10 Simple Truths About Goals and Winning

Do you set goals and find yourself not achieving them? Today we look at ways of improving your success rate, to help you win more and achieve your set goals.

Just like in sports, life rewards winners. Top athletes attract sponsorship deals and have more fans. Winning and achieving your goals will have a cascading effect on other areas of your life. Success breeds success. Let us look at 10 simple truths about goals and winning.

1 – You don’t have to set goals

 Contrary to what they told you in school, you do not need to have goals. You do not need to set new years resolutions. Why bother if you are not going to achieve them anyway? Why bother if you are only going to feel guilty for not achieving your goals? Why put yourself in the agony of setting goals if you have no real incentive to get up and do something to achieve your goals?

I know of people who watch self improvement DVDs, listen to tapes, or attend seminars and then get on an emotional high. When on that high they think that the sky is the limit and they set lofty goals that they then forget about when tomorrow comes. Why bother in the first place? Why set goals if you know you are not going to get off your butt and achieve them. Setting such goals just makes one feel like a failure. Not cool.

Other people write goals down with no real intention of achieving those goals. The act of setting goals makes them feel like they are doing something with their lives. Looking at the grand plans makes some people feel like they are about to make a major breakthrough in life. But then the goals just sit there and gather dust. Why bother writing those goals in the first place, really? Setting goals for the sake of setting goals is just plain dumb. Pray that you do not fall into that temptation.

2 – Do not contradict other goals

Setting goals that contradict each other can be as good as not having goals at all. Can you imagine setting a goal to be celibate and another goal to find the most gorgeous wife by the end of this year? Sounds crazy but there are people who set contradicting goals. Contradicting goals create internal incongruence and can lead to inaction. Without action you can not achieve your goals.

Your goals may not contradict each other in a major way. But it pays to write down your goals and look for any contradiction. Your December holiday goal may contradict your credit card payment goal. Your spiritual goals may contradict some business ideas. Be your own judge, look for goals that are not in sync with each other or with your mission in life and get rid of them.

3 – Live your goals

To achieve your goals faster, you need to make them part of your life. You cannot afford to doze in and out of consciousness of your major goals in life. In fact, you should align your major life goals with your mission in life. That way it will become easier to immerse yourself fully. Think about it, someone like Tiger Wood or Oprah must immerse themselves fully in their area to be able to achieve that level of success.

It is hard achieving major life goals if you take them on half-heartedly. For example, I want this blog to be a success. I want to be able to inspire readers to be the best they can be. I want to teach people to be positive thinkers and achievers. The only way I can do that is to be positive myself. If I was a negative person and only try to be positive when I write an article, it would shine through my work.

To be able to succeed and be world class in any sports, business, or sphere of life, you have to immerse yourself fully and make your goal to be a big part of your existence.

4 – The devil is in the details

I met this lady that had super goals. She wanted to be this or that. She had a brilliant mind and could come up with ideas that would propel her to success if she followed through.

Unfortunately she did not pay attention to details. She let things slide. She could see the future and what future held for her success, but she forgot about the details of how to get there. As you can expect, she did not achieve most of her goals because the details bogged her down and frustrated her beyond words.

To succeed in any goal involves paying attention to the details. Flying to outer space would not be possible if the astronauts did not pay attention. Movie makers pay extreme attention to detail before making a movie. Pay attention to the details or else something may come back to bite you.

5 – Set achievable yet challenging goals

I had this friend who has some sort of genius in school. He could grasp complex subjects easily. He had a brilliant academic brain but really got bored with the lessons and assignments given. He would finish his assignments very quickly. Then he started getting bored; started loving drugs and alcohol and today, his is a pale shadow of his former self. His story reminds me of what a waste one can become if they are not mentally challenged however intelligent they may be.

On the other hand, some people set goals that are so high that they ignore them. This reminds me of a story about rabbit called Stan. Stan on his way to school used to look at this tall avocado tree and admire the fruits above. He loved avocadoes and everyday on his way to school, he would look up and try to reach for one. He kept trying for many days. He tried every trick in the book to reach out for the avocadoes. But they were too high for him. One day he told himself “ona ti meru!!” (Meaning – they are not even ripe!!). Stan gave up on the hope of reaching for the avocadoes and justified his giving up. Are you trying to reach goals that are beyond your capacity? Perhaps those goals are not even good for you.

There is no honor in pushing on with a goal that is clearly unachievable. There is no point for trying to go to the moon without the expertise. It is ok to give up on some goals. Some goals are just not achievable. Wise people and rabbits know that J

6 – It is all in the mind

Success or failure is all in the mind. If you think and behave like a winner, you will win and succeed beyond your wildest dreams. There are many fine athletes that could win championships but are intimidated by opponents with a winning attitude. Have a winning attitude and you will enjoy success.

Many winners in life visualize their success in their minds until it becomes real to them. The real battles are fought in the mental realm. If you absolutely believe that you are going to win, and put in the requisite effort and preparation, then you will win by a big margin.

7 – Measure and track your goals

Did you know that a plane from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia is off course 95% of the time? Luckily the pilots have computers that tell them every time they get off course. They then adjust and get back on course. The winds and clouds may force of them off their track, but they know where they are headed and keep getting themselves back on track.

How closely do you keep a tab of your goals and plans? Do you fall off when you get off the charted path or do you regain focus and move back on track?

Marketing on the internet has taught me the importance of testing, tracking and constant improvement. It is a way of life online. Even on this blog, I constantly keep track of the number of comments per post, links, sources of visitors, time on site, page views, click through rates etc. Armed with that information, I am able to make improvements.

Make it a point to measure and track your progression towards your goals. Have a firm grasp of how fast you are moving towards your goals. Have a way of detecting when you go off track. Avoid surprises. Surprises are over rated.

8 – Time your goals

Smart goals have a time component. Saying that you want to make a million dollars is different from saying that you want a million dollars in five years. The time limits you impose on your goals determine your level of action and intensity.

9 – Procrastination is the thief of time

Do you love the whooshing sound of deadlines as they pass you by? Do you put off until tomorrow for work that you could have done today? Do you postpone an important phone call when you could have made it now 3 minutes flat? Procrastination steals success like a thief in the night.

Proverbs 6:6-11: “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.”

 If you want to achieve true success and greatness, you need to eliminate procrastination from your life. It starts out in a very small way, but if you keep postponing things in your life, small anthills can turn into mountains.

10 – Be a starter and a finisher

To be effective in goal setting, you need to begin your undertakings with the end in mind. Why are you dating her? Do you want to marry her or sleep with her? Why are you taking that university course? Why are you starting that business? Why are you going to Mexico? Why are you buying that hen; is it for the eggs or for the meat?

Instead of having so many unfinished goals, learn to set small goals and pursue them to their logical conclusion. For example, you can start your own business and have a goal of running it for three years, then sell it. It is your business; you can sell it, close it, profit from it or do whatever you want with it. You can run it for learning, earning or keeping busy. Be clear within yourself about why you are setting your goals and see to it that you get to the destination you intended.

Summary

This is the third article in the sports series. We are looking at ways to extract lessons from sports and apply them in our lives. Most sports such as soccer, basketball, hockey and tennis are very goals and winning oriented. A winning attitude in life requires us to set smart goals and achieve them.

I wish you all the best in your goals in life. I would love to hear your comments or more ideas in goal setting and achievement.

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