Soft Skills

SET TOUR GOAL NOW!

By Our Special Correspondent

Your first stop is Nagarjunasagar, the place for a well-known dam. A little while into the trip you need to check the map because you have reached an intersection you’re not familiar with. You panic for a moment because you realize you have forgotten your map. But you say the heck with it because you know where you are going. You take a right, change the audio CD you have been listening to, and keep on going. Unfortunately, you never reach your destination. Many of us treat the goal setting the same way. We dream about where we want to go, but we don’t have a map to get there. What is a map? In fact, a written down plan or path.

Dream and Goal

What is the different between a dream and a goal? Once again, the written word. But we need to do more than simply scribbling down some ideas on a piece of paper. Our goals need to be complete and focused, much like a road map, and that is the purpose behind the rest of this article and next few that follow.

Many of you might have read “Alice in wonderland” by Lewis Carrol. At a crossroad where four roads meet, Alice chances upon the Cheshire four roads it, “Which road should I take now?” and the cat replies, “Where do you want to go?” Alice says, it doesn’t matter, I am just going around, seeing everything”. The cat then says, “Well, in that case, it doesn’t matter which ever road you take”.

Let us take another example imagine you are standing at Ameerpet bus stop in Hyderabad, and some walks up to you and ask, “which bus should I take now?’ What would you say? It is sure, you would respond, and ask in turn, “Where do want to go?” And depending on the response you get, you would suggest the bus number which the person has to catch. Suppose the person says that it doesn’t matter whichever bus he catches! Isn’t it?. All the examples we have just mentioned are just to provide an analogy to what most individuals do with their career and life in general. They continue with life without any specific goal in mind, and hence ultimately might end up not achieving anything.

REMEMBER

Clear goals help us reach great achievements in life.

Lack of goals leads us nowhere.

Carrying on with life without any goal is like going around the town no destination in mind.

Why is goal setting important?

As we have observed in all the instances cited earlier, we don’t go anywhere without goals. Whenever you see anything worthwhile being done anywhere, it is because someone is behind it with a passion, a belief and goal!

When it comes to your personal life and your career, goal setting can make the difference between mediocrity and excellence and accomplishment. Imagine what would happen if we keep continuing with life without any specific goal in mind. Right from school, as student, if we just attend the classes daily, and pass out of school, what would we do when we suddenly find ourselves out of school? If we do not have a specific goals as to what career we want to choose, then what group would we choose in intermediate (Plus Two)? After completion of Plus Two, what stream would we choose in graduation, if there no clarity regarding our goals? And after completion of education what industry would we choose to be associated with, for a career? Hence, it is too importance to have a specific goal! Much is said about goal setting. But just how do you set and accomplish goals? Is there some goal setting formula or strategy that can be used to increase your chances of success? Rest assured there is, and we shall discuss all aspects of goal setting in detail.