Let me ask you a few questions…
- Do you set goals for yourself?
- Do you know what you want to accomplish out of your life?
- Do you have 1-year goals, 3-year goals, or 90-day goals?
If your answer is no, then most likely, you are living your life without a clear direction.
“You need a plan to build a house. To build a life, it is even more important to have a plan or goal.”
– Zig Ziglar
Imagine it is Saturday morning and you have no goal and no plan for the day. Guess what will happen to your day?
Well, nothing.
Perhaps, you will wake up late because you have no plan in the morning. And because you have no goals for the day, you end up wasting your Saturday afternoon binge-watching Netflix or play games. When you realize it, it is already evening, and the day is almost over.
That’s what will happen when you have no plan and no goal.
The problem is that this situation can happen not just to your everyday life, but also to your every month life.
Think about how you spent 2020. Where did the time go?
That’s what happens when you don’t have a goal. When you don’t have a plan for life, life can happen quickly and randomly, out of control.
And when you come to your senses, the year is almost over.
So, my friend, this is why it is important to set goals and have plans for what you want in life. This is why you need to have goals.
“Nobody ever wrote down a plan to be broke, fat, lazy, or stupid. Those things are what happen when you don’t have a plan.”
– Larry Winget
If you are still unsure of why you need to have a goal, check out these 5 benefits of having a clear goal in life…
1. Create the Results You Want
Yes, goals allow you to identify and create the results you want.
When I first started this blog, I have clear goals that I want to achieve each month. I know how many blog posts I wanted to write and publish, and I know how many visitors I want to get.
Having these goals allow me to come up with an action plan of what I need to do. For instance, I choose to write and publish at least twice a week. And I know I need to submit a guest article on other blogs at least once a week too.
As a result, I’m making progress for my blog and I’m slowly getting closer to my goals.
That’s the power of having a clear and specific goal.
It allows you to create the results you want. And when you know exactly what you want to achieve, it will be easier to create an actionable plan so that you will know what you need to do to get there.
Remember, vague goals produce vague results.
If your goals are vague, you are setting yourself to fail because your mind will not know what you want it to do.
On the other hand, when your goals are specific, you are giving clear instructions to your mind of what you want it to achieve.
If you want to learn more about setting and achieving goals, check out my ultimate guide here:
Ultimate Goal Setting Guide: How to Set Goals and Crush Them
2. Take Control of Your Life
I want to share a great metaphor to explain how having goals can help you take control of your life. In his best-selling book, Awaken The Giant Within, this is what Tony Robbins wrote…
Too many of us don’t make the majority of our decisions consciously… in so doing, we pay a major price. In fact, most people live what I call ‘The Niagara Syndrome’. I believe that life is like a river, and that most people jump on the river of life without ever really deciding where they want to end up. So, in a short period of time, they get caught up in the current: current events, current fears, current challenges.
When they come to forks in the river, they don’t consciously decide where they want to go, or which is the right direction for them. They merely ‘go with the flow’. They become a part of the mass of people who are directed by the environment instead of by their own values. As a result, they feel out of control.
They remain in this unconscious state until one day the sound of the raging water awakens them, and they discover that they’re five feet from Niagara Falls in a boat with no oars. At this point, they say, ‘Oh shoot!’. But by then it’s too late. They’re going to take a fall.
Sometimes it’s an emotional fall.
Sometimes it’s a physical fall.
Sometimes it’s a financial fall.
It’s likely that whatever challenges you have in your life currently could have been avoided by making some better decisions upstream.
Excerpt from the best-selling book, Awaken The Giant Within
Do you understand now why you need to have goals?
Without goals, you will never know which direction to take in life. And if you can’t make the right decisions, guess what, you will end up going to the wrong place.
Extraordinary people like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk know absolutely clear of the goals they want to achieve.
This is why they can make bold decisions and take crystal clear action steps to realize their goals.
Without a clear direction and a goal, you will never know where to go or how to decide.
It is when you know what you want, you can then take charge of your life and gain control by making the right decision to go to where you want to go.
3. Goals Make You Accountable
What would you do when you have no goals and no plans? Whatever that comes, right?
You see, if you have no plan for the day, and if you receive a call from a friend and he ask you out for a drink, most likely you’ll tag along.
This is because you have no plan, but someone has a plan, so why don’t you just tag along, right?
But what if you already have a goal like you plan to spend your weekend with your family and to play with your 3-year-old daughter? Do you think you will reject your friend or tell your friend to make it next time?
You know the answer.
Goals make you accountable.
When you know what you need to do, you are more likely to stick to your plan and do it.
Muhammad Ali has the goal of becoming the best boxer in the world. He wanted to be the champion. And he became absolutely committed to his goal. This was what he said…
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’”
– Muhammad Ali
When you have an exciting and meaningful goal, you will become committed and your goal will hold you accountable.
Read: 7 Easy Ways How to Hold Yourself Accountable for Your Goals
4. Big Goals Unleash Your Potential
Do you know that extraordinarily successful people set goals too? People like Michael Phelps (most decorated Olympian of all time), Kobe Bryant (NBA superstar), Richard Branson (business mogul), Elon Musk (founder of SpaceX and Tesla) all have goals.
When you have goals, it gives you the vision to work toward. You know what you want and you can unleash your potential to work toward that vision.
For instance, think about Elon Musk. He has the goal of making interstellar travel for the general masses. He wants to colonize Mars and bring people to live there! Can you imagine how big and bold his vision is?
This is what gives Musk the drive and the direction to work toward each and every day for SpaceX – his goal of getting to Mars.
And because he has such a big and ambitious goal, it forces him to think out of the box of how he can make planetary travel possible.
He has to tap into his potential of coming up with the idea of reusing rockets to cut costs for space travel. If it is expensive, then most people can’t afford it and it will defeat the purpose of his goal.
This is an example of how having a clear and specific goal could unleash your potential.
Think about it, the strategy you use to earn $10,000 a month and $1 million a month will be totally different.
Your goals determine your strategies. The bigger your goal, the more it inspires you to think out of the box.
Read: 7 Ways How to Think Big to Achieve Big Success in Life
5. Progress for Growth
Goals help you grow in almost every area of life. Without goals, you will default to the daily routine that keeps you safe and comfortable.
But with goals, you are challenged and pushed for growth. When you set goals, you are also committing to getting out of your comfort zone and strive forward with your best. This is how goals can help you grow.
By setting goals, you are stretching yourself to beyond your ordinary self to reach for higher ground.
Here are some examples of what I mean:
- By setting a career goal, you are striving to do better in your career life.
- By setting a fitness goal, you are challenging yourself to maintain your fitness and keep your body in shape.
- By having an investment goal, you are working toward a better future by investing a portion of your income.
This is how goals can shape your life.
And this is why you need to have goals, for they will push you forward and challenge you to venture out of your comfort zone.
Read: 15 Ways How to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone and Live Great
Conclusion
Setting and achieving goals is one of the most important life skills we all should learn and master.
Now that you know why you need to have goals in life, it is time to begin setting goals for you’re the future you desire.
But, where do you begin?
If you are truly committed to learning the skill of achievement, I suggest you join me in my masterclass, Goal Setting Formula. Once you have mastered this essential life skill, you will become unstoppable.