We all have some expectation from the work we do, the amount of hard work, time and effort that it invested is valued and it is not just restricted to these things. There are many people who are involved in tasks that they really want to get done. Why it is important for us to achieve what we have aimed for and how do we decide that it is an important thing at the same time and that it holds the potential of becoming a goal. This can be a little vague to understand as each and every one is unique. Humans have a drive to thrive and lead a life that they wish to and at the same time create it. Our subjectivity gives a distinct explanation and value to our choices. There are so many factors that can make an individual decide about what is going to be the ultimate goal in his or her life and what will they get out of it. Look around yourself and talk to people and you will see that how people have goals and what value they have for those in their lives and the most interesting thing can be, to know about the process that led them to making that choice. It can tell a lot about a person and their desires.
What exactly is a goal? In a layman’s language it can be defined as the desire to achieve something successfully. For instance a goal can be getting good marks in exams, getting a dream job, traveling the world and so on. Not only goals are different but there can be short term goals and long term goals. Most of it is what we must be knowing already. Goal setting is an important aspect in our lives. According to American Psychological Association, goal setting is a process that establishes specific, time based behaviors, targets that are measurable, achievable and realistic. Each and every aspect holds an important place in this definition as these aspects lay the foundation for a goal and after considering these aspects a goal is set. One should be aware about the goal that he or she wants to set because according to that it will be decided that how much time it will be taken and what will be the amount of hard work and efforts which will be contributed. A major disappointer in this process can be underestimating the required resources, being over confident about it and also being impractical. These things can become an extreme hurdle in the process of achieving a goal. It is a matter of identifying your skills and strength to come to a conclusion about the procedure. Self-reflection can also be needed in order to gather information from past about your performances and what are the mistakes that you made, how they can be avoided and what new methods can be appointed in order to be more effective and efficient. It might seem like a simple task but it is something that requires a set of mechanism, cognitive processes and behavioral changes. Planning about everything prior in advance can help in making things fall in place. It is necessary to understand that having an idea about your capabilities while deciding the practicality of the goal. One should not just aim for the biggest thing in a single go, rather taking small steps to reach the bigger goal can increase the chances of achieving success. It will also reduce the chances of failure. Goal setting can be considered as a skill and each and every one can learn it so that any kind of work or task can be completed easily.
It is evident that there are a lot of things that can be seen in the process but apart from the goal what else one can achieve? Setting goals can make you aware about yourself in so many different ways. You get an opportunity to experiment and evaluate yourself for the different skills you have and also develop new skills. Motivation is what keeps an individual going and moving further towards achieving the goals set. Goals allow us to be motivated and provide us with a direction towards which our efforts, time, energy and hard work will be directed. It allows individuals to maintain a flow of work as one is aware about a specific target and he or she has to work for that. Goals can make individuals work in a systematic way which can make them more efficient, effective and productive at the same time. Working in a way that is planned out allows us to see what is coming next and gives us time to prepare ourselves and restore our energy on both physical and at mental level. There can be different skills that one can work on while working towards their goals like planning and time management. It is always easier when the goals are decided with various short term goals in order to meet the bigger one. It can challenge you to think strategically and critically to come up with a target for it. It helps in adapting to the behaviors that are going to exist for a longer period of time. It is possible that there can be situation which was not expected and in order to deal with the situation you try to look into your past experiences and find out that you know how to manage time, how to be more effective because you have already experienced it previously. It can be helpful in this sense. One can really have a boosted confidence, self-esteem and self-worth after the work is done, they achieved what they wanted to achieve and that was only because of the way they decided to do things. Having that trust in yourself and taking your things seriously is encouraging in itself. While doing new things, trying different ways and experimenting can make us realize that there is so much that we can do and also there are so many things about us that we don’t even know exist. There are few things that only you can discover by challenging yourself and putting yourself in a situation where you have limited time and resources given and setting goals can simply allow you to get closer to what you really wish to achieve.
Settings goals can definitely direct us in the most effective manner and it also increases the chances of having a positive outcome. We all have our goals that we want to achieve, and we must be working hard to fulfil those goals. With that it is important to learn from the steps that you are taking and thinking about it in ways that can benefit you the most and make you happy. Even if you could not achieve your goal in a single go but then also you will be having an experience that enhanced your vision and perception to set goals in other ways and then go for it. We create our goals, we have the ability to succeed and we will do that as we trust ourselves and believe that ‘yes we can do it’.
