Newsletter reader J writes:
I know “Goal Setting” as a business has been around for ages, but, I always ask why is goal setting “the way?”.
Can’t life be meaningful if we find it worth living for its own sake, without recourse to further aims, goals or purposes?
People ask me this question all the time.
I think it’s one of life’s pivotal questions. Unfortunately, if you get the answer wrong, life may not be meaningful or worthwhile. My thoughts will be in the next issue of the newsletter – scheduled for Wednesday. It is not too late to subscribe and don’t forget, you get my book 107 Goal Setting Breakthroughs free just for signing up. You can get yours below:
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In an attempt to answer the reader’s question, in essence, goal setting is a formalizing of our visions and ambitions. It sometimes does help us to spend some time thinking about our life’s purpose or our long term vision, and trying to formalize a strategy for it. I think it’s important to keep things in perspective, of course. I wouldn’t say that goal setting is “the way”, at least, not for everybody or at all times. We all set goals every day, and it doesn’t need to be a complicated process. We often do it without thinking about the process at all. Sometimes for more complicated or intricate or passionate ambitions, a formal goal setting process can and should come into play.
It does seem that an entire industry has sprouted up around the mantras of “success” and “goal setting”. I’ve bought plenty of books and products that turned out to be little more than empty platitudes and a waste of money. I’ve read way too many empty or repetitious blogs on the subject.
There is no “one size fits all”. I’ve spent years trying to hammer my goal setting and productivity into some kind of Franklin Covey or GTD system. There are a lot of useful tools in those systems, but they may not work for all of us exactly as constructed. Lately I’ve just tried to do things “my way”.
I think your “Achieve-It” is a good product for personal goal setting. It does help to keep things on a personal level. I’ve spent too much time chasing empty goals as a result of reading some motivational books. Achieve-It does help with brainstorming on “my” level to help me see what I want to do or what I can achieve.
I think goal setting within a company is extremely important and is somtimes overlooked. Personally, in the workplace I like to know what´s going on, my roles and resposibilities and also expectations. I think goals are important for motivation – when an employee has something to work towards, I think they will work harder and more effectively. When the business knows where it´s headed, the whole company can work more effectively together in order to achieve their target.
Frank
Thanks for the replies to my question.
You might want to read Dennis Prager’s “Happiness Is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual” and
“What’s It All About?: Philosophy and the Meaning of Life” by Julian Baggini .
if you want your life to be successful you must have a goal to achieve. if you have no goal, what is your purpose here on earth? you must have a goal in order to have a good direction to your life.
Goal setting is a must in our life. Without a goal,
we will live our life just like a lost sheep, dangling
in nowhere because we don’t know where we
are heading.
However, with a goal, you will be clear with where
you are going and you will live a more focus life.
Just like if you set your goal as to lose weight, you will definitely think twice when you of what to eat
when dinning out with friends. This is why goal
setting is so powerful. It is because it will become
the purpose and the direction for us in our life.
Shawn
Success Strategies
Goal setting is good, but achieving those goals is much more important. I have a lot of notes with “goals” and “plans”, but I cannot organize myself in a way to achieve them. That is sad.
Henry T.s last blog post..A Virtual Giza Pyramids Tour
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