Reaching Goals Requires a Map

Set a goal of making a million dollars and you’ll have a good chance of reaching it. Make no goals; you’ll have a good chance of reaching those too. When I was in high school I had a friend David that had a piece of paper over his desk with $1,000,000 printed in large black letters. I asked him what that was all about and he explained to me that was his goal. He wanted to make a million dollars and he wanted to make it soon. David not only reached that goal but I’m guessing surpassed it. At the same time, many people I knew had no goals, wandered through life, and have little to show for it. Set specific tangible goals, create a plan to reach those goal, measure your progress, and you’ll have a good chance of success.

Everyday David looked at his one million dollars sign and thought of ways to achieve the goal. Stocks, small businesses, other investments were all vehicles to achieve the goal. He set his sites, mapped out a course to achieve the goal, measured his successes and failures, and refined his strategy. I know when it comes to financial goals you’ve heard people like Suze Orman talk about taking steps toward financial freedom. Those steps start with a goal and then planning to reach that goal. You have a much better chance of getting to a destination if you know it’s location. After David set his specific goal, he mapped out the path to his success.

There were roadblocks, traffic jams, and even a few bridges that were out but that didn’t stop him. He just adjusted the plan, tried another road, and kept hounding his goal.  In contrast how many people do you know that never set goals and, if they do, don’t map out a strategy for success? Yes people will say I’m going to do such and such, when I get around to it, but they are not specific and don’t keep track. Imagine getting in your car, turning on the GPS, and punching in nowhere and then heading there. Where will that get you? Probably not even out of your driveway. It sounds ridiculous yet this what many of us do everyday with our life goals.

 The way to get bake on course with a goal is to follow David’s steps. Set a goal. Make it concrete. Don’t simply say I want to be rich or I want to help the poor or I want to save the world; make your goals specific. Set a goal of making a specific amount of money in a specific amount of time. Set a goal of giving $1000 dollars to your church or other helping organization. Set a goal of going to a specific needy area at a specific time to do a specific task. Write down the goal. Write down the road map and the timeline. Keep track of where you are with the goal and adjust as you go along but write down the adjustments.

 I’ll be the first person to tell you the goal of being rich is not a great goal. There are many others that are nobler and worthy of ones time. It’s just that it is a singular, pinpointed and popular one in our society. Whatever your goal might be is up to you; I’m more interested in the path to achieving that goal which starts with setting the goal.  Try this out next time you think of something you want to achieve: make the achievement concrete, set a specific tangible goal, create a plan to reach that goal, measure your progress, adjust in your route to the goal as needed but keep the goal in site. Do these and you’ll have a much better chance of success than if you make a general goal with no plan.