Goal Setting

We all get the feeling that we want to achieve much more in our lives. At various times, we keep feeling that there could be much more to life than just the routine activities.

This brings us to the concepts of life management, goal setting and time management. These concepts are related to each other.

Let us understand these related concepts in detail.

We need to understand and appreciate that:
1.Each individual’s time on this earth is limited. No individual is going to live forever. Whatever has to be achieved, has to be achieved in the limited time span available to us.
2.No individual is good at everything. Each of us is good at some things and not good at some other things. So, every individual has some strengths and some weaknesses. These are also related to the fact that each individual has some specific interests.
3.As an individual moves across life, the individual’s interests, goals and priorities should obviously undergo a change. The priorities which one has a teenager would no longer be priorities when that individual grows into adulthood, then into middle age and into retirement.

Thus, it is clear that one has to make the best possible utilization of the time available. Also, one should utilize the available time to try to achieve those things which one is interests, that to achieve one’s goals.

The dictionary defines a goal as “a result or achievement toward which effort is directed”.

So, a Goal is an objective which an individual wants to achieve.

It is important to have goals. Having a goal tells the individual where he / she should direct his / her efforts.

If a person does not have a goal or objective, that person would not know what to do ion the time available. Such a person would not know where to direct his /her efforts.

Let us understand Goals in detail. In order that the human mind can focus on a goal, it is important to write down one’s goals. Writing down one’s goal(s) imparts a sense of commitment to the goals being written down.

There can be different types of goals, as explained below:
1.DAY-WISE GOALS - Goals which the person wants to achieve on a specific day.
2.MONTHLY GOALS - Goals which the person wants to achieve in the specific month.
3.YEARLY GOALS - Goals which the person wants to achieve in the specific year.
4.LIFETIME GOALS - Goals which the person wants to achieve in his / her life

With reference to LIFETIME GOALS, it is pertinent to mention here that these goals might change as the individual moves across life. Similarly, YEARLY GOALS might change as the year progresses.

When an individual starts on the journey of setting goals, there may be a lot of iterations involved. Initially, the goal setting process may not be completely linear. Also, all the goals may not occur in one sitting.

SETTING OF LIFETIME GOALS
At any stage of life, it is important for an individual to sit down and think what he / she wants to accomplish in his / her lifetime. It is advisable that when you start writing down, initially, one should write all the things when one wants to achieve.

SETTING OF YEARLY GOALS
Before the start of the year (at least a month before the start of the (new year), one should take out time to write down what one wants to achieve in the next calendar year.

SETTING AND MANAGEMENT OF DAILY GOALS
It is often said that a well-planned day is a more productive day. Thus, it is important to plan one’s day – that is, for each day, it is important to list down the goals which one wants to achieve on that day. The best way to make each day productive is to maintain and follow a dairy. On the previous evening, it is important to write down all the activities which the individual wants to achieve on the next day. This list should be reviewed before the start of the day. As the day progresses, the individual needs to keep going through the list, and striking out the activities which get completed. Some of the activities might get spoiled overt to subsequent days, which should get written down for those days.

REVIEW OF YEARLY GOALS
At least once every fifteen days, it is important to go through the list of yearly goals and measure level of achievement. Some goals might get achieved, some goals might become redundant and some goals might have to be carried forward to subsequent years.

REVIEW OF LIFETIME GOALS
At least once every month, it is important to go through and review one’s lifetime goals.

If the above goal setting and goal reviewing processes are adopted, they would help in:

1. Giving a sense direction to one’s life
2. Helping organize one’s life