5 Keys to Setting Goals like a Pro
Tags: Wisdom, Entrepreneur, Planning, Self-awareness, Time Management

5 Keys to Setting Goals like a Pro

Yeah! You will definitely belong to any of these four people. A person that doesn’t have a goal, a person that have a goal but with no strategy, a person that have a goal; with a strategy but not working on the strategies and the person that have a goal and discreetly working on strategies to achieve it.

Have you ever seen a game of soccer with no goal post? What about a game of tennis with no rules? Or have you ever seen athletic race with no marked lanes or stopwatch? Every activity in life should rest on the premise of goals, all professions and vocations; Engineering, Programming, Journalism, Sports, Politics and business is domicile on the domain of goals involved.

Now ask yourself what are your goals for this year, this month, as regards your health; marriage, finance, mortgage and vacation. If you don’t have a goal you will never achieve any good result. No goal; no destination! No focus; no achievement!

Now to the rules to hit your much anticipated goals

1) SPECIFIC: You need to have precision of focus in your mind as regards your goals. Many have ambiguous goals, obtuse ambitions and indecisive aims.

I have seen people say things like “…I want to know music.” Music is a massive world on its own; it is a gargantuan kingdom of creativity. What do you want to know about music? You can’t say you want to know music, what specific thing do you want to know? To play instrument; to listen to music, to produce music, to edit music, to mix music?

We have hundreds of genre of music, we have jazz, classical, pop, reggae, rock, meditation etc. We have many musical instruments as well. In your pursuit don’t say; ‘I want to know how to play a piano; rather say I want to start a piano class and be able to spot the middle C on the piano,’ then graduate to ‘I want to know how to run the key of C with my right hand,’ perfect the do’s and don’ts of having a specific goals.

‘Don’t say I want to train my dog,’ rather say ‘I want train my dog to seat on command’. Don’t say I want to travel out this year, rather say I want to go on a safari to Kenya this year, I want to drop 20 pounds this next 3 months. Have precision-guided goals, be specific and write out the decision you have on paper.

2) MEASURABLE: Innumerable people have goals that cannot be quantified; this point has to do with numbers. Don’t say I want to start jogging every morning; say I want to start jogging for 25 minutes every morning. With all your goals add numbers to achieve it.

I am trumpet player, many years ago; I use to run the third octave of C 144 times almost every day. I will first run it 12 times with my counter. Then I will do it 12 times to make up for 144 times a day. It was taking me around one hour; forty minutes to do this. After months of practice, I could run the feat in thirty minutes, but now I can do it in less than 20 minutes

3) ATTAINABLE:

When you are setting goals, take cognizance of attainability. Don’t set goals that is not achievable. Don’t say you want to drop 80 pounds in 2 days. This is not achievable, have a discreet projection of what you intend to achieve.

Have a discrete projection of what you can achieve, 10 years ago; I watched a guy on YouTube who played a trumpet and he sustained the third C for eighteen seconds, immediately I brought out my trumpet and I began practice, that day very day I did it in 12 seconds after months of practice I could sustain it for 120 seconds. I could achieve this within weeks of strenuous practice.

Don’t set a goal to do a push up 120 times; when you have not done 30 push ups, set a scalable goals that you can achieve step by step at a time.

Every time that I need to practice my trumpet, I set a goal on what I want to achieve and I build this over time. In your weight loss journey set a target. How soon do you want to drop 20 pounds? How soon do you want to get that new dog? When do you want to start that new course? Set that attainable goal and pursue it now!

In your profession set this parameter of numbers. In your marketing, fitness goals and daily pursuits. Make numbers your guide and guard. Take cognizance of attainability; don’t set goals that are not achievable, don’t say you want to drop eighty pounds in two days; this is not achievable. Plan on what you can work with.

I listen to the trumpeter of all times; Dizzy Gillespie play “A night in Tunisia” I tried to play along with him but my trumpet stamina and breath could not carry me. I continued the practice for many months; I can now play it with ease. I conquered the track on trumpet with time; setting the goals on when it could be attained.

4) RELEVANT: Set prudent goals that are relevant to your pursuit in life, I said it earlier that in my trumpet journey, I could sustain the third C for 120 seconds, suddenly I stopped it; I realize that the feat is not relevant to my trumpet style. If you set a goal to buy a Bugatti, Rolls Royce, Bentley and Ferrari; then ask yourself the relevance of your ambition or goals. What relevance will the luxury add to your life.

Diana Nyad swam from Cuba to Florida in (110 miles) if you are swimmer you it does not mean you should attempt this feat. What relevance does it have to your life, career health and goal? You want to have 300 tattoos on your body; then ask yourself what you need it for; will it help your career, health or marriage. What are you really looking for in life?

You need to set goals that are relevant to your ambition, career and pursuit in life.

5) TIME-BOUND: With all your pursuits, goals, ambition and missions in life; set a time frame of when you want to get it realized.

In my trumpet journey, I set a goal based on the time I want to get it achieved. How soon do you want to find a dog? When exactly do you need to start dieting? Set a time parameter to your goals, I heard Arturo Sandoval play “A mis abuelos”, this is one of his best music. I played it everyday and I set a target to conquer the track. I began playing it 30 seconds every week. Within months I could play the whole track with ease. The target with a time-bound focus helped me out.

This S-M-A-R-T will make you smart in your pursuit in life. Write it out and pursue it. Chinese says “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.”

Be a doer of this discreet S-M-A-R-T