Set strong and compelling goals for yourself: Part 1

Arthur Marara
Point Blank

Peak performance has been spoken and written about several times, but very few people answer the question, “how do you become a peak performer”.

You cannot achieve your finest goals if you are not putting in your finest efforts. The key to peak performance is clarity of goals and discipline.

You need to have strong and compelling goals that push you to be a peak performer, and even demand the same from the team that you lead.

“Success is Goals”

“Success is goals and all else is commentary” [Brian Tracy]. Brian Tracy is one of the leading authorities on leadership and personal development. He summarises the importance of goals to the success equation. Successful people have the discipline of deliberately, and intentionally setting goals for their lives and their businesses. Discipline births habits. Goal setting can actually develop into a habit. Successful people have successful habits.

Priority of goals

“Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy goal or ideal.” [Earl Nightingale]. Earl Nightingale (March 12, 1921 – March 28, 1989) was an American radio personality, writer, speaker and author dealing mostly on the subjects of human character development, motivation, excellence and meaningful existence.

He was named as the “Dean of Personal Development” in some circles and his works continue to be used extensively today.

Paul J Meyer proffered any even deeper definition of success, “Success is the progressive realisation of predetermined, worthwhile, personal goals.”

Paul J. Meyer is known for founding Success Motivation Institute in 1960 and dedicated it to “motivating people to their full potential.”

His flagship company has grown into an international group of companies marketing his materials in more than 60 countries and in 23 languages.”

What is quite captivating about the definitions by the two gentlemen is the acknowledgement of the priority of goals and goal setting in the success equation.

What this means is that if you do not set goals for your life and your business, there is no success to talk about.

Successful people have goals, while others have wishes. Successful people have clear compelling goals which are clearly laid down, and retrievable, while other people leave their lives to chance. This year you may need to go a step further and be more serious in discipline and commit yourself to goals.

Success at a closer look

I will deliberately take Paul J Meyer’s definition and for a minute or two conduct a brief exegesis.

“Progressive realisation” – the term connotes that success is not a one- day activity, it is an ongoing process. This may be doom news to people who believe in shortcuts. As a matter of fact, there is no shortcut to any place worth visiting. Success is not an event, it is a journey! This virtue has disappeared among many because of the habit of taking the easy way out. Avoid the path of least resistance.

“Predetermined” – predetermination simply means it is not an accident.

You deliberately make up your mind and apply yourself towards a particular goal. Be intentional about it. There is power in being intentional.

Predetermination means there are no surprises. Successful people pre-determine the future that they want. It has even been said in the past by one wise person that the best way to predict the future is to create it. You do so by utilising the power of goals.

You need to sit down with yourself, your business and make up your mind and apply your mind to some clear compelling goals.

“Worthwhile personal goals.” – This simply means that you need to set goals that are meaningful, valuable and useful. Being the lawyer, I am quite alert to the fact that what may be valuable to one may not necessarily be valuable to another. Whatever goals that you set must bring you closer to be the person that you want to be.

A lot of us set goals which when we achieve do not mean anything. There are people who actually set goals to embarrass or ruin someone’s career, and guess what if they are disciplined enough, and manage their goal they can actually realise it. The question is, is this a worthwhile goal? What is your motivation for setting your goals? The story below may enlighten you a bit.

Meaningless goals – a story

A story is often told about a farmer who had a dog which used to sit by the roadside waiting for vehicles to come around. The dog would always run down the road, barking and trying to overtake any car that it sees.

Quite concerned, a neighbour asked the farmer “Do you think your dog is ever going to catch a car?” The farmer replied with interesting wisdom, “That is not what bothers me. What bothers me is what he would do if he ever caught one.”

There is clearly nothing that the dog could do if it caught a vehicle. Surely a car is not one of the items that can constitute part of its menu yet enormous energies was spent chasing the same cars.

This is the scenario that many people in life find themselves in. They spend a lot of energy, time, and resources pursuing meaningless goals. What is the value of the goals that you are setting and possibly chasing?

Are they adding value to you? Are they adding value to other people? What does not add value to you, will always take away value from you.

Money is not success

Money is not necessarily success, and success is not money. This may be a tasteless statement to someone who is broke, but that is the truth. The mistake people make is to think that success is a million dollars in your account. This explains why people enter into shoddy and shady deals and even corrupt practices.

It is because we think when we have money we are successful. This is not always the case unless your goal was to reach a million dollars. Your goals can be to shed off weight by 10 or 20 kilogrammes it can also be to arrive home on or before 5:30pm daily and spend more time with your family, and be a better parent, it can also be to be a better spouse and it can also to be a better manager at your company.

Success happens when you achieve the goal(s). Whatever your field or life maybe, you need to set worthwhile goals. When you realise that goal, then you are successful. The temptation which hits many of us is to have narrow goals which speak only to one side of your life; your finances for examples at the exclusion of others. You need to set goals that enable you to live a wholesome life. Goals must appeal to your career, finances, health, relationships, family, spirituality, and community among other areas.

Without goals there is no success!

To be Continued…

Arthur Marara is a corporate law attorney, keynote speaker, corporate and personal branding speaker commanding the stage with his delightful humour, raw energy, and wealth of life experiences. He is a financial wellness expert and is passionate about addressing the issues of wellness, strategy and personal and professional development. Arthur is the author of “Toys for Adults”; a thought provoking book on entrepreneurship, and “No one is Coming”; a book that seeks to equip leaders to take charge.

Feedback: [email protected] or Visit his website www.arthurmarara.com or contact him on WhatsApp: +263780055152 or call +263772467255

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