GOALS IN A TIME PERSPECTIVE
The time element comes strongly into play as short range goals by their nature demand full concentration and step-by-step, level-by-level creative efforts to bring them to life and to successful completion.
There are myriads of stimuli that may attract your attention and steer you away from the necessary focus and time commitment to achieving your objective, to reaching your desired short range goals. Surely there are also plenty of persons around you that could act as obstructs in your pursuit of reaching your objective, achieving your goal. And finally, as we have probably experienced it, unexpected demands and problems may act as obstacles.
Unlike medium and long range-life goals the short range goals demand increased attention and care in avoiding time waste.
The preparation of a seminar paper or a dissertation if you are a student and the completion of a report to be presented to your fellow managers or superiors if you are a working professional demand that you set carefully delineated priorities of activity.
You may have already encountered a reference to the "20-80" rule ascribed to Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto which states that 80% of our success is the result of 20% of our effort.
Consequently, it is your responsibility to determine that ‘crucial and useful’ 20% of your efforts that will provide you with the 80% of success.
In this process, you must learn to say the significant and so simple in its synthesis two letter English word ‘NO’ which is found also as a 2 letter word in some languages but may involve 3 or 4 letter in other languages.
In its vocal expression a "NO" is a simple word but psychologically it involves your ability to respect your priorities which will lead you to fulfill your objectives and reach your goals when you say it to distracting stimuli in the form of persons or attractive events. Learning to say "NO" without guilt, or arousal of needless but debilitating inadequacies stemming from the fear of disappointing good friends, relatives, classmates or colleagues will give you the time needed to devote to completing your task and reaching your goal.
Things become a bit more perplexed when it comes to medium range goals as those, by their very nature, involve larger periods of time which may create in some of you the false impression that ‘you have plenty of time’ to successfully reach them. In the medium range type of goals careful utilization of time, avoidance of time waste, application of the prioritization process and usage of "NO" whenever necessary are fundamental requirements if you truly desire to reach them successfully.
As medium range goals involve longer periods of time to be achieved, another parameter comes into play which serves to keep intact your motivation and this is nothing else than learning to reward yourself each time you successfully complete an given task or progress from one level to the next.
Saying a "bravo" or briefly applauding yourself is necessary not only because you deserve it but additionally because others may not be aware of your successful progress, and often time because relatives and friends are not naturally inclined to ‘pat you on your shoulder’ when you need it to keep going on.
In a popular quote referred to many including singer Frank Sinatra the suggestion is made that "you should occasionally tout your own horn and don’t expect others to do it for you...".
Long range, life-time goals involve different amounts of time but they also should be examined at given stages, evaluated and when the realities so dictate even changed so as to give you the sense of fulfilment which operates both as a reward for all you have done thus far and a motivator for what lies ahead and must be done.
Remember Socrates aphorism "an unexamined life is not worth living" and decide after proper and careful examination if one or more life-goals are worth keeping or should be changed.
See'ya!
Ema