No one can achieve success without learning how to set goals and then follow through on them. History is filled with people’s goal setting, and serves as an excellent example of how setting goals can make dreams come true. Look at the Great Pyramids of Egypt, and marvel that they exist because of the goals of an influential leader, and hordes of dedicated people. Our telephone, radio, television, and automobile are all products of goal setting. Note that these goals did not happen in one fell swoop, but required taking any number of steps along the way. That is the heart of successful goal setting, as we shall see.
Major goals often require minor accomplishments. Rome was not built in a day, as they say, but it was built with one goal at a time, until all of the stones had been put into place, and out of millions of tiny goal came the achievement of a one of the greatest cities ever built. Your own goal setting may not result in a great city being founded, but the same principles apply. Start with one minor objective at a time, and attain it, and then move on to the next, with all of them leading to your ultimate goals.
Most of the goal setting that has changed the world was not done with world changing as the ultimate goal. Alexander Graham Bell had a goal of making communication easier over long distances, but he did not start out with a goal of changing the way the world talks to one another. Instead he worked long diligent hours to achieve his minor goals, and from those goals came a success larger than anything he could have dreamed of when his search first began.
Even relatively simple goals are easier to attain if you break them down into smaller ones. If your only goal is to get a better job, start by setting a goal of knowing everything you need to know to perform that job, and then get the right tools and clothing to be qualified for it. With the minor parts in place, you will not only have more confidence in your ability to perform the new job, but the people who must hire you will have more confidence in your selection as the person for the position. You have already demonstrated a desire to fill the position, and a willingness to do what it takes to achieve that goal.
Every invention that makes our lives simpler exists because someone had a goal of doing things a better way. Every new company that opens its doors is to serve someone’s goals of offering better service, cheaper prices, or something that isn’t available somewhere else. Setting goals help major corporations stay on track and organize worldwide operations into a focus that builds a single building complex on an empty plot of ground.
Without goals, our lives lose their focus, and precious time is wasted on things that don’t bring us any closer to our life ambitions. Setting goals gives us a definite outline by which we can measure every decision of every day, and gives us a sense of destination. As each new goal has been attained, we are able to see our progress, and experience the satisfaction of knowing that we have harnessed the power of our own potential.