was at a presentation today heard someone say that they did not have any goals! I waited for them to provide me with insight that would clarify the previous statement. To provide something that would basically state that they indeed had goals but had difficulty articulating them. That never happened. They convincingly continued to express how they had no goals in life and was comfortable with that. No identifiable goals?
Now rather or not this is indeed genuine thoughts and feelings of this person; I may never know. However, I did find myself experiencing several feelings regarding life without goals. Unlike this individual; I cannot think of a time when I did not have a goal. I would probably go as far as to say that I have had goals that included developing more goals – if that makes sense.
When thinking of an example of the importance of goals; instantly I think of something a good friend of mine says. She often tells people to “stay focused” in a comical manner when they get tangent or long winded within a conversation. She has told me this on numerous occasions. We laugh about it, but she is reminding those individuals that they have derailed from the topic of conversation. Diverted from their path. They have failed to achieve the goal of the discussion by not staying focused!
Goals keep you focused; which in turn, reinforces self-discipline, self-control, and builds self-esteem. Goals, which should be measurable in nature, tells us how close we are to our target. Goals determines our friendships, our relationships, careers, and how we spend our leisure time. Goals keep you out of debt! Goals, which should be written, serve as visual reminders to keep our promises to ourselves. Unlike those New Years Resolutions that always manage to get broken before January is even over. Goals facilitate consistency and minimizes random acts of behavior. Goals keep you genuine to both yourself and others. In order to be effective; goals must be designed within your control. You should not develop a goal that is completely contingent on the acts of others.
Basically, you want your goals to be achievable, believable and meaningful. But most importantly – you have to have them.