Find your goals and simple steps to achieve them.
Some people do confuse long—term goals with short—term goals or some desires. Let us first understand briefly what long—term goals mean. Long—term goals can be an accomplishment that will take time, effort, and planning to achieve. You wish to achieve that goal in the next few months or years.
Now, the very important aspect in achieving long—term goals is PLANNING.
Why is planning so important?
Achieving long—term goals is not as easy as you think. It takes constant effort and hard work in the right direction to make it happen. In the process, you may also fail many times, but that doesn’t mean you won't make it to the end. Sometimes, you may also feel weary and want to give up, because you can’t hold it anymore and your current case may seem far away from your goal. You may feel it’s impossible to achieve what you initially dreamt of. This will be the case when you don’t have strategic planning. You will want to focus on multiple things at a time but this will only divide your energy into every task and at the end of the day, you will feel unproductive and wasted.
All these failures, learning, consistency, and strategic planning will help you in achieving your goals. If you haven’t properly planned your goal, all your failures will make it seem impossible to achieve. Lee Kuan Yew (former prime minister of Singapore) has said it correctly “If you want to reach your goals and dreams, you cannot do it without discipline”.
Now that you have understood the importance of planning in achieving your long—term goals, your next question would be —
Then how should I plan my goals?
I would say apply strategic thinking. Strategic thinking is a simple and rational thought process by a person in the context of achieving a goal or dream.
Try the activities suggested below to get an idea of what steps you will need to take in order to clearly understand what you ACTUALLY want to achieve and how can you do it.
1. Identify your point A
Your point A is where you stand right now. This is defined by what knowledge you currently hold. What resources and experience do you have. What problems and hurdles you are facing. Also identify the things that you love to do, your hobbies, and your interests. Understanding where you stand right now is crucial because this is what will help you plan your further steps in achieving your dream.
Activity —
1. Take a piece of paper or your journal.
2. Write down all the things that you have planned to do but haven’t done it yet. (It could be a course to finish, a talk with your family/friends, finishing a projects, starting a youtube channel, etc..)
3. It’s really very difficult to mention your problem if you don’t know it or don’t want to accept it. Now that you know are the things that are holding you back, find what are all the actual problems that you face. What are the areas that you want to grow in, areas what you to improve in.
4. Great Work! You have identified all your hurdles and problems. Now, it’s time for you to mention things you really love to do. Be it your hobby or something that interests you. It can also be a habit that you want to build.
5. As a final step to determining your point A, write down the knowledge and experience you have. Here, don’t understimate yourself. You have a lot of knowledge already. Just try to recall your knowledge and experience. Be as generous as you can in noting this down.
2. Identify your point B
Identify what you REALLY want to achieve. Your point B can be anything from earning a million-dollar or to being surrounded by good people or it can be having peace of mind or being a successful person. Your goals can be as much as you want to achieve. You need to know what exactly you want. Answer the WHY of your goal (why do you want to achieve it).
Activity —
1. Write down all the goals you want to achieve. Now figure out what all are the things that excited you the most.
2. Write down your goals daily. This will help you get a clear idea of what you really want to achieve.
3. How to reach from point A to point B
The clearer your points A and B are, the easier you will find the steps to achieve them. When moving towards point B, you will need to overcome your fears or things that are holding you back. You need to take some action towards it. Understanding your WHY’s will work as fuel to move towards your goal.
Activity
1. Write down your fears and what will you do to overcome it.
2. List all your goals and the WHY behind it.
3. Note down what actions you will need to take to achieve that goal.
Now that you know where you stand (point A), what you want to achieve (point B) and what steps you will need to take, It’s time for some ACTION. Take a piece of paper and try the activity suggested. I am sure you will get a clearer path to achieve your long—term goals and dreams.
“Nothing can stop you from achieving your goals if you consistently work towards them.”
