Mastering the art of Goal-Setting.

By Manzi Prince Mugisha.

Have you ever set off on a journey without a final destination? You wake up, pack your bags, load the car, and drive off? Pretty bizarre, right? And it's really not possible. Well, that is how your life is if you don't have goals. You are moving through life, and wherever circumstances land you, you are contented. We are often told to set SMART goals, but do we know the importance of a goal before we even set a SMART one? Today, I will go through the benefits of living a goal-oriented life. In the end, if you are convinced, you start drafting your SMART goals. This is because it is only when you know the importance of a goal that you will set it.

Have you ever heard of the 3 percent factor? Brian Tracy talks about it in his book 'No Excuses! - The Power of Self-Discipline.' This factor states that 3 percent of people set goals, and these three percent earn what 97 percent of the rest earn, or even more. Do you believe it? Well, I do, and let me tell you why. When you set a goal, you will need to lay out a plan on how to achieve that goal. That plan acts like a track that you must stay on every day to achieve your goal. If you have decided to save up to $30,000 to buy your dream car by the end of the year, you will devise plans of saving rather than spend. You will cut your costs to save more because you have what drives you. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. You will not be tempted to buy that $100 shoe you come buy in the market (if unnecessary) because you know it will put you some money less than you had.

And you know what else sets those 3 percent apart from the rest? They write those goals down. Writing is known as a 'psycho-neuro-motor' activity. When you write, you are forced to think and choose what is more important (that is why we writers are referred to as geniuses). When you have set that goal, write it down. This not only emphasizes how important that goal is to you, but it also drives you. It is imprinted in your subconscious mind, and once the subconscious mind determines that something is important to you, it will work in your favor (the power of the subconscious mind is another interesting factor I will discuss sometime in the future). According to Aristotle, human beings are 'teleological organisms.' This means that we work better when we are purpose-driven, and what better way to be driven by purpose than by setting goals?

My main point is that there is a difference between having a goal and writing it down and knowing that you have a goal. The knowledge of having a goal without writing it down is referred to as a hope or even a wish. Both of these are no strategies for success. They are only constant ideas that remain at the back of your mind, and you deceive yourself that time will come, and they will be acted upon. And you know, the funny thing about not setting goals is that in one way or another, you are working towards accomplishing somebody else's goal. Think about it, and you will find out that there is some level of truth to it.

In conclusion, before you start planning on setting SMART goals, sit down and find out why you are setting the goal in the first place. Once you have the purpose, now is when you need the attributes of a great goal: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Lastly, you can now set out a plan to aid you in achieving that goal.