Setting Goals

I have spent a LOT of time thinking about creating a life vision and setting goals that align with the realization of that vision.  (It’s a school thing.)  My life is a great adventure.  If I follow that metaphor, and I’m honest with myself, then I realize that the great adventures I’ve read about in literature, fiction and nonfiction, don’t occur by accident.  They are the result of planning and goal setting.  Therefore, vision and goal setting are a necessary, though missing part my great adventure.  This has inspired periods of reflection that have lead me to several conclusions.

First, while I believe it is important that people begin vision and goal setting when they are young, I believe that more things become possible as we age.  I have more options available to me now, in my 50s, than I did when I was in my 20s.  Many of those new possibilities are the result of things I accomplished or decisions I made when I was younger.  I have many more choices now than I did when I was 35.  Therefore, the process of creating a vision for my life and setting goals to realize it does not stop when you become “a person of a certain age”.

Second, vision and goal setting is a discipline (yuck).  It requires practice, reflection, and revision.  It is fluid, it must be balanced between structure and flexibility, and it changes based on the choices you make.  As you work at it you make mistakes, occasionally fail, enjoy successes, and get better with practice.

Third, vision and goal setting is a “do it now” thing.  No need to wait.  Right now is the perfect moment to start.

Fourth, I am not a planner and the whole vision and goal setting process is foreign to my entire genetic code.  I have never done it.  I don’t even like to make plans for dinner in advance.  As a result, I tend to jump between things that engage my interest.  When I am engaged in something I have almost unlimited reserves of energy to work at it, and I am highly motivated to succeed.  However, I would have saved myself a whole lot of stress and confusion if I began vision and goal setting twenty or thirty years ago.  I think I would have been more open to possibilities too, because I might not have been so consumed with achievement in whatever area I was engaged in.  I think my personal relationships would have been enhanced.

Fifth, setting a vision and goals for your life is not a self-indulgence.  I think that occurs when it is presented in a way that doesn’t appeal.  If you tell me that it is a process designed to “guide me on a journey to find and connect with my true self”, then I’m done.  You have just lost me in the fluffy ether.  In the same vein, it you describe the process of concentrating on “what you want” to a person whose greatest joy in life is giving to others through selfless acts, then you have lost them in the selfishness.  Stripped of the emotional language others apply to the process, it’s simply a matter of identifying what you want your life to be like, and setting goals to get you to that place.  It’s completely individual, but not necessarily self indulgent or selfish.

Finally, it’s a great reference point, especially if you lead a busy life.  It’s flexible, changing as you change.  It helps you focus on what is truly important to you, and provides a tangible reminder when you need one, especially if you find joy in the journey rather than in the destination.