With the
new year approaching, I regularly hear, “this next year I am going to set some
goals; I mean it; I am tired of how things are in my life, financially,
physically, … this next year is going to be
different.” I ask them if they had
neglected to do that, set goals, this last year. The answer usually is, “no, “I did set some
goals last year, but…” “I just had some things that distracted me…””You just
don’t know how chaotic my year has been…” ”I just don’t know how I got off
track, I started out well.”
My son, who
is now a psychologist, called me from college a few years back, after having
sat through one of his psychology classes.
He was quite annoyed to say the least.
He told me that the class discussion was on why there are so many
individuals, in the United States, that feel like they are “failures.” He said,
“Dad, the entire discussion was based on feelings and opinions, rather than
statistical facts. They concluded that
the reason for this feeling of failure was due to how individuals feel about
themselves, peer pressure, less opportunities, not enough time, etc.” My comment to my son was, “I don’t
understand, either, why people feel so much like failures. They should feel like winners; have a true
sense of accomplishment.”
There is an
old saying, “one usually hits what they aim at.
If they aim at nothing, chances are that is what they will hit. NOTHING! I told him that people should really be
celebrating. Now if they had goals and
didn’t attain them, then that is one thing, but if they didn’t set goals in the
first place or even try, then they actually attained what they set out to
do. I guess they didn’t fail after
all. Very few people, or organizations
for that matter, that I have been around, set real goals. It is more about what one “hopes” to have
happen, than what Will Happen.
This year, Set Real Goals. Write them down. Become accountable to someone for
achievement. Remember…
“People don’t get
what they deserve, they get what they settle for.”
Anon
Phil Wilder