3 Reasons Why Goal Setting Is So Critical

Zig Ziglar tells a story about a man named Howard Hill. Hill was one of the greatest archers in history. He could hit the bulls eye perfectly in the centre from 50 feet and then split the first arrow with his second shot. Ziglar goes on to say that he can teach you how to be a better archer than Howard Hill in less than 20 minutes, provided that he blindfolds Hill and turns him around a few times, so he doesn't know where the target is.

Now, obviously you can say, “Well how can Hill hit a target he can't see?” And that's a great question. But Ziglar likes to ask a question back.

“How can you hit a target you do not have?”

Goals are important; I would say that they are critically important. I believe we were all built for purpose and accomplishment.

What's your purpose? What are you going after? What do you want to accomplish in your life?

Here are three reasons why setting and having clear goals can change your life.

Improve Your Self-Image

Most people wonder how having goals will improve their self-image, and I'm with them. It took me a while to understand it too.

A lot of people don't set goals because deep down, they don't feel they deserve to have whatever it is they want. Through years of negative conditioning, it has been cemented in their minds that they can't do or have certain things.

I remember being told in high school that I couldn't play baseball in the USA. My good friends were even telling me this. Fortunately, I had a clear goal of what I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to play the highest level of college ball there was.

If I didn't have that goal and I was just playing on a hope and prayer that I would somehow get to that level, I would have never gotten there. I wouldn't have had confidence in my purpose. I would've folded like a lawn chair at the first sign of real pressure or the first time I hit a bump I couldn't see past.

I would have had a poor self-image when it came to believing what I could or could not do. I had a clear goal, however, and I believed in it. That's what got me through all the hills and valleys on my way to my goal of playing NCAA Division I baseball.

Are you trying to get the body you want on a hope and a prayer or do you have a clear goal of the body your want?

When you know exactly what you want, the confidence to go after that goal is a lot easier to find.

Get And Stay In Focus

You can't hit a target you don't have. That's pretty simple.

Having clear goals gives you that target to focus on. Without a target, you also can't plan how to reach it. With a target to shoot for, you can set up a plan of how to reach that target.

Having goals keeps you focused. Sure, wanting to lose 10 pounds is a great goal, but there's a reason that goals must be specific. There is not a definite focus needed to lose 10 pounds. You can lose 10 pounds over the course of a few months or a year. You can gain some weight here and there and it wouldn't really matter too much. Sure it would be discouraging to gain weight, but there's no urgency to really fix the problem causing it.

Set a date and then set a plan. When you have a time limit for a goal that really means something to you, staying focused is a lot easier to do.

Live With Purpose

Without a purpose, what are you really doing?

When you have kids, you have a purpose to raise them and take care of them, so that's what you do. When you need a secondary education to get in the career you want, you have a purpose and you get the secondary education needed.

But what about your health?

We generally don't have a serious urgency to worry about things until we are diagnosed with something or a doctor says, “If you don't fix your health, you're looking at an early grave.”

What's your purpose when that happens? To live longer, right?

Should that be our ultimate purpose? Sure, of course it should be. But right now, it could be about building your shoulders or getting a lean stomach. Having a clear goal means something to you gives you a purpose.

So, what's your health purpose?

Emotional Push

Setting goals is great, but having goals with huge emotional ties behind them is life changing. Putting more emotion into a goal literally catapults your odds of success astronomically. Once you have the emotion, all you need is action, action and more action. And never ever give up on your goals.

Questions? Email Dan at dan (at) thesoko (dot) com.