Goal Setter Blog

The fact that we see so many goal-setting programs and self-appointed life coaches springing out everywhere is proof that things are getting tougher for everyone.

So the marketing gurus have sniffed a golden opportunity out there to make a buck out of someone else's misery. The thinking goes like this: 1- find out what people want 2- give it to them. I wonder why nobody has ever thought how to sell peace to the Palestinians. I suppose their market research concluded there was no money in it...

So for the rest of us who are not spin doctors and don't work in marketing we are left wondering why it is such a hard slog to make a living compared to 20 years ago.

Obviously if you were not in the workforce 20 years ago you don't have a clue what I am talking about because you do not have that point of reference.

Competition has intensified. No business is safe from having their market stolen from under their feet by some global predator.

Productivity has increased dramatically. With technological breakthroughs it takes only one person to supervise an entire production line. In yesteryears it may have taken 100 people to produce the same output.

Outsourcing is the key to leverage cheap labour. You can run a whole enterprise from your home office by delegating tasks to Indian contractors who will build your website and run your call centre for a pittance.

Women are not happy to stay at home to raise children. They want to be breadwinners and call the shots. They divorce their partners just like you move to a new house or buy a new car. Those who are fulfilled in motherhood may struggle to bring their dream to pass and still need to enter the workforce just to put a deposit on a house.

The forever-young syndrome inflicts a de-facto bias against those in their fifties. Mature workers find it near impossible to compete because their aged qualifications are deemed irrelevant in an ever changing world. Those in leadership are reluctant to hire someone who is their elder and experience is downgraded. We live in the new age where nothing is to be gained from those who have-been-there-done-that.

People are hesitant to set goals when they doubt whether they are achievable at all. The middle-class is under threat. Rich people flaunt their wealth and do not sponsor worthy causes bar a few. Homelessness creeps in as people can't afford housing of their own and sleep in a car at night.

The scene is set for a breakthrough. Will you make it or will you be swept away?

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The skill to track several goals simultaneously is the mark of the winner. A goal setting system can improve our limited capacity to cope.

The alternative is to be a one track mind and the real danger is getting stuck in an unsurmountable challenge while other possibilities pass us by. In fact it is rather a luxury to be able to concentrate on just one thing and it may not do you that much good. You have heard it said "I will sleep on it." The common wisdom here is that a flash of creativity can come when your mind is at peace and you do not push yourself to perform.

Why do some use a diary? Sounds like a lame question to ask. But the answer, beyond the fact that we are forgetful is that writing things down calls a commitment from us. We are no longer subjected to whatever catches our attention at the time but we make ourselves accountable to do what we said we would do.

Obviously a diary is to keep track of your appointments. The next step is to keep a journal. Each evening your would write down the things that mattered to you that day and 3, 6 or 12 months down the track you would muse with glee at the trite things you were battling with at the time. In line with those good logging habits the final step is to write down your goals. Writing them and forgetting them obviously is not going to help but it's a start.

You have to be able to verbalize your aspirations. You have to picture yourself where you want to be. You have to challenge yourself to release your potential and trust that somehow you will get there. And here is the test: the moment you set your mind to do something worthwhile opposition abounds. But that is to be expected. As iron sharpens iron so some flak makes you stronger.

People complain about the boss looking over their shoulder but at least they should acknowledge they have a boss in the first place - I mean someone whose job is to prioritize your work for you! It is when you have to work for yourself that you realise that management skills can make you or break you. Wearing several hats can really bring you down. Being a good engineer but not watching the cashflow is deadly. The flip-side is true. An accountant without business acumen makes a poor entrepreneur.

The benefits of using a goal setting system should by now be obvious.

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In a world where the motto is doing more with less, a mental breakdown can bring your productivity to naught.

If you want to last the distance you'd better know how to manage your mount. If people of old knew how to care for their horses how much more should we care for our own well-being?

Super-heroes are for the movies. In the real world those who know how to pace themselves are the true achievers. Have you got any clue where you spent your time last week? Yes, it went like a flash - that's precisely the point. Unless you know where you spend your time you will not reach your goals by accident.

Do you have written down goals? Have you had the discipline to move from wishful thinking to deliberate time management? Have you learned to say no to all those interruptions in guise of urgent take-it-or-leave-it propositions? Do you have any idea how to measure if you are clawing back the lost time or falling further behind?

We are all equal insofar as time goes. We each have been given 24 hours each day. 8 of these should be spent sleeping, 8 of these we exchange for money is something called a job. The quality of where you spend the remaining 8 will make all the difference.

If you commute in transport do you ignore your neighbours or dare to engage in conversation with strangers to further your people's skills and have fellowship with folks from different backgrounds? If you take a lunch break do you gulp down a sandwich in front of the computer while surfing the net or do you seek who you could help and relax with?

The best way to enrich your life and regain control of your time is actually to give it away... weird but it works. Look at a mother how she gives of herself to attend to the need of her infant. See how she persistently tries all manners of non verbal communication - obviously the child hasn't learned any language yet... but their time together is precious.

If you go out and seek who you can bring a smile to, you will find that opportunities to reach your goals will come after you as a by-product. There is a law at work here. The stingier you are with your time and your money - even the little you have left will fly away. The more you seek out how to contribute to society (the people you can reach) the more opportunities will open up to you. That is simply because you will stand out a mile and people just seek someone like that.

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• eat less


• exercise more


• do both of the above

You had to click on this article didn't you?

Seriously - Beyond our genuine willingness to act there are some goals in life which are hard or impossible to reach.

Goals need to be qualified to be achievable. They need to be broken down into milestones which make the journey more predictable. If you set out on a 1,000 miles drive you wouldn't hit the highway just the same as if you were going down the road to buy milk and bread.

You would inquire about the weather in order to decide which clothes to pack. You would take a bag in order to stay overnight some place. You would take a map to plan your route. You would fill up with petrol. You would check the tyres, the oil dipstick and clean the windscreen. You would perform all those tasks undeterred because you know each one is a component into reaching the end goal. You would know what to do because as a child your parents took you on vacation and you have been on long road trips before. So how can we translate this to unreachable goals like losing weight or getting rich? It's very difficult to go on a journey where you've never been before. I'm not talking about physical travel here but about the process of breaking down obstacles which block the path to your goal.

A goal in itself can have little or no appeal. What really turns you on are the benefits of reaching the goal. So the first question to ask yourself is: "Why do I need to reach this goal?" As obvious as it may seem, you need to document each of the benefits of achieving your goal.

Because the benefit of a given goal can be different from one person to the next the means to reaching that goal also can be different from one person to another. Do not be a copycat. Write your own story. But do not operate in isolation either. Seek out people who have trodden down that path before - especially those who reached their destination. Those who floundered along the way will be jealous if you dare to try or worse even succeed where they failed.

Setting out on a worthwhile and well documented goal is entering into a contract with yourself. Are you worthy of your word?

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Some road disasters are not reported as suicide in the media. This is done on purpose to prevent some unstable person from attempting to copy such a horrible deed.

The chances of surviving a head-on crash have improved with seatbelts and airbags. You might indeed survive as a quadriplegic. Probably not the intended outcome.

Since a suicidal mindset is a deep anger directed at oneself and society some may want to end their life with a bang - literally, by driving on purpose into the oncoming traffic... spare the thought you might be at the receiving end of such despair.

What has that got to do with goal setting? A lot. Setting goals drives you to identify your reason to live. That in itself could prevent suicide.

Isolation and despair are lurking around to devour alive those who are disconnected from society through divorce, chronic unemployment or other turmoil.

The duty of watching over your mate is the essential fabric of society. Just one phone call can put a smile on somebody's face. Little did you know how critical it was to respond to the prompting of making that one call...

Being a good listener is a release for those who are all bottled up inside. They need an output. They need someone to talk it over with. Someone who is neither judgemental nor condescending. Someone to offload their pain.

Why not go the next step. Indeed life isn't a walk in the park - but we are all in the same boat. If I'm down, you're up. In some funny twist of circumstances we might be swapping places one day. Wouldn't it be good if you had developed the skills to help someone else while you had the chance?

You never know what's around the corner. You've heard the expression: "Count your blessings." Indeed you do not appreciate how fortunate you are until the things you took for granted are taken away from you. Those who find themselves in a hole will tell you that they didn't see it coming. Even if they did there was probably little they could have done about it.

Again what has that got to do with goal setting? The fact that whatever may come, hail, rain or shine you have your mind set on your life goal and you have set your face like flint and will not be put to shame.

You choose to see adversity as an opportunity to become stronger not as the pressure to give up.

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