Set Goals or Be a Servant all your Life

Goal setting is without doubt one of the greatest, if not the greatest, ingredients of a successful life. Gordon Hurd proffers some advice on goal setting and challenges every reader to start setting theirs.

goal setting advice

Everyday, you set goals for various aspects of your life, for example: you plan your grocery list with surgical perfection, knowing exactly how much to spend at the supermarket and what to buy; how about that visit to a holiday tour guide to pick up a brochure and plan your next vacation with mathematical precision down to details like the destination hotel, room number, how much it’ll cost and what kind of food they offer. You know to the minute when the cab will take you to the airport, when your flight takes off, when your connecting flight is scheduled and how many minutes you have between flights to do a quick shopping dash; you are driving to another state, what do you do? Program your satellite navigation system perfectly, you type in the destination zip code and even print a map just in case technology falters. In all three scenarios, you achieve set goals.

Surely there must be a reason why you went through all the trouble to plan. It is clear that failure to do so would mess up your shopping, holiday or trip. So you plan for them.

The Importance of Goals

Why then does 97% of the world’s population not set the most important goal of all – LIFE GOALS? Why do people not care what their final destination in life is? You have often heard it said that “what will be, will be”. This fatalistic approach to life is the reason most men and women saunter through life in mediocrity and misery and die anonymously. Yet goal setting is not only necessary but desirable. Brian Tracy, author of The Psychology of Achievement, says: “Goal setting is the single most important skill that you can learn and perfect. Goal-setting will do more to help you achieve the things you want in life than will anything else you’ve been exposed to. Becoming an expert at goal-setting and goal-achieving is something that you absolutely must do if you wish to fulfill your potential as a human being.”

Jack Canfield, author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, once remarked that “People who do not have goals are servants of those who do”.

Research shows that this is true. Harvard did a study back in the 1950s about goals. It showed that only 3% of the respondents had set goals before graduating. In the 1980s, they followed up on the study and found out that the 3% who had set goals were worth more financially than the rest of the 97% without goals combined. This is proof that goals are important if we are to live above the masses.

How then do we set goals?

Goal Setting Formula: Different experts in the area of goal setting use different expressions such as “dream crafting”, “goal planning”, “dream-lining” and “objectives process”. All of them have one common denominator which is planning. Goal setting, in order to be effective, must include some or all of the following:

Determine Your True Purpose on Earth: In order to have a life plan that is fueled with passion, you need to take time and discover what you were brought on earth to do. While this may sound esoteric to some people who claim to be “pragmatic” and want to “just get on with it”, this is what separates great people from mediocres. If you would like to read more about this, I refer you to Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life which has sold over 20 million copies worldwide.

Determine what you DO NOT want: Make up your mind about the things you do not desire in your life – determine that you do not want to be a servant waking up early to queue on the motorway to work a back-breaking, dead-end job; that you do not want to be in debt all your life; etc. Do not dwell on these for long … however it is important to be clear about them.

Decide what you REALLY want: Making up your mind about what you really want in life is crucial … this should be the antithesis of what you do not want. You must only focus on this. Never ever go back to dwell on the undesireables. This is so important that I have to say it again: Never ever dwell on the things you do not want. Do not keep saying “I loathe this run down shack. I want to get out of here fast”! This keeps you looking backwards, instead of forward. Pay more attention to the thing(s) you desire most, so that your mind will retain information on these positive desires. What you want is up to you but it must be four-dimensional: physical, mental, spiritual and social.

Write your goals down: I have met several people who came to me for help and when I asked them to write down their goals and bring them back, they disappeared. “It is too much trouble,” one told me. This same lady does not find it “too much trouble” to pack frozen chicken in a factory for 10 hours every night! I would much rather write down 500 pages of goals than drudge in a sweat shop all night for years.

A lot of theories have been put forward about the relationship between writing and subconscious activity. Simply put, while in school, you assimilated more when you studied with a pen or pencil and took down notes. Gary Ryan Blair calls it “the magic of pen and paper”.

Make your goals challenging: God, the Universe, or whatever you call the source of your being and strength, does not care about how big your goals are. YOU decide how big you want your goal to be. Do you want to be a business man with 200 branches (or franchises) of your shop worldwide? Do you want to be a motivational speaker sought after and admired by millions around the globe? Would you like to go on an adventure and travel worldwide to see distant places? Would you like to have a fleet of top-of-the-range cars? Go for it! Let nobody tell you that your goals are vain.

We cannot all have the same goals.

Do not settle for what your current means can achieve. The reason you are setting goals is because you aim for greater things in your life. Forget the current limitations, your short comings, the things holding you back and the ‘how’ … you will find answers during the journey. In goal setting, you must be somewhat “unrealistic”.

Go for it!

Gary Ryan Blair says “When you set a goal, you achieve it”. Simple. In order to achieve your goal, you would need to apply a couple of techniques that have been known to produce results. The first is capturing the end result. You must behave like an architect and see the final product of your goal, then feel the joy of having already received it. Next, prioritise your goal by reading or writing it several times. You can also place reminders around the house or office. My email password is a word that reminds me of my goal.

Express gratitude for the goal even before it arrives. Neville says “the acceptance of the end wills the means”. The Bible says: “Therefore I say to you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.”

Gordon Hurd is a motivational speaker, gospel singer, goal setting expert and author of Christian Millionaire Secrets, a new book that challenges Christians to take back their God-given right to wealth.

(First published in DUNIA print Magazine, issue 4)

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