Set Goals

Making goals--making decisions to follow through with--is difficult these days! Society gives us mixed messages: It says we should be responsible to others--YET live our own lives--YET go with the flow and put up with misery--YET find our own happiness. It's so frustrating!

We "should" work 60 hour weeks plus commute, study to improve our professional skills or change careers, spend lots of time with spouses and children, live in clean and tidy homes, exercise several days a week, grow spiritually, and still have free time to ourselves.

That's what society says. But it's unrealistic. And so, we have too many dreams and plans that contradict each other. We don't have the energy, much less the time, to get it all done. In all this confusion and fatigue, we have difficulty making decisions, acting on them, and not changing our minds all the time.

               

Think Backward

When you go on a vacation, do you plan your destination based on your wardrobe, or do you plan your wardrobe based on your destination?

Now, think about how you make long-term goals. Do you set goals based on your current skills, or do you build skills to achieve your goals?

I think that goal-setting is a kind of backward-thinking. First, you choose your destination (long-term goal). Then, figure out what prerequisites you will want or need in order to reach your destination (medium-term goals). Then, identify the prerequisites for the prerequisites (short-term goals). And so forth.

For example, suppose you want to build a car from scratch. In order to build the car, you need to build and assemble the parts of the car, such as the engine. And, in order to build the engine, you need to buy metals and other materials. Knowing how much metal to buy requires that you first design the engine. Designing an engine requires that you first learn some mechanical engineering.

Likewise, baking a cake requires that you follow a recipe, which requires that you go shopping. You could simply buy random ingredients at the store, and attempt to bake a cake with them--but that's not what goal-setting is about.

Good computer programmers begin by designing the reports or screen shots that their programs will output. Only after they have finished that process, they decide what data will be input and how.

Take the time to think backward. Develop your long-term goals, then your medium-term goals, then your short-term goals--and then, get busy working on them. Learn the skills, habits, and attitudes that will help you to achieve what you want. Plan your wardrobe based on your vacation destination!

On the other hand, you could sometimes do the opposite...

Break Goals into Phases

The phases should be:

a) pleasant--so you can enjoy the process

b) measurable--so you can enjoy reaching the destination

They can overlap: That is, you don't have to completely finish one phase in order to start working on the next.

Here are two examples:

PHASES OF CAREER GROWTH

a) Phase One. Study (if needed) to break into the field.

b) Phase Two. Start at Ground Level, with enthusiasm.

c) Phase Three. Decide where you are headed.

d) Phase Four. Become qualified, not only to get your dream job, but also to do it well.

e) Phase Five. Get where you're going.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY

1) Phase One. Master the introductory material (1-2 years of a language course).

2) Phase Two. Learn to converse on 100 topics.

3) Phase Three. Listen to and read native materials (radio, TV, novels, etc.) until you can do so with ease.

4) Phase Four (optional). Learn to translate or interpret from the language.

Breaking goals into phases is a left-brain activity, but once it's done, it allows your right brain to stop fretting about the immensity of the goal. You can then build up your enthusiasm, set deadlines for short-term goals, and focus on immediate tasks.