, it can also be used in goal setting to help you identify goals that will give you the most
benefit. It is a way of matching your internal capabilities, resources and liabilities with the external factors
you are facing.

A SWOT analysis for goal setting is a great tool for helping you be realistic about what you can really
achieve. The next step is to take this ‘brainstormed’ information and gain some real insight from your
results. Now grab a highlighter and highlight the key items. The outcome you want from the SWOT
analysis for goal setting for each life aspect is a short list of:

The SWOT format can be used to assess almost anything – from a personal SWOT analysis for goal
setting, to SWOT analyses of business opportunities and technical solutions to problems.

So once you’ve grasped the SWOT analysis concept, you’ll have a very useful decision making tool under
your belt.