Why Is Goal Setting Important?
You need goals if your want to become successful. Why?
It’s a simple reason, really…
- Without goals, how do you know if you have attained success?
- Would you even know what constitutes success?
Your Goals And Success
It is easy enough to say that being successful means having a multi-million dollar home, earning a 6-figure income, having a big bank account, having a vacation home in the sunny Caribbean, having your choice of cars, and enjoying all the other obvious benefits of wealth.
This is the problem, however. Is wealth synonymous to success? For most people, this is probably the case. The question is: is it equally true in your case?
Success can take many forms and guises. There are people to whom success means financial independence or the freedom from worrying about it. Although wealthy people will perhaps rank high in this type of success, people who know how to earn money and are confident about getting some when they need it will also qualify.
People who live simply and do not need the things that money can buy, moreover, can also be deemed successful in that case.
On the other hand, there are people to whom success is having a healthy, loving family or honor in their profession. There are journalists whose notion of success is getting the Pulitzer or some such awards.
The above discussion illustrates three things: wealth is not a prerequisite to success, people from different stations and with different abilities can be equally successful depending on their criteria of success, and success means different things to different people.
All these things considered, you really should have your own goals if you want to succeed. Exactly what kind of success do you want to attain – at what field of endeavor do you wish to succeed?
Your goals for success will be the tangible manifestations – the benchmarks, if you will – of the kind of success that you want and will work to achieve. They will also guide you on your journey to success.
By comparing what you are doing to what you want to achieve (your goals), you can easily ascertain whether your present activities are taking you nearer to success or are taking you farther away from your goals.
Types of Goals You Can Set
The above illustrates that goal setting is very relevant to success. At this point, you should remember that goals vary by magnitude. Specifically, there are…
- Long-Term Goals,
- Medium-Term Goals
- Short-Term Goals
The long-term goals are your overarching goals. In fact, you can set the mother of all goals – your ultimate ambition, if you will.
This will be more in the league of a vision – for instance, you can specify that you intend to become the owner of a successful accountancy firm 25 years from now. Other long term goals that will naturally accompany this are your intended reach, your planned company’s size, etc.
The medium-term goals are things that you intend to achieve in 5, 10 or 15 years’ time. These, naturally, should lead to your long-term goal/s.
The short-term goals, on the other hand, should be the specific steps that you will need to accomplish your medium-term goals and, indirectly, your long-term goals.
