The Cerebral Nuggets of goal setting

By Bayo Ogunmupe Having goals helps you live the life you want. Goals give you focus and direction. Setting goals gives your life hope, purpose and optimism. The link between goal setting and hope goes both ways. Thinking about and planning goals increase your hope and optimism in life. Optimism helps you define your goals and gives you purpose and meaning. The hope of accomplishing your life's dreams enables you take control of your life. By setting yourself a regular and meaningful goal you are able to encounter many flow experiences. A flow experience is one in which your whole consciousness is absorbed with the particular activity you're engaged in. Thoughts of time and hunger are forgotten. Psychologists agree that the more flow experiences you have, the happier you are. Goals imbue you with such activity that is an essential ingredient of flow experience. To achieve flow, you must have purpose, and clearly define goals to start with. But then, you must choose a challenging goal, one that will not soon become boring to you. Also, you must create the cohorts from where you can obtain regular feedback so you're aware of how you are doing. Support from your think tank enables you to track your progress, review your goals where necessary in order to keep on track. There is adequate correlation between goals and the flow experience. by setting goals you enhance your chances of experiencing flow. Achieving the flow experience along the way is the sure signpost that your goal is within reach. "A goal properly set is halfway reached."- Abraham Lincoln. In your pursuit of greatness or the life of purpose, you must study the life of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Through the wise and just conduct of the American civil war, he saved the destruction of the country. Other than being a lawyer and politician, Lincoln had no experience of governance. Yet he succeeded triumphantly as president.It shows experience is no prerequisite for good governance. The father and arbiter of Indian independence Mahatma Gandhi is another notable personality you can imitate. Also a lawyer, without being Prime Minister, President or member of Parliament, as opinion leader, Gandhi negotiated Indian independence from Great Britain successfully. At that time, India encompassed Bangladesh and Pakistan as a single nation. Dream as you used to, as a child; truly there is no limit to what you can achieve in life. Thus the 20 nuggets of goal setting are as follow: One, a burning desire is the main prerequisite for success in life. "Success is focusing the full power of all you are on what you have a burning desire to achieve."- Wilfred Peterson. The first principle of goal setting is having a burning desire. You don't train yourself to have burning desire, you either have it or you don't. You may stay focused on your task for a while, but without a burning desire you will inevitably lose steam. Two, you must have one major goal. "There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants; and a burning desire to possess it."-Napoleon Hill. About 95 percent of Nigerians don't have goals. Out of the remaining 5 percent of Nigerians that have goals, most set too many goals. Sadly, without one definite purpose or goal, you don't have a clear goal; for in order for you to accomplish it, your goal must be clear and specific. Three, Set goals must be achievable but yet stretch you vigorously. You must set goals that are almost out of reach, otherwise if it's easily achieved, you are stuck with something below your true talent and potential. Four, set goals must be measurable.This is necessary so that you can use it to grade your progress and success in your life. Being measurable also enables you to track your progress such that at every point, you know how far you've gone and how far you need to go. That's why your goal must be clear, precise and measurable. Five, write down your goals. Written goals have a way of transforming wishes into wants, cannot into can, dreams into plans and plans into reality. Don't just think it, ink it. The act of writing transforms wishes into reality through your subconscious mind. By writing down your goal you're transforming it into reality. Reply, Reply All or Forward