Goal Setting - A powerful human tool
Vishnu Sultania
Managing Director at AKMV, Advisor to the United Nations(UNDP) and Government of Punjab
We all will be wondering how few among us achieve tall status, contribute at a very high level, find ways and means to accomplish, never creep and move on. Coming from similar back ground, some are shaking hands with Sun from Mount Everest and some are struggling to find means to have two meals. Is it luck! Is it the karma of previous life! Is it inaction on our part? How do we deal with this?
Buddha in his preaching has declared that we are the fate of our thinking. We are the product of how we shape our thinking. We think to become an engineer, a doctor, a politician, a religious guru and our brain help us in achieving these goals. We achieve some thing that was impossible for us a few years back.
It means we are not the victim of fate. We are the victim of our own inertia. We are the victim of our own inaction. we are the victim of our own thinking. It has been proved that when we think cosmos helps us in achieving. Brain releases vibrations that direct us towards our goal as has been guided by our on believe and thinking.
There are few stages in our thinking and we can guide it in such a way that external environment help us in our path to achieve our Goal. Yesterday I was spending my time with a very learned coach, or I should say a friend, philosopher and guide. He discussed with me the power of our thinking and how brain and our action is the slave of our thinking. We have to have great amount of believe in our thinking. If we think we can lead we will. if we think we will fail we will. Thinking is not subject to fate, not subservient to our past Karma. Thinking is sure subservient to our will and desire.
There is a difference between will and wish! A wish become will when supported by desired and time bound action. Will can be for anything. It can be for health, it can be for socio politics, it can be relationship or even for career. We need to set priority. We need to define vision and mission that will become the guiding force and energize our motivation.
We need to constantly remember our goal and strive to achieve the same. Depending upon the goal we need to define and strategies our every action and effort. The external environment will push and pull, disappointment will try hard to cloud our energy, we may subject to cynical criticism and debries will come on our way. We need to move on and on. A time will come when GOAL will start following us and we will achieve.
I have come across many situation when the outer world helps and hinder and we develop the art and energy to deal with. I have no doubt if we follow the following principle with a clarity we will be there. These are:
- Set your goal -make it as it looks like impossible.
- List what would you need to do
- List who can help you in achieving your goal
- Set timeline
- Work as if you are serving only to achieve your goal.
- Achieve your goal and celebrate.
Happy Learning!
Thanks for your useful response that sparked more thoughts. As you say we've been goal setting from childhood. We also know there are many approaches to goal setting and finding the right one is important. Even with this, it seems that if left to our own devices, without reinforcement of goal setting, we would tend to not bother with setting goals. If goals were the best way, they surely the tendency to not set goals would be eliminated through the generations. This does not seem to be happening. We are told we should set goals, but it appears our innate tendency is no to set goals, which must be creating some internal tensions. Perhaps this indicates that goal setting is not the best way as strong tendency to not set goal remains. The continually reinforcement of the need to set goals is stopping this being investigated. Once again, thanks for your comments which have gotten me thinking! :-)
Thanks for your response, much appreciated. If a could ask some additional questions. You say “we need to be reminded constantly about our capability to create vision and work towards it.” This where I’m struggling. If goal setting is as you say”…the most vital tool available in the hands of mankind”, why do so many continually choose not to use it. This must be the case, as we continually have to reinforce the need to use it. If it were so vital a tool one would have thought by now everyone would be using it without question or the need to reinforce that it is vital. With the centuries of knowing why do you think goal setting hasn’t it embedded into our day-to-day thinking? Why doesn’t everyone by default set and achieve goals? As we continually have to reinforce the need to set goals there must be something stopping goal setting being the default setting.
Thanks for your response, much appreciated. If a could ask some additional questions. You say “we need to be reminded constantly about our capability to create vision and work towards it.” This where I’m struggling. If goal setting is as you say”…the most vital tool available in the hands of mankind”, why do so many continually choose not to use it. This must be the case, as we continually have to reinforce the need to use it. If it were so vital a tool one would have thought by now everyone would be using it without question or the need to reinforce that it is vital. With the centuries of knowing why do you think goal setting hasn’t it embedded into our day-to-day thinking? Why doesn’t everyone by default set and achieve goals? As we continually have to reinforce the need to set goals there must be something stopping goal setting being the default setting.
A great outline of goal setting that provoked a point of intrigue. Goal setting has been around for a long time. Encouraging it’s use in the education system started in the late 1800’s and is now in foundational in many areas of life. It would be unusual for an individual not to have come across goal setting in at least their education or working life. With goal setting making so much sense and being well known, I’m intrigued as to why it still has to be continually promoted and reinforced. We live in a world that so obviously knows the benefits of, wants and needs goal setting yet there seems to be a stubborn resistance to it. This resistance is warranting continual explanation and reinforcement of goal setting across a variety of media on a daily basis. With a long history of promotion, by now one would have thought that your valuable contribution would no longer be necessary. After a century or more one might have thought that goal setting would be embedded in our thinking, no longer needing explanation or reinforcement. However, as your post indicates, this is not the case. There is something which is effective and resilient in pushing against the obviousness and common sense of goal setting. After a century of more of effort it seems unlikely that this resistance will be overcome. I’d be interested in your views as to why resistance to goal setting continues to this day.
CA, CPA with In-depth expertise in financial strategy, corporate accounting, risk assessment, mitigation management, federal and state tax compliances including auditing and returns.
8 年Really inspiring & motivational.