Goal Setting in Four Questions

A couple of weeks ago (if not last week) I shared something about redefining success. Important to note was the fact that the mention that the redefinition of success was something that would follow the setting of goals. Goal setting is yet another interesting thing that is yet to be embraced by many, young and old alike and that is because most of us do not believe in the importance thereof.

I wouldn’t want to go into details on the importance of goal setting, but common sense has it that is you set your goals then you at least wouldn’t be living a random life and getting whatever life throws at you for yours. People who set goals also set standards for the sort of quality of life they live and the manifestations of these have been proven.

Many would ask the how question. There are so many times that people talk about setting goals and writing them on paper, sometimes without giving a clear way of how to go about it. Well. That is one thing, but on the other hand, my experience has it that some people have given goa setting a rough and “not so user friendly image”. I have had my fair share in that. I was at some point (in 2013, I think) given a 22 page notebook in which I had to write my goals and what I wanted to achieve by 2023. Not a bad thing, if you think of it, but I was barely 20 then; and expected to envision my life at 29. Write my rubbish and all, but it taught me a lesson that I needed to have some good foresight of the future me.

I have every reason to believe that in as far as goals have to be concise the 22 pages I was given were a bit of an exaggeration, and that is why I would like to share another view of how goal setting could be done with simple questions that everyone could ask himself or herself; the what question, the how question, the when question and the who question.

The what question. This is about asking yourself what has to be achieved. There are so many aspirations that a person might have in life and the constant posing of this question to the inner self is one important step to working towards and thus achieving any goal. If you think of it, there is a very minimal chance of achieving something that you haven’t thought of achieving because there is no possibility of working towards it.

Everyone might have an aspiration, but it is not enough to envision yourself driving a nice car. That is too vague and you need to be as precise as “I want to drive the Range Rover Evoque Victoria Beckham special edition”. Add the model to that too. Now that is precise and worth calling a dream.

One thing we don’t have to ignore in this step is the difference between a want and a need. It is said that men do not grow old but their toys just get bigger. That is what is said in reflection to the attitude of men of liking luxurious things. Women are not exempted, anyway, but the idea here is that some luxuries are not worth including in our goals. Think of something that will add value to your life. One Dr Cornelius Huwa (Oh, yes! Him.) who spoke to us in our foundation year orientation taught us about assets and liabilities; things that add money to our pockets and drain from it respectively. Well, he said we need to think of accumulating assets. Something worth remembering and considering in the “what” question.

Having gone through the first step of knowing has to be achieved gets you to the next stage where you can think of how you can get to achieve it. Yet another neglected area and this is what makes a difference between people who actually set off to pursue what they have envisioned and those who stay behind. You might agree with me that there are many people who do have many wants and aspirations who never bother to think as to how they precisely can achieve whatever they desire to achieve.

The how question should be guided by the aspirations at hand. Every goal, be it financial, health, spiritual, academic or social has some way or ways to it and these are the ways that have to be explored and noted in order for one to achieve their goals. In short, one needs to knowwhat it takes to achieve the goal.
Then there is the who question. This in its shallow sense entails that one knows who can help them reach their goal, be it friends, mentors, family or anyone who can be of help. It is important to know that not everyone close might share and believe in the personal dream you might have and as such dreams do not have to be shared with people who have the potential of not sharing with them. The reason is simple and it is that they usually end up choking the dream before it comes to come to actualization. They will even bewitch you for it, sometimes if you believe in that sort of thing. Dreams need to be shared with people who can fed them and add value to them.
On the other hand, there has to be an element of giving to any dream. If you think of it, most times we visualize our future and successful selves in terms of us only. I was once asked the challenging question some time which made me realize that I need to factor in the benefit of others in my dreams. This particular gentleman once asked me what I would do if I got all I ever wanted overnight, be it academic credentials overnight. That is when I realized that it is easy to attain my goals and build myself a little ball of self-comfort forgetting the others who could benefit from my resources, financial or otherwise. Something “munthu aliyense ogaya” needs to think about.

Another important question is the when question. This is just about the timeline of the achievement. Some would tell you that eventually “aliyense amaiphula” (everybody gets to prosper) but to be frank I would rather drive an Audi A8 while I still have a feel for speed other than when I am in my 70’s in which case I won’t have eyes fit enough to push it to 180 kilometers per hour. The “when” of a goal matters, because setting timelines to goals is also a key prophylactic measure to procrastination.

Adding more words to this writing would not add any value to it. The short message is just that we need to get into the habit of setting goals by asking ourselves the simple questions, but those which matter. It is important to have a precise idea of what exactly you want to have to the detail, how you will get it (legally, of course), when you need it and who you want to help you and to benefit from your achievement. Then comes the element of putting it down on paper and revising the goal if needed.

Of course these things do not do themselves so there is need for working out the goals to make sure they are achieved. Yet another area that differentiates dreamers and achievers. Topic for another day.

I hope this has either added or removed something from your life. I am okay with either, so long as you haven’t remained the same.