It seems so many people live a life without goals, simply fighting for survival, crippled by a growing mountain of problems and fearing what their future will bring.
They’re lacking direction unsure what to do to bring about change, not even knowing what they want out of life. Getting through today with no new disaster would be all I could hope for is how many think.
You already know this is no way to live.
Yes life can be hard.
It can be unfair too.
Our problems can consume us, take our focus … if we let them.
But everyone gets a second chance … everyone should have hope.
This hope should be built around the power of setting goals.
The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score. Bill Copeland
How can we shift from feeling like we don’t know what we want, to knowing? Living a life working on goals instead of dealing with nothing but problems?
Having a written list of well-thought-out goals for everything and anything that you want to accomplish in life can begin to change everything.
Then take action to help make your goals happen.
You see people handle life one of two ways – they either wander through life and allow things to happen or they make things happen. Those that make things happen set goals, because goals provide direction in life.
Every child has exciting dreams. To be film stars, pop stars, pilots, soldiers, astronauts, meet Barny or marry Eric from the Little Mermaid (there are advantages to my daughters not reading my blog). Alas as soon as they become adults their dreams evaporate and they begin to live lives of mediocrity, with no goals or dreams to excite them. What I believe is that not having goals is a formula for mediocrity. A life without goals is a life without purpose.
Do you agree?
The awesome blogger Leo Babauta of Zenhabits believes that having no goals lets you experience life and work more fully, more intensely as you concentrate on the journey enjoying the freedom to live spontaneously and creatively.
I think this is a nice concept, but when the journey gets difficult, as it did for me with my serious health problems and visual impairment, without goals you then have nothing to drive you out of the doldrums, to give you a reason to get up and fight back. It was my goals and dreams for the future that allowed me to recover. I doubt I would have even been able to get out of bed if I led a life without goals.
Goals can lift you above the ordinary. They ensure you never settle for whatever life brings your way.
” The more goals you set – the more goals you get.” Mark Victor Hansen
When you live a life without goals having no goals driving you, every petty worry, fear, problem or difficulty dominates your life, it becomes central to your very being.
The scientist, Louis Pasteur said, “Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.”
In its simplest terms, grit is tenacity, perseverance and a hunger to achieve a long-term goal despite obstacles, setbacks, distractions and personal challenges. One dictionary defines tenacity as “persistence, perseverance, and stubborn determination.” It also states, “Tenacity is the quality displayed by someone who just won’t quit—who keeps trying until they reach their goal.”
“I can’t imagine a person becoming a success who doesn’t give this game of life everything he’s got.” Walter Cronkite
The million-dollar question is what will provide you with the elusive, laser like focus that will make your life great, overcome all challenges?
The answer is to establish goals worthy of achievement and compatible with personal growth and personal happiness. Once you determine them, you must follow through, taking action to bring them about, showing the tenacity that will be needed.
Standard goal setting advice subscribes to the importance of being realistic, and there’s a lot to be said for that approach when it comes to many areas of life. But I also believe that when we focus solely on achieving what is ‘realistic’ it’s far too tempting to remain well within our current comfort zone. Where we achieve the most meaningful growth is when we challenge ourselves to go beyond what is comfortable, beyond what even seemed possible when we began the journey. Let today be the day you give up who you’ve been for who you can become.
Go for big goals. Decide right now what goals would really drive you, every day, to work on them, that the thought of success will make every day feel like a gift.
“It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy of life lies in having no goal to reach.” Benjamin E. Mays
