1. The Dilemma
There is surely one morning in your life where you wake up feeling lost and dreary. You dread the thought of going to office daily and your life is merely a routine that has lost all its appeal to you. At work, jealousy creeps up to you as you witness your colleagues getting successful with their career but you, on the other hand, are stuck at the same position just waiting for the day to be over so that you can get out of that place. Your humdrum life sucks all the motivation and energy out of you such that everyday is filled with darkness. An endless stream of questions pop up but they all boil down to the same i.e. what am I doing with my life?
2. The Solution
Solving this problem is not complicated but requires your utmost focus and dedication. All this monotony and lack of motivation that you encounter is due to a single reason and that is you do not have objectives in your life. You can picture yourself as a boat stranded in the middle of the sea without any directions to follow but be pushed back and forth by the wind and waves. Similarly, you have absolutely no idea of what is it you intend to achieve and this explains the absence of enthusiasm in your life. Whether you like it or not, goals and objectives are a pre-requisite of life. They exist everywhere in different forms. The government tables an annual budget which is plans to execute. A company must draw up a business plan before it can operate effectively. If these organizations realize the importance of having goals and objectives, then individuals should not be exempted from them as well.
In my opinion, most people immediately shun the thought of setting goals and objectives because it is an inconvenient process which forces them to think ahead and plan for an uncertain future. The reality is that many individuals would prefer to live life as it is on a day-to-day basis rather than have a pre-determined plan to follow. They can offer many excuses to support this typical mentality but none can refute the fact that a clarity of direction gives definite of purpose in life, something that many of us lack.
3. The Lifelong Process
Setting goals and objectives is the first step of taking control of your life. You need to have a clear vision of yourself not only one year from now but also ten years down the line. It is a systematic process of dividing your life into several manageable stages and defining your mission at each stage. Ideally, you should first determine your primary goal, which is a large picture of what you intend to achieve over a period of time. For example, your primary objective is to become an audit partner by the age of 35. Your primary objective is supported by several secondary/subordinate objectives, which, upon completion, will lead to the achievement of your ultimate goal. In order to become an audit partner by that age, you will have to climb the hierarchy consistently over a certain number of years. Hence, your secondary objectives will be the number of years you should be holding a particular position before being promoted.
With a clear view of what has to be accomplished, you can then plan your route towards them. This will include the allocation of resources such as time and money. As the saying goes, “Time and tide waits for no man”, you should place extra emphasis on personal time management so that your objectives can be realized effectively within a specific timeframe. Clearly, without goals and objectives, you will be wasting time pursuing something which does not interest you and is not producing any results as well.
However, the process of setting goals and objectives is a perpetual one which requires your attention every now and then. It is absolutely pointless to write your mission on a piece of paper and then lock it in a drawer to allow dust to settle on it! On the other hand, you should make copies of your plan and stick them in appropriate places such as the refrigerator, your table, your car, your mirror etc. By doing so, you are constantly reminded of your purpose in life and this is the fuel that drives you forward and creates enthusiasm. Ideally, you should run through your overall plan before your day begins so that there is a clear idea of what needs to be done today.
Apart from that, your goals and objectives are indicators to measure and evaluate your actual performance. This enables you to pinpoint your current position and identify your weaknesses. Hence, you can determine the need for any corrective steps to ensure that you are in the correct route. For example, your goal is to obtain your university degree with first class honors within four years. With this in mind, you constantly review the results of each examination to evaluate the possibility of achieving your objective. This allows you to decide the amount of extra effort needed to improve performance.
4. A Better Life Ahead
With clear goals and objectives, you will discover that there is so much to accomplish in life but so little time. You will also realize that they are your strongest source of motivation because the burning desire to achieve your objectives overcomes all obstacles you may encounter. Life has so much to offer if only you have a clear idea of what you intend to achieve. Remember that your time in this world is limited. Thus, make the best use of it by setting goals and objectives. A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Start by planning what you intend to do tomorrow.
There is surely one morning in your life where you wake up feeling lost and dreary. You dread the thought of going to office daily and your life is merely a routine that has lost all its appeal to you. At work, jealousy creeps up to you as you witness your colleagues getting successful with their career but you, on the other hand, are stuck at the same position just waiting for the day to be over so that you can get out of that place. Your humdrum life sucks all the motivation and energy out of you such that everyday is filled with darkness. An endless stream of questions pop up but they all boil down to the same i.e. what am I doing with my life?
2. The Solution
Solving this problem is not complicated but requires your utmost focus and dedication. All this monotony and lack of motivation that you encounter is due to a single reason and that is you do not have objectives in your life. You can picture yourself as a boat stranded in the middle of the sea without any directions to follow but be pushed back and forth by the wind and waves. Similarly, you have absolutely no idea of what is it you intend to achieve and this explains the absence of enthusiasm in your life. Whether you like it or not, goals and objectives are a pre-requisite of life. They exist everywhere in different forms. The government tables an annual budget which is plans to execute. A company must draw up a business plan before it can operate effectively. If these organizations realize the importance of having goals and objectives, then individuals should not be exempted from them as well.
In my opinion, most people immediately shun the thought of setting goals and objectives because it is an inconvenient process which forces them to think ahead and plan for an uncertain future. The reality is that many individuals would prefer to live life as it is on a day-to-day basis rather than have a pre-determined plan to follow. They can offer many excuses to support this typical mentality but none can refute the fact that a clarity of direction gives definite of purpose in life, something that many of us lack.
3. The Lifelong Process
Setting goals and objectives is the first step of taking control of your life. You need to have a clear vision of yourself not only one year from now but also ten years down the line. It is a systematic process of dividing your life into several manageable stages and defining your mission at each stage. Ideally, you should first determine your primary goal, which is a large picture of what you intend to achieve over a period of time. For example, your primary objective is to become an audit partner by the age of 35. Your primary objective is supported by several secondary/subordinate objectives, which, upon completion, will lead to the achievement of your ultimate goal. In order to become an audit partner by that age, you will have to climb the hierarchy consistently over a certain number of years. Hence, your secondary objectives will be the number of years you should be holding a particular position before being promoted.
With a clear view of what has to be accomplished, you can then plan your route towards them. This will include the allocation of resources such as time and money. As the saying goes, “Time and tide waits for no man”, you should place extra emphasis on personal time management so that your objectives can be realized effectively within a specific timeframe. Clearly, without goals and objectives, you will be wasting time pursuing something which does not interest you and is not producing any results as well.
However, the process of setting goals and objectives is a perpetual one which requires your attention every now and then. It is absolutely pointless to write your mission on a piece of paper and then lock it in a drawer to allow dust to settle on it! On the other hand, you should make copies of your plan and stick them in appropriate places such as the refrigerator, your table, your car, your mirror etc. By doing so, you are constantly reminded of your purpose in life and this is the fuel that drives you forward and creates enthusiasm. Ideally, you should run through your overall plan before your day begins so that there is a clear idea of what needs to be done today.
Apart from that, your goals and objectives are indicators to measure and evaluate your actual performance. This enables you to pinpoint your current position and identify your weaknesses. Hence, you can determine the need for any corrective steps to ensure that you are in the correct route. For example, your goal is to obtain your university degree with first class honors within four years. With this in mind, you constantly review the results of each examination to evaluate the possibility of achieving your objective. This allows you to decide the amount of extra effort needed to improve performance.
4. A Better Life Ahead
With clear goals and objectives, you will discover that there is so much to accomplish in life but so little time. You will also realize that they are your strongest source of motivation because the burning desire to achieve your objectives overcomes all obstacles you may encounter. Life has so much to offer if only you have a clear idea of what you intend to achieve. Remember that your time in this world is limited. Thus, make the best use of it by setting goals and objectives. A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Start by planning what you intend to do tomorrow.
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