Imran Akram, ex-boss of Asons Solicitors in Bolton, believes that everyone should set themselves goals in life to achieve that will help to enrich their lives.
Having goals in our life can be important milestones to aim for. Our goals are what inspires us to move forward in life – some people even say that our goals are the oxygen to our dreams!
If you look at what goal setting means, according to Wikipedia, a goal is The desired result a person or a system envisions, plans and commits to achieve a personal or organizational desired end-point in some sort of assumed development.
Many people will achieve small goals and achieve their milestones by setting deadlines. So even planning your daily ‘to-do’ list for work can be seen as a form of goal setting.
We also set goals in our home life. Whether it’s aiming to get our weekly housework chores done, getting that kitchen extension done, or building a conservatory – these are all domestic goals that we set to help improve our home life and living conditions. Even something as seemingly insignificant as planning to watch a film after work can be seen as setting a goal!
Let’s take a deeper look at why goal setting is so important for a life of fulfilment:
Setting goals gives you focus
Living your life without any goals to focus on or a target to hit can seem like a waste of your time and energy. You cannot get anywhere in life by standing still. Setting goals, even little ones, will give you some direction in your life.
Imran Akram believes that by setting goals you can give yourself a target to aim for. Goals give you a sense of direction in life and it gives you hope. Setting goals can empower you to change your life for the better – one step and one goal at a time.
Setting goals makes you more productive
If there is one thing that Imran Akram dislikes it is procrastination. Quite often we let procrastination get the better of us. We know what a waste of time and effort procrastination is, so by setting ourselves goals we can avoid procrastination and motivate ourselves to finish our tasks and get jobs done.
Setting a goal and giving yourself a deadline to complete it will help you to achieve more in life and because our goals will stick in our mind, we will always have something to focus on and work towards. Once we have reached a goal and can strike it off our to-do list, it can give us a feeling of exhilaration and pride and can boost our self-confidence and feeling of worth.
Achieving goals allows you to measure your progress
Setting yourself goals to reach enables you to look back and measure your progress. Because you will always have fixed endpoints for your goals it will enable you to monitor and compare your results so you can set a benchmark for your future goals.
Goals help you to take control of your life
As an investor in people, Imran Akram has helped so many people get themselves out of being stuck in a rut in their lives and has helped them to move forward in their lives towards achieving their dreams.
Many people end up stuck in a rut where they wake up every day feeling like they are sleepwalking through their life. Yes, they may be hardworking and will diligently turn up to their job every day, but will still go home at the end of the day feeling unfulfilled and angry that they are not achieving what they want from life.
By setting some achievable goals it can give you a direction in your life and a path to follow to get you where you want to go. If you feel you are being overlooked at work for promotions, or you simply fell into your job while all the while wanting to do something else, then it is time to set yourself some goals to get you out of your rut.
When you give yourself the time to think about what you want and set some goals, you will break out of auto-pilot mode and start working towards the life you want to live. Whether that involves studying or retraining to gain the qualifications or skills you need to make a change, you will be proactively setting goals for yourself instead of letting others tell you what to do in your life.
Goals create accountability
When you set goals for yourself it makes you accountable. Remember that this accountability is to yourself and not to anyone else! The people around you don’t stand to gain from your personal goals because they won’t know what goals you set.
By setting yourself specific goals, you can keep yourself accountable and on track to meet your future goals. Whether that is to set yourself a goal of completing a certain number of reports a week, gain a set number of new clients per quarter, or to finish delivering a set number of sales presentations per month, this will make you accountable for your performance targets.
Setting goals allows you to live your best life
It makes so much sense to set goals in your life if you want to get the very best from the time you spend on this planet. If there is one thing you cannot stop in this world it is time. Time will always pass, so by putting off achieving your goals for a year, you will be one year older, but no further along your path towards a better life.
Setting goals that have specific deadlines and measures will help you to maximise your time on earth and give your life some meaning and purpose.
The world really is your oyster, and you can choose a million things to do with your time. Whether it is gathering amazing experiences, meeting new people, exploring new countries, building strong family relationships, or simply excelling at work and furthering your chosen career path, you have endless goal setting possibilities!
What you need to do now is to ask yourself what you want to achieve. What do you want to see yourself doing next? Once you have a target in mind you can set yourself small goals that will enable you to reach that target.