Goal

What is the goal? we have been always said to set a goal. We have set goals and tried to achieve it. To be fair I have not achieved many, few which I achieved were dumb luck, I guess. Lets first find out why I have not been able to get to the goal I have set? When I googled how to set a goal the result was ‘SMART’ (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound). I tried with this technique but still could not set an achievable goal and fail here also. All become pointless when I was not able to do anything. Then I started to introspect that why is this happening? I started to think why do we need a goal in life? what will it change? These are the right questions. To answer ‘why’, we need an answer to ‘what’ first, again we are at the start.

As per Wikipedia Goal is ‘A result which one is attempting to achieve’. The goals which I set were ‘to pass the exam’ or ‘to buy a home’. These are achievements, not the attempt to achieve, there is a small difference here if we study then we will pass the exam. Like if we study till we understand a concept every day or a definition, this will definitely qualify to be a goal.

Generally, we set an achievement as a goal and then when we don’t achieve it we feel miserable & frustrated. It leads to irresponsible behavior toward looking at life and we lose a positive attitude. Because we have been told that don’t talk negatively, that will affect the end result. Have you thought of it does it really have any effect? if you don’t see rationally then how can that be a goal? If you do not have enough funds then how can you buy home? Your goal should be to collect the required fund when you have then only you will be able to buy your dream home.

When these things matter then for me a goal becomes SMART (small, moving, actions, required, timeless).

S - Small: Goal should be small that you can do, like everyday study only one subject, only one concept, when at the end of a month you would have studied 4 weeks X 7 subjects X 1 concept = 28 concepts, that is an achievement. I decided to write 1000 words every day, alternate day 300-500 word blog, 1 once in a week 300-word LinkedIn article. When month end I will be having a library of 30000 words, 15 blogposts, 4 articles. Small doings let you build big structures and that too without any pressure.

M - Moving: Goal should be always moving, not fixed like if I can not understand this concept today then might well learn the next day, not an issue, someday you might learn two concepts also well that much moving it should be. Be true to yourself, sometimes I don’t find any subject or thought or story to write, what I do I just sit in front of the laptop and write whatever is going inside my head, by this I might get something or I have achieved my goal for today 1000 words.

A - Action: Goal should be an action than a fixed stationary milestone. In place of writing 1000 words I set writing on a subject or a story, then this will be a stationary thought and bind me to the specific thing. Today, I might not be able to write a story or a subject, I might be willing to write a thought about attitude then my goal should be flexible enough. If you fix that Monday I will study science then If today you wanted to learn about Tanaji as you saw the movie you will be deviating your goal for that day.

R - Required: Hmm this is an important factor, whenever I have set goal I always find a way around it, as this might not be required now or ever. I set a goal to wake up every morning at 5 am, but If my office or school is at 7 am, my mind tells me to sleep till 6 am, as there is no need to wake up. Why? because nothing will stop if I wake up late, and on Sundays, don’t ask. So, the goal should be required or must-do a thing, like a wake up to go to a morning walk or jogging, because it is required to keep you fit. Then you don’t have an excuse like Sunday or holiday or anything else.

T - Timeless: You might be wondering how can a goal be timeless? firstly goal should be timebound but not time specific. Like when I write to sit for a blog post, there is no time limit but a day limit to it. I sit and start writing be it 1-hour work or 3 hours. Similarly while to study a concept it may take 10 min or 1 hour you give time to understand the thing, because when I set a timer, I work for timer not for my mind. I used to study for an hour, but actually, I used to just take a book and read something for an hour and finish it. When you set time, you give time, here we need attention, not time. I give attention to the article 10 min, it will be finished. But the editing, finding the right picture, proofread, all takes 1 hour then how can I give a specific time to post an article. I keep time flexible.

I hope this clarifies the goal and how to set it without confusing you guys. Let me know your new‌ SMART‌ goals and keep updating your progress, I love to hear from you.