Envision, create, and believe in your own universe, and the universe will form around you.
Tony Hsieh
I remember the month and the year vividly.
February 2014.
I had just joined my new work. Up until that time, I had gone through a few jobs. Getting a job was never my goal. My goal was to be happy doing whatever I did. That could come from my work or personal passion.
To be frank, I did not have any clear goals. Congratulations to you if you ever had your goals figured out. I thought of my life goals quite late in life. Till that time I was going where my life took me. I did not have any particular vision on goals for my life. Let alone Purpose!!
So, February 2014. I had joined a new workplace. To my surprise, I had some of the most supportive colleagues and manager at the time. But there was something lacking deep within me.
I was always anxious and empty from within although I had a well-paying job. Maybe this was due to a lot of garbage I was carrying in my mind. The past was not too positive for me. I had this weird vision that everything in life was up to luck. And life just happened to you.
How wrong was I!!
If you are wondering how I recouped myself from all the negativity, you may read it my story here: My Story.
The best thing that happened to me was that I realized that to be successful, I will need to have goals. And that’s when I set out to achieve my goals. I went ahead and set my so high that even I was scared to read them.
And my goals were not easy. Here are some of my goals for 2020:
- 36500 push-ups – leading to strong shoulders and arms
- Walk more than 1800 kilometers – leading to strong legs
- 100+ hours of badminton – leading to agility in my physic
- 70000+ Jumping jacks – leading to strong legs
- Increase my net worth by 100%+ – leading to financial freedom
- Write 600 words daily – leading to being a better writer
If you read this at a breath they are quite daunting. And the current Covid19 situation even made this impossible!!
Here is what my goals signify:
- Each of them is quantifiable: There is no room for abstraction. I stayed away from abstract sentences like better health and so on.
- Very specific goals leading to specific results
Here is the Trick to Achieve Goals:
Like I said before, having goals for the sake of having them will lead you nowhere. Till recently in my life, I did not have any specific goals. And even if I had, I had not written them. And as long as you do not have your goals written and quantified, you will not achieve them.
My Trick to Achieve Goals: Work Backwards
So when I have set a goal, I than break them into smaller chunk of achievable tasks. For example, one of my physical fitness goals was to have strong shoulders. Then I set out what are the contributing factors to achieve this goal. Then I figured out after reading that push up is one great ways to get strong shoulders and arms.
I then set out set a yearly target of push ups and drill them down to my daily contribution of push ups that are required for me to achieve this particular goals.
Similarly, I was not as good in managing my money. I used to invest in high risk products which did yielded only low single digit returns. When I realized this, I made a careful plan on what should be my goal. After discussing with wife, we set a financial goal for us. This involved our kids’ education, retirement etc. We budgeted our expenses and strictly followed this.
I started reading about various financial products. And I have become passionate about investment. I read a lot of books these days. I keep watching the news about the companies I am targeting to invest in. And I have got better at investing and even exceeded the expectations.
I hope you understand the spirit of where I am getting to. Achieving goals is not easy. I believe my points above try to prove that while it is challenging to achieve your dreams / goals, it is not impossible to achieve them.
GOALS–>BREAK INTO SMALLER CHUNKS–>ACHIEVE
I wish you all the best.
And about February 2014. This was the month I started writing my goals on a daily basis.
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