bharatbhasha.net
Free Articles  >>  Self Improvement >>  Page 304  >> 

Goal Confusion To Goal Clarity Jump Start Your Transformation Here





Do you know what you really want? Whenever I ask this question to someone, the reply is incorrect most of the time. What I have realized is, they don’t say “what they want”, but they say “what they think they want”. The most common reply I have heard is “I want to make a lot of money”. But when I ask them how much they want to make, they are never able to quantify the amount. This is precisely why they never end up achieving their goal – because they themselves don’t know what it really is! If you really want to succeed in achieving your goal, you need to know what you “really want”.

At one time I was so fed up of this reply, I decided to push the discussion and see where it goes. So when one Mr X replied that he wanted to make a lot of money, I asked him how much, but he didn’t know. So I asked him what he wanted to do with the money. Turns out, he wanted to buy a 2008 Ferrari F430 Coupe, so that he can show it off to his friends and make heads turn when he’d drive around town! So I asked him if his goal was to probably earn about $200k (the approximate cost of the Ferrari) and he agreed with me. I then went on to ask him if he has considered the maintenance costs, insurance costs and fuel costs. He hadn’t thought of that and he added a few grand to his goal. I then asked him if he has considered having some cool accessories for such a nice car, and he hadn’t! So he again marked up his goal. I then decided to let him work on it himself, so I told him to think and make a list of any other costs associated with the car that he could envisage. He thought for about 15 minutes but couldn’t come up with anything.

I then told him that there were 2 very important things he was not considering. The first was the life style cost. What is a life style cost? He had never heard of this before, so I went on to explain him with an example – let’s say you’re driving around town in your spanking new Ferrari and you’re feeling hungry. So will you turn into a McDonald’s for a burger, or will you consider a luxurious one where the rich and famous hangout? After all, you’re driving a Ferrari, right? You can’t be cheap! I went on to explain him that his attire must also include brands like Prada, Berluti, Brioni, Giorgio Armani, Rolex, etc.

I then asked him if he has considered the taxes he would be paying first, before he could spend the money. Boy, was he shocked! He needed to reverse calculate the amount after taxes, so he had to add the tax amount to arrive at his goal! He finally decided to reconsider his goal.

This little example will help you when you decide to make goals. But before you start off on your goal setting spree, do consider the S-M-A-R-T principle.

SMART means: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound.

Specific: Your goal should state the expected outcome very clearly. Try to be as specific as you can about your goal, like how much, for whom, etc.

Measurable: Your goal should be measurable, else how will you know when you’ve reached it? It could be on a scale (like 1 to 10), percentage, etc.

Achievable: When creating your goals, make sure that they’re achievable. It’s good to aim high but don’t push it to an unachievable point. Consider your current situation, resources and time availability.

Realistic: You need to face some facts – it will not be easy to overtake your competitors who have bigger and better resources at their disposal. Concentrate on reducing the gap, step by step.

Time Bound: A goal doesn’t hold value unless it isn’t time bound. Have an end date for each of your goals.

You should certainly consider all 5 of these principles, to increase your chances in achieving your goal. If the goal is materialistic, make a list of all the things that you want, with the cost to acquire it. Then simply add it all up and you will know that your goal is to make an x amount of money.

Closing Tips: At any given time, do not try to achieve too many goals. Three or four should be enough so that you can give focused attention. Don’t go beyond six or seven. Also remember to categorize your goals into short term, medium term and long term.

I hope you found this article useful. If you’re really serious in learning more about this subject, I urge you to visit http://www.bharatbhasha.com/self_improvement.php where we cover this in more detail. It is a free content site, so do drop in!


About Author Nirjara Rustom :

Nirjara Rustom moderates the self improvement tips section of http://www.bharatbhasha.com at http://www.bharatbhasha.com/self_improvement.php. The content here is free to read, so do check it out.


Article Source: http://www.bharatbhasha.net
Article Url: http://www.bharatbhasha.net/self_improvement.php/98577


Article Added on Thursday, October 2, 2008
Other Articles by Nirjara Rustom

Goal Setting In Theory And In Practice
As part of the overall business planning process, establishing goals is of course fundamental in providing a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. Setting one or more goals seems to be a straightforward process. You establish a specific goal, one that's measurable and has a defined timeframe for completion. You implement your plan, measure your progress towards reaching your goal and then evaluate the outcome objectively to refine your process. On the surface of things, it reads...

Do You Know What It Takes To Be A Successful Entrepreneur It s Not What You Think
A startling fact - over 90% of businesses fail miserably and close shop in less than 3 years! From the balance 10% barely 1 or 2% make it really big, the rest of the 8 to 9% just survive or are moderately successful. Do you know the difference between them? More specifically, do you know what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur? While there are many points to be considered, only a select few are really very important. These are the ones that will actually make or break your future. Having...

Gardening Tips For Beginners
Our contemporary lifestyle, crammed schedules and crushing workloads tend to make gardening a threatened pastime. Especially if you have a long commute to and from work, you’ll start whining if your precious time is consumed by running around trying to maintain your garden. Pruning land mowers, pulling out weeds, tilling and fertilizing, trimming grass and sweating away can really sound nightmarish, if you don’t have a proper gardening plan. Done right, gardening isn’t really such a strenuous...

How To Find Your Self Motivation Triggers One Size Does Not Fit All
We get motivation advice all the time. Some like to give it for free, just because they like to show as if they know more than you do. But quite often, they do this to try and give you a sense of inferiority – as if they’re superior to you. There are exceptions where some people do have a genuine interest to help folks, but these are few. Some people like to sell motivational stuff to make money and earn fame. While I do not favor, nor condone anyone or any method in particular, I will always...

Six Ways To Protect Yourself From A Sexual Assault
First of all, you should understand that there is no foolproof method that will work every time, in every situation. You will require accessing the situation and doing whatever makes logical sense to you, at that time. Your only objective is to get away before being harmed. You also need some basic sex education. This is beyond the scope of this article; please consult your mother (or another mature female relative if you don’t have one) to provide this information.More often than not, a sexual...

The Sure Shot Success Formula
There are only 3 things that are required to be successful:1. Knowledge. 2. Motivation. 3. Action.But what does success really mean?In reality, success could have entirely different meanings for different people, sometimes even radically opposite! It all depends on their individual goal.• For some people, success means to make a lot of money, buy cars, a house, maybe a private jet, etc. • For some, it means to be healthy enough to live up to almost a hundred years in prime health. • Some...

Managing The Household In An Economic Crisis Some Great Money Saving Ideas
A penny saved is a penny earned. This old saying has tremendous value, especially in the current economy. Unless you have money to burn (so what if you really do) there’s no harm in saving a bit for a rainy day. And if you’re really strapped for cash and live in a hand to mouth fashion, these tips that I’m about to give you will really be a blessing for you. While the individual amounts may not be so substantial, there are some nice tips which, when taken advantage of, will add up to a nice...

Simple Facial Exercises that Keep You Looking Young
Are you in search of an inexpensive way to prevent wrinkles that come with advancing age? If you’re scared of going under the knife or don’t have the budget to go through an instant treatment, there are facial exercises which will keep your skin healthy and young-looking. When done daily, these exercises will minimize existing wrinkles and prevent potential ones from forming. The best part is, they’re not that hard to follow. Here are a few simple things you can do to keep yourself looking...

Weaving Optimism And Positive Thinking Into Success
People can often be their own worst enemy, especially when they allow their negative feelings to create artificial barriers to achieving their goals, personally and professionally. We see this every day - person A begins talking enthusiastically about a new opportunity and immediately persons B and C shoot the idea down by focusing only on the negative outcomes that could potentially result.In other cases they allow emotions like anger to cloud their judgment for no other reason than because...

Back To Work Mommies
It’s been quite a while since you sat in an office. You’ve spent months taking care of your newborn and you’ve become the expert homemaker. Too long, in fact, that you now feel like a novice when it comes to securing your place in the workforce. But you have to change things up a bit so that you are still able to provide for your young one. Your babies have needs, and if you look at your expenses, you’ll notice that being a parent requires a lot of expenses. Expect things to change when you...

Click here to see More Articles by Nirjara Rustom
Publishers / Webmasters
Tell A Friend
Leave A Comment!
Download this article in PDF
Report Article!
Search through all the articles:


189 Users Online !
Related Articles:
Latest Articles:
 
Self Improvement >> Top 50 Articles on Self Improvement
Category - >
Advertising Advice Affiliate Programs Automobiles
Be Your Own Mentor Careers Communication Consumers
CopyWriting Crime Domain Names DoT com Entrepreneur Corner
Ebooks Ecommerce Education Email
Entertainment Environment Family Finance And Business
Food & Drink Gardening Health & Fitness Hobbies
Home Business Home Improvement Humour House Holds
Internet And Computers Kiddos and Teens Legal Matters Mail Order
Management Marketing Marriage MetaPhysical
Motivational MultiMedia Multi Level Marketing NewsLetters
Pets Psychology Religion Parenting
Politics Sales Science Search Engine Optimization
Site Promotion Sports Technology Travel
Web Development Web Hosting WeightLoss Women's Corner
Writing Miscellaneous Articles Real Estate Arts And Crafts
Aging


Disclaimer: The information presented and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors
and do not necessarily represent the views of bharatbhasha.net and/or its owners.


Copyright © AwareINDIA. All rights reserved || Privacy Policy || Terms Of Use || Author Guidelines || Free Articles
FAQs Link To Us || Submit An Article || Free Downloads|| Contact Us || Site Map  || Advertise with Us ||
Click here for Special webhosting packages for visitors of this website only!
Vastu Shastra

Linux Hosting Provided By AwareIndia