I am amused by the recent trend in the Resume being prepared by those who seek jobs.
With out even knowing details of the Company to which they are applying-Standard format people write” endeavour to suit myself to the long-term and short-term goals of the Organisation, I will fulfil my responsibilities with zeal and attune my self to the goals of the Organisation and develop my self and in the process contribute to the growth of the Organisation”
Can some thing be more stupid than this!
Now coming to goal setting as such: Goal Setting
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involves establishing specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-targeted (S.M.A.R.T ) goals. Work on the theory of goal-setting suggests that it’s an effective tool for making progress by ensuring that participants in a group with a common goal are clearly aware of what is expected from them. On a personal level, setting goals helps people work towards their own objectives—most commonly with financial or career-based goals. Goal setting features as a major component of personal development literature:
- “Goals provide a sense of direction and purpose” (Goldstein, 1994, p. 96).[
- “Goal setting capitalize on the human brain‘s amazing powers: Our brains are problem-solving, goal-achieving machines.”
One really does not really know what he really wants out of Life.
Our desires keep on changing, so do our wants.
At times we feel we want to become something that appeals to us immediately , just as wanting to become a film star after seeing the popularity, other times world leader in a moment of idealistic zeal:want to become a millionaire ,want to be one with out the trappings of money and live as an ascetic; want to be a small fish in a big pond, at other times, big fish in a small pond;want to be married with a family, live single..the list is endless.
If one were to set goals based on these thoughts one would run the risk of regretting when the interest on the basic assumption ceases and one changes track which destabilizes the individual and leads to frustration and stress.
People plan on these ‘Goals’, little realizing that for successful fruition of any task, many an agent is required and that individual planning is not sufficient.
More than this we do not know whether we will be alive the next second.
All the planning in Life is based on the fact that we will be alive!
If one wants to be happy, Be happy(Tolstoy) for being happy is the natural State of Man.
Do not burden yourself with too many goals in your Life.
Life shall set goals for you, you handle those challenges.
Therein lies happiness.
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1. Make sure the goal you are working for is something you really want, not just something that sounds good.
I remember when I started taking baseball umpiring more seriously. I began to set my sites on the NCAA Division 1 level. Why? I new there was no way I could get onto the road to the major leagues, so the next best thing was the highest college level. Pretty cool, right. Wrong.
Sure, when I was talking to people about my umpiring goals it sounded pretty good, and many people where quite impressed. Fortunately I began to see through my own charade.
I have been involved in youth sports for a long time. I’ve coached, I’ve been the President of leagues, I’ve been a treasurer and I’m currently a District Commissioner for Cal Ripken Baseball. Youth sports is where I belong, it is where my heart belongs, not on some college diamond where the only thing at stake is a high draft spot.
When setting goals it is very important to remember that your goals must be consistent with your values.
2. A goal can not contradict any of your other goals.
For example, you can’t buy a $750,000 house if your income goal is only $50,000 per year. This is called non-integrated thinking and will sabotage all of the hard work you put into your goals. Non-integrated thinking can also hamper your everyday thoughts as well. We should continually strive to eliminate contradictory ideas from our thinking.
3. Develop goals in the 6 areas of life:
Family and Home
Financial and Career
Spiritual and Ethical
Physical and Health
Social and Cultural
Mental and Educational
Setting goals in each area of life will ensure a more balanced life as you begin to examine and change the fundamentals of everyday living. Setting goals in each area of live also helps in eliminating the non-integrated thinking we talked about in the 2nd step.
4. Write your goal in the positive instead of the negative.
Work for what you want, not for what you want to leave behind. Part of the reason why we write down and examine our goals is to create a set of instructions for our subconscious mind to carry out. Your subconscious mind is a very efficient tool, it can not determine right from wrong and it does not judge. It’s only function is to carry out its instructions. The more positive instructions you give it, the more positive results you will get.
Thinking positively in everyday life will also help in your growth as a human being. Don’t limit it to goal setting.
5. Write your goal out in complete detail.
Instead of writing “A new home,” write “A 4,000 square foot contemporary with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths and a view of the mountain on 20 acres of land.
Once again we are giving the subconscious mind a detailed set of instructions to work on. The more information you give it, the more clearer the final outcome becomes. The more precise the outcome, the more efficient the subconscious mind can become.
Can you close your eyes and visualize the home I described above? Walk around the house. Stand on the porch off the master bedroom and see the fog lifting off the mountain. Look down at the garden full of tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers. And off to the right is the other garden full of a mums, carnations and roses. Can you see it? So can your subconscious mind.
6. By all means, make sure your goal is high enough.
Shoot for the moon, if you miss you’ll still be in the stars. Earlier I talked about my umpiring goals and how making it to the top level of college umpiring did not mix with my values. Some of you might be saying that I’m not setting my goals high enough. Not so. I still have very high goals for my umpiring career at the youth level. My ultimate goal is to be chosen to umpire a Babe Ruth World Series and to do so as a crew chief. If I never make it, everything I do to reach that goal will make me a better umpire and a better person. If I make it, but don’t go as a crew chief, then I am still among the top youth umpires in the nation. Shoot for the moon!
http://topachievement.com/goalsetting.html
Related articles
- What is the Difference Between a Goal and a Dream? (financialfuturesnow.com)
- Business Goal Setting and Then Following Through (socyberty.com)