Changing Your Target Mid-Way Is Not a Concern, Not Having One Is.

Humans are naturally vulnerable to distractions and inclined to procrastinate. These features are uniform among all people, but some control and suppress it better than others. A major step towards eliminating vices such as time-wasting and procrastination is to set up deadlines, target milestones, and follow them with self-discipline.

Applying constraints are the most popular way to structure any process regardless of domain. This stays consistent even for personal progress. People who plan their future out and work consistently with a goal and a deadline in mind will often waste less time and get better results in general.

The Myth of a Perfect Goal

The most common and popular hurdle in creating a Target is, "I'm not clear about what I really want to do." Such a statement is totally genuine and a challenge which most people, especially young people, face. However, this challenge can be dealt with by accepting that having setting up a goal isn't an irreversible decision. Everyone is allowed to change their aims and ambitions based on personal preferences, especially personal goals.

For individuals, manifesting goals for timeframes is straightforward. One must rely on their own judgement according to the present about what they prefer to do the most in the future. This is the wall that separates well-disciplined, goal-bound individuals from those who struggle with finding purpose each day.

As a general rule, minimizing stress in life is a positive practice, and that should be maintained during the above process. A massive reliever of any negative thoughts about choosing the "wrong target" is the fact that you are allowed to update, upgrade, radically change, or just tweak your goals.

What Can Be Considered a Personal Goal?

The reason why personal goals are described as that is the fact that individuals get to decide details of their own choosing. However, it is more welcome if one chooses goals that are ambitious and disassociated with organized authority.

Following are the reasons why both these features significantly improve the purpose of creating and chasing personal milestones: -

I. Ambitious

"If you must go, go big, and go bigger" What are goals if not lofty but practical aims which one works towards by improving themselves every day? Individuals intrinsically know exactly what they consider their "comfort zone" and the personal target must lie away from, or at least on, the edge of it.

The whole point of consistency and discipline is quantifying progress and getting a handle on monitoring it. With ambitious targets which are challenging in nature, individuals challenge themselves which eventually makes them better regardless of how close to the target they get to.

II. Disassociated with Organized Authority

Young people & professionals, especially students and, will always have a source of authority that they're under. These may be schools, training institutes, parents etc. While these are generally the source of "schedule" in life, individuals must not associate personal targets with the tasks that are requirements for these institutions.

Ones' ambition should be independently crafted and not tied to results which one would "have to" work for rather than "choose to" work for. For example, the end-semester examinations for a university student are a task which is created by the university. Targets such as these are not best suited to keep as a personal goal.

Having a target that you're doing because you want to do it, and not because you're obliged to do it makes the achievement and progress more valuable.

Long-Term vs. Short-Term Targets

Timeframes are key in structuring your progress and getting a measure of consistency. The dilemma between choosing a short-term goal over a long-term target is a major consideration when it comes to building up the program for yourself. There are benefits and drawbacks attached to both timeframe types but this choice shouldn't be a reason for delaying the selection of your aim.

Ideally, your target must be ambition and hard to get to, hence, the total timeframe must range somewhere between 6 months to 1 year. While these are relatively huge amounts of time in the lives of young people, they must also be broken down into smaller milestones with each milestone having its own deadline.

You Decide Your Objectives Everyday

The process of setting up a goal should be extremely thorough and serious but the complexity shouldn't become an obstacle. Nobody is expected to grasp their future in one go. Everyone is allowed to amend their goals, update objectives, push deadlines with honesty and self-discipline. The most important part of personal development is the fact that you're the only one in charge and you decide your own roadmap.

Thinking negatively about the whole journey brings up questions like - "If I change my goal, doesn't my prior progress go to waste?", "What stops individuals from cop outs and irregularity?" All these questions can be confronted by the two following major points: -

1. Objective Discipline - Any individual is subscribing to the process of personal development via setting targets for their own gain and hence must put in an effort to stay consistent and honest with the task at hand.
2. Learning Opportunity - "Knowledge and Practice never go to waste, it's like credit in the bank for future opportunities." The fear of "losing time" by learning things that eventually don't affect your final personal goal is a myth. None of what's being learnt today is worthless tomorrow especially in a world which is so dynamic and interconnected.

Conclusion

Nobody will ever analyze YOU better than YOU, yourself. Hence, decisions of self-development, personal growth, and constant progress must be fueled by your passion and drive. Vices and distractions will always be factors affecting one's life but having a well-established target narrows down the possibility of going off-track.

Young professionals like me often navigate the world taking one step at a time which for some people may result in a having a myopic view of life, however, one must understand that dreams must be lofty and they must be chased every day to be conquered one day.

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure.?There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.”