In one of his many “truisms”, Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” How true. A person needs to know where they are going in life, or they will end up somewhere. But who knows where? That is why we need to be challenged.
Challenge. The word itself can mean many things. In fact, while looking up the definition I found no less than 7 at thefreedictionary.com site. The one definition I want to focus on is: A test of one’s abilities or resources in a demanding but stimulating undertaking.
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” ― Helen Keller, The Open Door
A characteristic needed in developing a positive leadership legacy is: CHALLENGE. What do I mean by challenge? As the definition states above, testing one’s abilities. To be stretched. How do you do that? By setting GOALS. And clear goals at that.
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” ― C.S. Lewis
Many people have set new goals without concern to their age. Whether in your 20’s, 30’s, on up to 50’s and 60’s. Even further. A person can still dream new dreams; to work towards goals. When I decided to become a certified speaker, trainer and coach through the John Maxwell Team, that is what I did. Although I am not limited to those resources, I felt it was the right fit at the right time in my life. It has been quite the experience.
E. Joseph Cossman once wrote: “Obstacles are things a person sees when he takes his eyes off his goal.” I have found that to be so true. Once I look at my circumstances, all I see are obstacles. I do not see goals- they disappear; they are forgotten. DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE PRIZE.
Benefits.
There are benefits to goal setting. I like what I found on livestrong.com which are stated succinctly. 3 benefits are:
Faster Completion
Knowing your end goal allows you to plan steps to get there. This increased coordination of efforts results in faster completion times of goal attainment.
Increased Motivation
By providing objective measurements and feedback to track progress, goals provide yardsticks of success and failure.
Reduced Stress
Being given a work deadline, setting a weight-loss goal or attempting to achieve an improvement in sports performance with no ultimate goal or plan to obtain the goal can create self-doubt, resignation, panic or other performance-degrading emotions.
“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”
― Robert H. Schuller