The Power of Goals

G oals are simple enough to make, right? What goals do you have? Are they smart goals? If I asked you to write down your top 5 goals, how much have you really thought them through?

The truth is, most of us don't have goals, we just have dreams. Dreams are good, and we need those, but what is the difference between a dream and a goal?

Goals are simply detailed dreams with an action plan! Having personal goals is one of the most important things you MUST do to be successful!

Look at it this way: your goal is your map that will get you where you want to go in life. Nowadays, when we take trips, we don't use the old-school paper maps, we have GPS!

I love my GPS. It's a Garmin, so I call her Carmin. She talks to me and tells me exactly where to go, where to turn, how close I am getting, and the street name so I don't miss my turn. However, sometimes when I am in a city that I don't know very well, I like to see the local sights, and I will miss a turn.

Carmin then starts to tell me over and over "recalculating, recalculating". She is telling me that I have missed my turn. A new route has to be recalculated so that I can reach my destination and goal.

Our lives are very similar. Goals are the end-destination that we are trying to get to! So it's important that we take time to write down that goal.

Several years ago, there was a study done about Harvard business students in a book called "What they don't teach you at Harvard Business School" by Mark McCormack.

In the book, the author reveals a study conducted on students in the 1979 Harvard MBA program. That year the students were asked, "Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?" Only three percent of the graduates had written goals and plans; 13 percent had goals, but they were not in writing; and a whopping 84 percent had no specific goals at all. Ten years later, the members of the class were interviewed again, and the findings, while somewhat predictable, were nonetheless astonishing. The

13 percent of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent who had no goals at all.

The three percent who had clear, written goals were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent put together.

So now do you see why it is so important to have goals? So what kind of goals do you have?

Goal Setting:

There are short term and long term goals. A short term goal is typically less than 1 year. These are the goals that you think you can complete in 1 year or less. I like to break it down to monthly or even school-semester goals. A very simple, short term goal may be something to do with making a team, or getting an A in a class, or even passing your driver's test to get your license!

Long term goals take over a year to accomplish. These are normally bigger goals that will take more time to develop. You can set smaller goals to help yourself achieve them. Longer goals may include things like graduating from high school, going to college or even your future career path!

There are 5 main areas you should always have goals in:

Education

I am a believer in both forms of education: In school and out of school! Take time to set your educational goals for middle school, high school and going to a vocational or a traditional college. I also believe that you have to continue to educate yourself in life, with your communication skills and general business skills. So how are you going to stay educated and continue to learn?

Sometimes this is tough for teenagers to think about, but you should start trying to find your career path now. It's the big question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Whatever you decide now doesn't have to be permanent! Here is a great tip: Whatever you think you want to be or do, go find someone that has been doing it for 5 or 10 years and talk to them about it. Ask them if you can do an internship or get a summer job. Find out what classes can help you so you can begin to build your skills now! If you don't know what your career should be, just ask yourself this question: How would I like to make a difference in this world?

Career

Family

Family is a big part of most of our lives. As teenagers, we rely on our parents, grandparents or even aunts and uncles. You should decide what things you can do for your family and how you want to give back to them.

Spirituality

Take time to write down how your religion plays a role in your life and what things you want to accomplish in this area. I am a Christian and that is my belief, but you need to believe what is best for you.

SMART GOALS

Relationships

When it comes to relationships, goal setting is very important. If you are looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend, I am going to recommend you try the goal setting exercise of writing down everything you would look for in a relationship. You should know what you want and what you don't want from someone that you would spend a lot of time with. It is important for you to know what you are looking for. If you don't know what you like or want, neither of you will be happy.

The key to setting the right goals in these areas is to make sure they pass the Smart Test...

Here is what SMART goals have: S- Specific -You need to have details of how you plan to get there.

M- Measurable - How will you know if you have succeeded in your goals?

A-Action - Do you have a step by step action plan? R- Recorded - A goal isn't a goal until it's written down and recorded.

T- Timeline - When do you expect to accomplish it? Make an accomplishment date.

Do your goals pass the smart test?

One of my favorite success stories is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres. His name is Clayton Richard. I coached Clayton when he was in High School and I was amazed at many things he did on and off the field.

He was the only player in Indiana State history to be awarded both Mr.

Football and Mr. Baseball awards in the same year! This award is given to the best player in the state in each sport. He was also a high school valedictorian. He went to Michigan to play football and now plays Major League baseball!

Although I am very proud of Clayton's accomplishments, how he got there is what I want students to understand.

1 He set extremely high and demanding goals of himself.

2 He committed to the action plan that it would take to accomplish those goals.

3 He made sacrifices. He sacrificed going to high school parties, drinking, drugs, and many other things that high school kids choose to do. Why? He had a goal that was important to him and he wanted to accomplish it!

So what do you want to accomplish in your life? The key:

1. Set the goal. 2) Build an action plan. 3) Sacrifice the unimportant things. 4) Never give up!

I challenge you to write down 3 goals for each of the five main areas AND begin to take action.