Goals = Pleasure
As you know, reaching goals is essential to your success.
However, did you know you can obtain a lot of joy just from setting goals and making a little progress to your goals?
“Happiness could be defined as the emotion of progress toward desirable goals.”
“Without goals, hopes, ambitions or dreams, the attainment of pleasure is nearly impossible.” — L. Ron Hubbard
Fortunately, you can create this enjoyment, right now, by refreshing your current goals or setting new ones.
10 Reasons Why Goals Help You Succeed and Bring You Joy
10 Reasons Why Goals Help You Succeed and Bring You Joy
1. If you have goals, you have direction. You can invest your time and effort in a specific way that pays off.
A race car without a steering wheel is like having no goals. You push on the gas pedal and the engine roars. The tires spin and smoke. The car goes all over the track, goes in circles and hits the wall. No matter how hard you push on the pedal, you go nowhere.
2. When opportunities pop up that can help you reach a goal, you recognize and seize them.
Opportunities are all around you. The trick is noticing them. When you have a goal in mind, the opportunities you need are easier to see.
For example, you have a goal to own and operate a café and you need an empty space. You now see lots of places that could become cafes. Before you had the goal of getting the café, you probably drove past empty spots every day and never noticed them.
When you have a goal in mind, you see ways to reach your goal you never noticed before.
3. You make better decisions.
When faced with an important choice, you simply ask yourself, “Which of these options will best help me reach my goal? Will Plan A help me with my goal or will Plan B do it best?”
Like a flashlight in the night, your goal lights up your best choice.
4. Goals motivate you and give you energy.
For example, when you are preparing to go on vacation, you get more done in less time. You have a firm goal to finish several tasks and then go on your trip. The excitement of the vacation helps you work hard and fast without getting tired.
Great goals help you accomplish much more in less time.
5. You have more control of your life.
When events in life knock you around, goals can put you back in control.
For example, you get arrested by the police and spend time in jail for something you did not do. The day after you are released from jail, you focus on your goals and continue onward. The bad incident does not ruin your life.
6. You can have greater confidence. You can take the initiative. You can be a leader.
Imagine you and your group are lost in the wilderness. You alone know the correct direction to hike. You would not follow someone else. You would not sit down and worry. You would take the initiative and lead your group to safety. Goals give you the same level of confidence.
7. You can determine if your current activity contributes to your overall success or not.
For example, you find yourself digging a hole in the ground. You ask yourself, “Why am I digging this hole?” You then realize, “Oh, yeah! I’m building my own house and need a good basement.” Or you realize, “Wait a minute. This hole is for my neighbor’s house. He’s pretty persuasive! He already owes me a few hours of work. It’s time to go dig my own basement.”
As another example, you are frustrated and can’t sleep because you accomplished nothing worthwhile during the day. But then you realize you took three good steps toward one of your goals. You pat yourself on the back and fall asleep.
8. Long-range goals help you solve short-term problems.
For example, you and your spouse have a long-term goal of raising your three children to be happy, healthy, honest and productive. You keep that goal in mind when your son is caught stealing a jacket at the mall. Of course, you work out a punishment, but you also use the incident to teach your son the benefits of honesty. The big picture helps you take wiser actions.
9. Your plans are more effective.
Each morning, you can plan your day based on your goals. For example, “What can I do today that will take me one step closer to my goal of becoming independently wealthy?”
Weekly plans, monthly plans and yearly plans give you better results when you line them up and match them to specific goals.
10. Goals give you hope for a better future. Goals make you happier.
Watch the fans at a football game. They have a goal to win the game. For a few hours, the goal helps them escape the problems of life. Even if they lose, they have fun.
Goals help you make life more enjoyable, even exhilarating. Goals give you a stable, natural “high” you can never achieve from alcohol, drugs or other bad habits.
20 Questions to Help You Set or Refresh Your Goals
Ask yourself the following questions to write up a huge list of goals. Under each question are some examples.
Then pick your primary goals as explained at the end of the questions.
1. What goals are you are currently working on?
Examples: “Make more money so I can ____.” “Find someone who will _____.” “Be more _____.”
2. What are your hopes and dreams?
“Build a big beautiful house.” “Travel around Switzerland.” “Create a YouTube channel that goes viral.”
3. What goals have you given up on, for whatever reason?
“Marry the perfect person.” “Ride a horse in a rodeo.” “Live on a house boat.”
4. What do you want to BE in life?
“Become a teacher.” “Be the top _____ in the world.” “Be a genius.”
5. What do you want to DO in life?
“Provide $5,000 of services per day.” “Run a five-minute mile.” “Discover a cure for diabetes.”
6. What do you want to HAVE in life?
“A new Mercedes 350SL.” “Own my own island.” “A house for my daughter.”
7. What goals could you accomplish if you had new skills?
“Compose songs for movies.” “Form an office building construction partnership with my best workers and friends.” “Fly my own airplane to visit a new place every month.”
8. What changes in your personality would enhance your success?
“Be cheerful no matter what happens.” “Treat myself and others with more kindness.” “Set a better example for everyone in my life.”
9. What goals do you and your spouse or family members want?
“Buy our own house.” “Go to Hawaii this summer.” “Raise happy children.”
10. What are your job, group or business goals?
“Double our productivity by August.” “Make our dog food the most nutritious in the industry.” “Sell more Toyotas than any other car dealership in California.”
11. Write down goals that would bring you pleasure?
“Cruise around the world.” “Work one day per week and then volunteer for five days per week.” “Start my own rock band.”
12. What goals do you have for your health?
“Stop smoking.” “Lose 40 pounds.” “Live to 100.”
13. What do you want to accomplish before you die?
What should everyone say at your memorial service? What do you want to leave to your heirs? What mark do you want to make on this world?
14. What goals would you set if you had additional resources?
What if you had $10 million to spend? What if you had 30 people willing to help you? What if you had an extra 50 years in this lifetime? How would you use these resources?
15. If you could accomplish anything, what would you want?
“Become a doctor.” “Build a 50-story luxury apartment building and live in the penthouse.” “Win an election to become the mayor.”
16. What if you could start all over again? What might you do instead of what you currently do?
“Learn to create artificial intelligence apps.” “Paint murals.” “Work for a non-profit group.”
17. What motivates you or fires up your passion? Translate this source of excitement into a goal.
“Help thousands of people handle their opioid addictions.” “Photograph every type of hummingbird in the country.” “Design and construct a farm.”
18. What are your self-improvement goals?
“Learn to be in present time, all the time.” “Reduce or eliminate my fears.” “Take better control of myself.”
19. What are your social goals?
“Be more helpful to my church.” “Make our city government less restrictive to businesses.” “Raise money to improve education in Africa.”
20. What are some of your ridiculous goals?
Let your imagination fly. Add some crazy, unbelievable goals for yourself. Who knows? Maybe you will achieve them.
From your big list, select the primary goals you wish to work on. Pick goals that are the most exciting goals for you to pursue.
THEN, to take action to reach your goals, write up your plans using the steps in “How to Write Plans that Work.”
To the stars and beyond!