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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