The Importance of Goal Setting

Life is too short to not pursue your dreams. Someday your life will near its end and all you will be able to do is look backwards. You can reflect with joy or regret. Those who dream, who set goals and act on them to live out their dreams are those who live lives of joy and have a sense of peace when they near the end of their lives. They have finished well, for themselves and for their families. – Jim Rohn

It is amazing to see how many people try to become successful without having their goals in place. How can you achieve success if you do not know what you want to achieve? In order to hit a target you must have a target.

There is no use using a map to find your way to a certain destination if you do not know where you are going to.

Without goals you will just be running around getting frustrated and achieving very little success.

Goals also go hand in hand with time management. If you know what it is that you want to achieve you will also know what it is you have to spend time on in order to achieve those goals. It so often happens that we spend a lot of time on things that are not really important, like watching TV.

One way to setup your goals is to create a dream poster. Use pictures from magazines and create a poster which shows your dream. Put pictures of your dream house, car and happy family. Go wild, do not let anything limit you. This is your dream. Show what you want to achieve. My dream poster changes each year as my desires change.

It is important to add things which you really would like to have or achieve. Do not leave things out just because you think that it is impossible for you to make it happen or even worse, because other people tell you that you will not make it. When you are finished with your dream poster put it up in your house somewhere where you will see it every day on a regular basis during the day.

Now you take a pen and paper and write out your goals.

Goals are nothing else than a dream with a date behind it. Write what you want to achieve in life. Most people do not believe it, but I tested it and it worked for me. If you write your goals out on paper and read it once a day you will be amazed to see how things start to fall into place. You must know where you are heading to. You cannot hit a target if you do not know what you are aiming at. It is important to read your goals at least once a day. A good way of doing this is to put it next to your bed and read your goals just before you go to bed or maybe just after you wake up in the morning. If you do not know where you are going to, how the heck do you want to get there?

By setting up well defined goals you will be able to prioritize the things you do each day. When you do this you will realise how important it is for you to look after yourself. You are the driving force behind your success. And if you are not healthy or motivated you will not be able to achieve your goals. You must eat healthy, exercise regularly, get enough sleep and build your self image by listening to motivational CDs and reading self development books.

Pieter Pretorius
www.passive-income.co.za