Setting goals is a beneficial habit that you can develop. It’s scary because goals require a commitment and they serve as a reminder when you have failed. However, most successful people attest to the power of goals. Here are five points to consider while setting your goals:
1. Do not equate your identity to your productivity. Remember the time when you were young and your parents and friends made you feel like your position and grades equal your identity and whether you’re worth loving? Did you internalize that? Are you out to prove your worth by being productive? When you fail, you will crash. You are not your goals.
2. Set goals you deeply care about. When the going gets tough, having goals that speak to your personality, identity and life’s mission will keep you going. If it was about money and fame, tough times will break you.
3. Visualize your goals. See yourself achieving them. Clarify on paper what your life would be like with your goals accomplished. Create a vision board and look at it often.
4. Break down your goals into right-sized chunks. You cannot eat an elephant in a day but you can in 5-10 years. The temptation is to think we can achieve a lot quicker than a lot over time. People underestimate what they can achieve in 5-10 years but overestimate what they can achieve in 1-2 years. Thanks, Bill Gates. Don’t be that person. Baby steps. This is your own journey. Walk your pace.
5. Act. You’ve got to go out there and make mistakes and get rejected and suffer loss. You can’t plan all day, every day. Get out. Join hands with others. Ask for help. Give help. Dreams are important but you’ve got to get out of bed and chase them. Act courageously. Prayerfully. Consistently. Patiently.
