These 5 Questions Will Define Where You’re Going in Life

Goal setting is a very important first step, but goal achievement is a continuous, lifelong process.

By: Jim Rohn

Sponsored by: 4Life Research USA
https://www.4life.com/9121996/about/success

Goals are important for a genuinely success-oriented person. Without them, you’re just playing around. The difference between a goal-directed individual and someone without goals is like the difference between a Wimbledon champion and a kid batting a tennis ball around on a court with no net, no opponent to bring out the best in him and no way of keeping score.

Despite everything that’s been written about the importance of goal setting, very few people actually put it into practice. It’s always amazed me, the way the average person devotes more thought and effort to planning his or her two-week vacation than to planning his or her life.

Goals represent challenge in its most positive form. Leaders have their personal goals, as well as those of their organization, clearly in focus. In fact, one of the principle responsibilities of leadership is defining goals for the vast majority of people who aren’t able to do it for themselves.

Over the years, I’ve developed some ideas about effective goal setting, and I’d like to share those with you. I also want to point out some traps of goal-directed behavior that aren’t usually talked about but certainly ought to be.

When I was a kid, I used to dream what it would be like to buy a ticket on a train and just go someplace. I didn’t really think about where I’d be going or how long it would take to get there. I just loved the idea of getting on the train and letting it take me somewhere.

I guess there’s still something appealing about that idea, but it’s not really the way you should live your life as a mature human being. When you grow up, you buy a ticket on a train or a plane because you want to go someplace, and you know exactly where you’re going.

You might have to change planes in a different city; your flight might be canceled; you might have to switch to another flight; you might not feel like talking to the person seated next to you. But you will persist. You know where you’re headed, and you’re quite determined to get there. That’s goal-directed behavior in its simplest form.

There are short-term goals and long-term goals. Sometimes you’re flying across the country; other times you’re just walking down to the corner grocery store. Long-term goals are the equivalent of a major journey. When you reach the point where you’ve achieved your long-term goals, your life will be fundamentally changed, and the process of getting to that point will have transformed you into a stronger, wiser and higher-performing person.

How can you identify your long-term goals? On a sheet of paper or in a notebook, write these five questions:

1. What do I want to do?
2. Who do I want to be?
3. What do I want to see?
4. What do I want to have?
5. Where do I want to go?

Under each of these categories, write down several possible long-term goals. Be very relaxed about this. Just allow your mind to flow and come up with three to six ideas for each category. Don’t worry about a lot of details at this point, and don’t spend too much time describing a particular goal.