Feather by feather, the goose is plucked. Step after the step the ladder is ascended. He/she, who wills the end, wills the means. All things are done easily, that are willingly targeted. That, which you will, takes effect. There has to be a predetermined purpose in mind, for all actions, thought and done. Each of us have to set goals for achievement, otherwise nothing is easy to the unwilling. Where there is a will, there is a way. Will has to be backed by skill. The lack of it will render the goal to be mere “wishes”. ‘Mere wishes are silly fishes’ is an old adage. The need for setting goals, both for our personal and professional lives, can never be underestimated.
If you have a goal, only then you will find a way for its achievement. Constancy to the goal is the only assurance, to achieve it. How should goals be set? Should these be dependent upon the innate desires or do the goals have to be in conformity with skill, aptitude, training, and education? We have an example of a person before us, who took a degree in metallurgical science and ended up being the chairman of one of the largest global financial institution. It is obvious, that this person at the time of selection of his university education had different goals in mind, which certainly weren’t closer to achieving stardom in the financial world. But such cases are rare. Application to achieve goals requires talent and training.
If any youngster aims to become chief of the armed forces without attending to the requirements of the need of requisite training and then rising through the ranks by sheer dint of hard work, grit, and determination, then this will remain a wish. It will be impossible to attain the goal. So, therefore recognise that if wishes where horses, the beggars would ride them. A goal has to be realistically in consonance with the requisite effort and training it would need for achievement.
Goals must be measureable. What cannot be measured must not be done. John F Kennedy, often referred to by initials JFK, the 35th president of the United States (1961-63), dreamt about man’s landing on the Moon. This dream became the goal of the scientists at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). They delivered upon JFK’s dream, within the same decade. The conversion of dreams into goals and goals into success is therefore dependent upon dedication, focus, and hard work. Mere setting goals take you nowhere.
The success rate of achieving goals is higher only when these are written down. Why? Because writing requires clarity of thought and this clarity is dependent on possessing or at least acquiring knowledge that is good enough to determine the route and skills that are essential for and towards achieving the preset goals. The removal of dense fog of confusion from the mind, developing uniformity of thought and then attacking the ever-present lagging inertia are the first step towards, having the goals reduced to writing, for a persevering pursuit.
Having written the goals down, the job at hand is to chart out with concise precision the action or game plan to seek their accomplishment. Action plans must carry within themselves inbuilt motivational tools with one of it being that the goals and plans are both attainable and achievable. And these must have the capacity to be achieved in a preconceived time-scale.
It’s so heart-breaking to see the youth of our country, by and large, goalless. They are rudderless vessels on the choppy waters of life. Many, I find get into their mid-thirties, but still are unsure of what career path they wish to adopt or pursue. They are totally de-franchised of the ability to think of what they are good at and how to get into a position, where they can utilise and put to effective use, to their respective advantage, their own uniquely blessed inherent qualities and strengths. The condition precedent to achieving a goal is to first have a goal. Just look around and consider, in your respective organisations, dear readers; how many youngsters lead a listless, rudderless, directionless life; who diligently do a job, day in and day out, with no ultimate objective. I don’t blame such youth. The blame rests upon parents, teachers, managers at work and the general environment that has nothing to offer in terms of helping and guiding them to find a purpose to their lives. Parents have stopped talking to their offspring. Teachers have become selfish, because of their affliction with materialism. The managers/ supervisors do not consider it as part of their responsibility. The environment has become hostile. Nobody is willing to share the turf of work and achievement. The quality of education that is only on a rapid decline adds to the woes of the youth and parents. The faculty has no interest to guide and mentor.
Goals have to be backed with hard work and floods of perspiration otherwise they will remain as unfulfilled desires. The pathway leading towards achievement of goals is invariably littered with impediments, regardless of the vocations; one has to be prepared to endlessly flirt with danger and possibilities of failure. All great men experienced setbacks in life, but they emerged victorious ultimately, because they resolutely withstood the winds of sheer of opposition to their goals. They did not waver from their objectives. This is possible only when the goals are entrenched in the highest standards of morality. A selfless goal is that will last beyond our respective time of life.
In the determination of goals do not let them conflict with others. Never infringe upon what is due to others. A path that has more flowers on the way is better to choose than place reliance on a path that has lesser thorns.
History, both political and corporate is replete with individuals who believed in their goals and trusted in listening to what psychologists refer to as “auto suggestion”….... a thought held and repeatedly said to oneself, that a dream or goal can be accomplished. From lowly environment have risen some great personalities in history, who relied on their auto suggestions, like Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon, Thomas Edison, etc. The amazing similarity about at least some of such people is that their goals were entrenched in the goodness of humanity. Such are usually selfless in their setting of their goals. Quaid, Mr. Jinnah , had a goal in which he had no personal gain to be derived. He proved only the persevering will achieve a “finish” to their goal.
It is best, never to subject your goals to your personal misery. John F Kennedy was in and out of hospitals seventeen times before reaching the white House. Let no weakness bend you away from your resolve.
The desirable must be achievable, only then can it be classified as a goal. Imagination needs to be bridled with reality of how to attain, what is desired. The glittering stars in the sky, you cannot have, but they serve as guide to the seafarers particularly and to other travelers and navigators. Let there be a star that you must select from those you interact with, to be your guide, to take you towards, your goals.
Productivity demands clear setting of goals, at least professionally speaking, but so does personal goals demand. Clarity and focus to efforts brings meaning to life and living. I had a friend, now lost to our respective professional pursuits, known amongst us as , “Rags” (Short for Raghva) , who one day, while having lunch at the office, pulled out from his wallet, a small piece of paper, that had enshrined upon it, the goals of his life; only three; first, provide quality education to his two children, a boy and a girl; two, save $50,000, and third, use the savings to open a nursery school, in his native village, to share with the large community, his gains from life and its experience. I learnt and stood enriched. It is best to keep your goals, within the precincts of the achievable, for only then there is nobility in their pursuit. And your goals don’t have to be lofty. Anything that is simple but firmly grounded in truth would work.
Most of us meticulously plan a good vacation, which is always short by any stretch of imagination, but we fail often to plan our lives.
The writer is a senior banker and a freelance columnist