Settiing Goals and Getting Them Done

There is a story told about Albert Einstein. It seems that Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train. The conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, the great scientist couldn’t find his ticket. He looked everywhere, turning out each of his pockets, without success.

Finally, the conductor said, ‘Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it.’

Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he glanced back and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket.

The conductor rushed back and said, ‘Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry, I know who you are. You don’t need a ticket. I’m sure you bought one.’

Einstein looked at him and said, ‘Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going.’

The moral of the story, and the reason for Einstein’s panic, is that if you don’t know where you are going, you won’t know when you get there.

That is why it is so important to have a goal in mind. It doesn’t have to be a major goal. You don’t have to have your entire life mapped out. You don’t have to plan everything to the most insignificant detail.

In fact, it may be better if you don’t try to do that because when we plan too closely we can become inflexible and fall victim to Robert Burns’ maxim about the best laid plan of mice and men.

But you do need to have an idea of where you want to go and how you are going to get there. You need to know what you want to get done and have at least a vague idea of how you are going to accomplish it.

For those of us who work at home, this is even more important. It is only too easy to get up in the morning and just sort of drift through the day starting this, being distracted by that, getting bored with this, finding that too difficult and putting it aside. By the end of the day, you may find that you are exhausted but you can’t point to any one thing that you accomplished.

Far better to start out the day with one or two stated intentions. As you lie in bed after turning off the alarm, say to yourself, ‘Today, I want to get this and this done.’ Then do it.

Or, better yet, when you go to bed, say to yourself, ‘Tomorrow, I want to accomplish this and that.’ Your subconscious mind will hold that intention through the night. While you are sleeping, you may even stumble upon an idea or two that will make the achievement of those goals easier.

If you should happen to accomplish all that you had planned to get done before the day is over, congratulate yourself. Pat yourself on the back. Make a little ceremony of checking those items off your list, even if the list is only in your mind. Then figure out something else you can do in the time you have left.

If you were overly-ambitious in your intentions – or if something came up to make your plans go “agley” – there’s no reason to beat yourself up or condemn yourself as a failure. Congratulate yourself for having the foresight to have a ready-made goal or intention for tomorrow. Get a good night’s sleep and start out fresh and goal-oriented the next day.

The point is: Know where you’re going, plan how to get there, and celebrate your progress. Even baby steps are forward.