Success and Failure Blog

Key #10 to Happiness – Setting Goals

There are many reasons to set goals.  People who set clear goals not only experience more success in their lives, but they are usually also happier and less stressed.

We can all look at our past and analyze different stages of our lives and see that we’ve been happier when we have had something to look forward to…and that is what having dreams, setting goals and visualizing them is all about.  Goals are nothing more than dreams with a deadline.

But what about people who don’t have a clear passion or direction for their lives – no goals?  Should they just pick something arbitrarily?  If this describe you, don’t worry.  Keep reading!  There is a special section for you half way through this lesson.

Here are some of my favorite quotes on goal setting and success:

“The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly.” -  Cecil B. De Mille

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” – Oscar Wilde

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”  – Henry Ford

“Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.” - C. S. Lewis

“Give yourself the freedom to explore the possibility of life without limits. Goals are dreams with deadlines, a means to an end but not the ultimate purpose of life.” – Glynis Nunn

Here is what the Bible says about fulfilling your purpose in life, goal setting and success:

“Where there is no vision, the people perish”.  Proverbs 29:18

“I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”.  Phil 3:14

“A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”   Josh 1:8

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”  Matt 7:7-8

“But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.”  Psalms 1:2-3

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”  Proverbs 3:5-6

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills–From whence comes my help?  My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth”.  Psalms 121:1-2

Goals give us focus.  This is especially important when we’re depressed or down on ourselves.  At those times, we need to take our focus off the current situation and focus or re-focus on the overall goals and dreams… or maybe set some new goals.  Setting goals is a lifelong process that needs to be renewed and reviewed all the time…at least once every few months.

But what about people who don’t think they have any goals?

Rest assured, God has put purpose and goals in every one of His masterpieces (humans that is, and that means you too).  If you don’t think you have any goals, ask God to let the ones He’s put in your heart and spirit to bubble up to the forefront of your mind.  Some people have never allowed themselves to know what they want.  If this is you, just ask God to help you in this area.  It’s His greatest joy to watch you become everything He planned for you!

People who think they have no goals are usually comparing themselves to others who are exceptionally ambitious and verbal about strong personal achievement goals.  You know who I’m talking about – they are the ones who talk about being the president of a Fortune 500 company by the time they’re 40, a huge music or movie star, or the biggest contractor in the city by age 35!  Of course some of these people will achieve these goals, and that’s great.  Don’t forget however, the most important goal of all should be to hear those cherished words, “Well done good and faithful servant, you were faithful over a few things, now I will make you ruler over many” by Jesus Himself when He welcomes you into the Kingdom for all eternity!  So, let the driven people be who they were meant to be – you get to be the person God made you to be!  He has more good thoughts about you than there are grains of sand on all the seas of the world – and all these thoughts include great plans (and goals) for you. (Psalms 139:17 & Jer 29:11)

Goal setting is important for all areas of our lives.

• • Spiritual Goals (like being more like Jesus)
  • Family Goals (like being a better spouse or a better father)
  • Health Goals (like losing 20 lbs.)
  • Business Goals (like increase sales)
  • Financial Goals (like becoming debt free)
  • Social Goals (like making some new friends)
  • Charity Goals (like giving more)
  • Other Important Goals (like having more balance)

Correct Goal Setting Process:

Identify an overall goal or dream (let’s say that you would like to be healthier)

• • Break the goal down into specific goals (like losing 24 lbs.)
  • Set a deadline (like…lose 24 lbs. in 6 months)
  • Break it down into monthly and weekly goals (4 lbs. per month or 1 lb. per week)
  • Determine daily tasks (not eating desert or minimizing your calorie intake or running 3 times per week for 1 mile to achieve your goals).

Keys to happiness exercise:

• • Ask God for help (ask Jesus into your life if you have not done so already) Email me if you’d like more direction. info@successandfailure.net
  • Take some time on finding a meaningful why and set long term goals – They can’t be someone else’s goals…they have to be your own.
  • Set realistic goals – It’s the difference between successfully reaching your goals and setting yourself up for failure.  Let’s say that you wanted to lose 24 lbs.  If you have not run for 20 years, it would be foolish to set an action plan to run 10 miles per day.  It’s better to be more conservative and increase your activity as you get a feel what you can realistically do.
  • Be consistent with your activity – 90% of success is just showing up. Don’t underestimate this part.  Better to commit to less and be consistent than to commit to too much and then quit soon after you start.
  • Visualize your why and goals at least once each week
  • Look at your goals and action plan several times per week and adjust it if necessary
  • Hint – if you’re unable to perform your daily and weekly tasks or start making excuses – spend more time on your why (you’re probably having trouble because it’s not real to you – most likely from someone else such as an overbearing parent, teacher or other influential person in your life – ask God to help you hear Him alone)

For additional info on goal setting see our Goal Setting Webinar.

Previous Happiness Lessons:

How to find Happiness – 15 Lesson Series – Overview

How to find Happiness – Introduction

How to find Happiness – Key #1 – A relationship with God

How to find Happiness – Key #2 – Being thankful

How to find Happiness - Key #3 – Forgive yourself

How to find Happiness - Key #4 – Learning How to forgive others

How to find Happiness - Key #5 – Living in the present

How to find Happiness - Key #6 – Overcoming fear

How to find Happiness - Key #7 – Giving of your money

How to find Happiness - Key #8 – Giving of your time

How to find Happiness - Key #9 – Putting God first

Check in next week for another key to happiness.  Get notified via e-mail

How to prepare for success!

Be Teachable – Become the best at what you’re doing.  Learn everything you can about your industry, business opportunity, marketing and more.   You need to invest time to learn about your business, marketing and more…every day.  25% of your time should be spent on training.   Make sure you learn one thing at a time.  See my blog about Marketing Paralysis.

Work On Your Attitude – This actually takes work.  You are what you read they say…or garbage in garbage out.  What do they mean?  Our minds are amazing.  You can literally change your outlook on life and how you feel about life in general by changing your thoughts, reading good books (like the magic of thinking big, the bible and other books like it) ,working on your self affirmations , etc which will help you become a better you.  Check out some sections on my other website that talks about “succeeding in your home based business” and an area called “personal development“.

Set Goals – Setting goals is key to success.  We all need direction…a plan of attack as they say.   Some people are afraid to set goals because they are afraid of failure.   The key is to set small goals that are stepping stones.  Making a single call might be a goal at the beginning if you’re afraid of the phone.   If you don’t like reading, you should make it a goal to just read one page or one chapter per day…you’ll see, it wil get easier and easier.  Achieving big goals is just the result of achieving many little goals.   Just take it one step at a time.  Check out my article on goal setting and my video on goal setting.

Work Hard – Success takes hard work.  Make no mistake, there is no easy way to success…I wish, but there is not.  If someone tells you their business opportunity is easy…run.

Be Consistent – I know a lot of people that work hard but they are very inconsistent.  Especially, if you’re working on your dream part time, you need to set specific days and specific hours aside each week to build your brick and mortar or home business.

Pray – My personal key to success is to pray like it’s up to God and work like it’s up to me.  This last component to success in my life ( I believe it was the most important component of all) was my relationship with God.  I know that without him I would have not had the success I had.   Am I saying that one cannot have success without God…of course not.   There are lots of people who are successful who don’t really know or care about God…and that’s a shame and really their loss.  Some people think that they would have to give up their success if they wanted God in their life…that’s just a BIG lie.  God lets you enjoy your success, adding joy, peace, love, good health and more.
That’s True Success!