The sun rises over a group of runners gathering at the starting line. Birds chirping their morning songs. The group is filled with people from all backgrounds. Some want to win the race, some want to enjoy the outdoors, while others are running with a loved one or a friend. Above all each one has the same goal, to finish the race. Furthermore, every runner will get there the same way, by taking one step at a time on the route ending with the finish line.
The Importance of Planning
One step at a time on a planned route is how anything is achieved in life. Losing weight at its core is accomplished through consuming less calories than your body is expending. Saving money to buy a house or taking a trip, reading a book a month, hiking, education, even writing this blog, all these activities require small actions repeated over a period of time along a planned route.
The longest walk I have taken is 14 miles over 5 hours! I chose to walk to a local University which happened to be 7 miles away from my house. Similar to the marathon finish line, keeping that destination in my mind allowed me to stay motivated throughout the hours it took to walk there and back. Consequently, it would be near impossible for me to stay motivated to just walk around aimlessly for 14 miles. Without the goal, small actions become insignificant; without the small actions, the goal becomes impossible.
Smart Goals
Setting goals is an intricate part of long term success because it keeps you focused and helps you filter out opportunities which do not bring you towards your goals. In all my studying I have found the SMART goal setting method effective.
Specific
Target a specific area for improvement. Vague goals only distract and de-motivate because there is no way to provide value to opportunities. Something may be a “good deal” but, having the goal to save for a family vacation allows you to filter out spending money on that once in a lifetime opportunity to own a pet rock is a distraction.
Measurable
A goal needs to be measured for feedback and completeness in order to produce a sense of progress and completion. If you can’t measure progress then how do you measure completeness?
Achievable
Be honest with yourself and choose your goals wisely rather than setting yourself up for disappointment. It is good to dream big however, if your goal is unattainable it will devalue the small actions necessary to finish. If your goal is to save $10000 in two days you aren’t going to pay attention to sustainable activities for living below your means like skipping a coffee or eating in tonight. Set smaller, more achievable goals and progress up to big dream level goals.
Relevant
Fitting a goal into your skill set is powerful for the reason that you will be going with your flow. It is extremely difficult to get motivated to work on something outside of your skill set. Observe what your core skills are. What do you enjoy doing? What keeps you up at night and energizes you in the morning? Set goals that cater to your unique style to maximize your motivation and persistence.
Time-Related
Give yourself a deadline because without one, there is no accountability. Build a sense of urgency within yourself to push through the resistance to the change you are inevitably going to face. Consequently, you will achieve more in a shorter amount of time by setting realistic and slightly aggressive deadlines.
An Example
Bad: My goal is to lose some weight.
Good: My goal is to lose 10 pounds by my birthday in 2 months.
The first goal is sub-par because it is vague and open ended. How is that person supposed to have the sense of urgency to make drastic changes to their lives to accommodate losing weight? The second goal lays a simple and direct goal. It has the specific area of weight loss, it is measurable, it is achievable and it has a realistic deadline. Most importantly, the key to success in life is building goals on top of one another towards your ultimate dream.
Mapping Out Your Future
Take some time and ponder what you want your life to be in 1 year. What skill do you want to hone? Perhaps it’s learning a new language or improving your golf game. What about cooking a 5 course meal or learning to knit? It could be saving up for a down payment on a house or boat. Now reverse engineer the smaller steps it takes to get there. What milestone do you have to reach on a monthly basis?
Saving money is an easy example. If you want to save a $10,000 down payment over 12 months then you must save about $834 per month. Now take a look on what you need to do on a daily basis to move towards that $834. Maybe you need to pick up a second job or resist buying things you want rather than need. You have now increased the value of the small and simple actions at a daily level. As a result, skipping that $4.99 coffee every morning means that you are that much closer to your dream of owning a house. Without the plan laid out, saving $4.99 a day wouldn’t mean anything to most people.
Reaching Your Potential
Bringing it back to the marathon example, how different would the runners race if there was no clear finish line or worse yet, the finish continually jumped from location to location? You can’t finish a race if you don’t know where it ends. How many of those runners would stay motivated to complete the race as a result of no clear finish line? Most people live their lives in this manner and consequently, miss out of achieving their biggest dreams. If you asked any number of people what they were going to be doing in 10 or even 5 years, I would wager the vast majority wouldn’t have a clue. Most likely, those same people are the ones that wake up 20 years down the road and wonder where all the time went and why they never achieved their dreams.
If you are one of the people that don’t have long and short term SMART goals please don’t continue down that path. Take control of your life and fulfill your purpose here in this life because no one can contribute in the way you can. Dream big and map the path to your success because without a planned route to your success, your effort will be in vain. If you are someone who already lives this way, congratulations and keep up the amazing work. Above all, encourage, support, and educate those around you as it is your responsibility to share the wisdom you have gained.
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