The secret to successful goal
setting is choosing goals that are achievable and within reach. While there are
a multitude of ways to succeed in your personal and professional life, the
following is the 12-step guide to a better life
1. Define your passion
What is it that makes you enthusiastic? That fuels your passion and motivates
you? If you don't know, now is the time to sit back and draw up a wish-list.
Include everything you've ever wanted to be, do and have in your life, and work
out a way to incorporate these dreams into your present every-day reality or
your intermediate to long-term plans. Whether this entails a complete career
shift, changes in your personal life or a revamped work-life balance, working
towards achieving goals that inspire and motivate you will add an extra impetus
to your life and drive you to further success.
2. Create a 5 year plan
Once you have defined your passion and what fuels and motivates you, plan for
success. Set clear goals for yourself and create a 5 year plan that takes into
account how and when you will achieve them. Make sure your objectives are clear
and be as detailed as possible in your planning, including realistic time frames
and taking into account any resources needed. Rather than getting wrapped up and
swamped in the demands of day-to-day life and spending your days rushing from
one deadline to another, intelligent planning on both a macro and micro basis
will allow you to optimize your workdays, weeks and months and never lose sight
of the big picture and main priorities. Examples of your goals may be to build
leadership skills, achieve a certain position within your company, learn a new
skill, master an old one, gain a higher degree, work on people skills, change
careers etc.
3. Make it a goal to regularly upgrade your skills
Updating and upgrading your skills should be an important and integral part of
your 5 year plan whatever line of work you are in. Pinpoint the skills you need
to work on and research and identify materials you need to read and/or courses
you will need to take to achieve your goals whether they be on-line, in the
community college, through employer-sponsored training and continuing education
programs or otherwise. Learning more about new technology is always a good idea
in any profession as is learning a foreign language and taking any courses/
seminars that allow you to stay at the vanguard of your industry and profession.
4. Find a mentor
Why face the world alone when you can have the wisdom, experience and
sensibilities of a mentor to guide and help you along the way. Effective mentors
are invaluable resources and can lend a great a deal of momentum to your career
through their encouragement and advice in both the good times and the tough.
Career obstacles can often be better faced when viewed from the lenses of an
experienced mentor and many a career has been accelerated to overdrive mode
thanks to the wisdom and careful guidance of a veteran practitioner in the field
who also acted as a mentor. Chose a mentor who is a good listener, whose
professional judgement you trust and whose wisdom and experience you value.
5. Separate personal life from professional life
It is critical for your long term success in both your personal and professional
lives to achieve a healthy work-life balance and a clear separation between the
two. Make sure you give each platform your all and apply yourself completely,
both emotionally and mentally to each at the appropriate time. When one aspect
of your life starts to spill over into another, your performance will slack and
you will begin to feel yourself losing control and your confidence waning.
Create healthy boundaries between your work life and your personal life and give
each its due without sabotaging that important balance that leads to mental and
emotional health and well-being. Learn to say 'no' to things that overload your
schedule needlessly and do not support your primary goals and priorities.
6. Commit to a positive mindset
Crucial to your long-term health and well-being is to commit to a positive
mindset, regardless of circumstances. The way we see the world and our response
to events is a choice we make and it is always preferable to maintain a positive
mental mindframe and commit to a consistently optimistic attitude about the
world. Feed your emotional, spiritual and mental self regularly the same way you
would feed your physical self in order to maintain its optimal health. This can
take the form of reading motivational books, listening to inspirational tapes,
relationships that lift and inspire you, or simply time spent 'playing'
frivolously and doing the things you like to do best. If you see the glass as
half full and the world as full of potential and possibility you will be more
able to endear yourself to others, confront life's daily vagaries and succeed in
both your personal and professional lives.
7. Be persistent
Persistence pays. Consistent hard work, married with detailed planning,
effective time management and enthusiasm will eventually reap rewards. Once you
have committed to a goal, allow nothing to stand in our way whether it be
doubts, criticism, outside influences, distractions, low self-esteem or
impatience. Keep your vision in sight at all times and remind yourself of where
you are headed when times are tough.
8. Take responsibility for your actions
Taking responsibility for your actions will enable you to focus on your
strengths, work on your weaknesses and stop the time-consuming career quicksand
of blaming others. Once you take full accountability for your work, you can
focus on perfecting it and on finding solutions rather than laying the blame at
someone else's door. An attitude of full accountability coupled with a
solution-focused mentality is a sure formula for success.
9. Aim for excellence
Settle for nothing less than excellence in all your endeavours. An attitude
of excellence should permeate everything you do and you should aim to work on
yourself to the extent necessary to achieve your excellence benchmarks. Make
continuous self-improvement an integral part of your planning and goal setting
activities in order to attain consistent excellence standards.
10. Take time out to nurture yourself
Every successful professional needs some "me-time" to refuel, recharge the
batteries and regain perspective. Take time out of your busy schedule regularly
to do what you enjoy, whether it be reading, pottering around the garden,
volunteering in the community, pursuing sports or singing in the village choir.
By enriching yourself and becoming your optimum and healthiest self, you will be
able to better contribute both at work and at home with the family.
11. Take control of your finances
Make sure your budget and financial planning activities allow for a robust
savings and investment margin. It is never too early to plan for a comfortable
retirement. Enlist the help of professionals to advise you on how to build a
comfortable nest-egg for yourself and your family while you are still earning a
healthy income.
12. Be grateful
Key to your emotional and spiritual wellbeing is to regularly step back and
count your blessings. Always remind yourself of where you have succeeded in life
and what your past achievements are and never lose sight of the myriad of little
and not so little blessings that have populated your life to date.