Create Your
Future By Setting Goals
Reprinted
from
The Indianapolis Star
8/11/02
Often, the
weekend approaches and we are asking, "What should I do this
weekend?"
This
demonstrates more than creative initiative at work. It shows a
person who is thinking ahead, planning a short-term goal that
usually carries a purpose with it, even if it's just to have fun.
Many of us seem
to be fairly good at this kind of short-term plan-making. But,
what about the kind of planning that extends into the more distant
future?
Although I'm
getting older, it doesn't seem as frightful as it could. Probably
because I'm looking forward to things I've put out there for my
future.
The thing that
keeps people focused and driven, no matter what their age, is
working toward long-term goals.
One of the
things this does is keep us from withering. People who retire from
work and don't make new goals go along in life without purpose.
This usually leads to idle oldness and no fun.
If the mind
ceases to generate the kind of creative stimulus that keeps us
young and/or healthy, we wither in mind and body.
Additionally,
if we haven't been planning for the goal of retiring, we'll often
find ourselves in a boat without oars. In other words, we've
arrived somewhere, but we didn't bring the tools with us to go
anywhere.
Maybe you've
heard many of the "regret" stories. I wish I had put
money aside in a savings account. I wish I never bought on credit.
I wish I had, wish I had, I wish I had.
Regret dwells
on the past, and what we should be doing is creating the future.
The future is a
minute from now and a year from now. It is something ahead of us
that we need to continually create and set goals for.
So, every year,
I list all my goals for that year. And every day I list my goals
for the day. It gives me a sense of accomplishment when goals are
reached, and, as soon as they are, new ones are made.
But, we don't
have to wait until we reach our goals to make new ones. It's
perfectly OK to want to accomplish a lot of things in the future.
But a goal is
only as good as its plan and the actions one takes to reach it.
Just thinking about something you want to be, do or have in the
future isn't good enough. It requires action.
Look at where
you are today and where you want to be next month, next year or in
the next several years. Write it down, read it every day or every
week. Take some action on it.
|
