1. Identify Your Objectives - What are your goals? List what you want to achieve. The bigger the goal the more you get to grow.
So how does one go about deciding on a goal? A goal is a commitment. So ask yourself what is it you need or want to change? For some, this might be getting better grades, because they are not doing so well in school or because they want scholarships or to get into the college they want. For others, it might be making more friends, because they value friendship, enjoy having fun or want to learn more about people through interactions.
So begin by listing your goals, finding out what you need, and identifying the motives behind them.
2. List the possible steps to get there. - There’s a saying that to achieve a goal, you need to plan, set a due date and take action. The second step, you can accomplish by first brainstorming ideas or you can look for a model or role model and listing the steps that helped them get to their goals. The second way is actually easier because you will learn from their mistakes and be able minimize those same mistakes happening to you. Furthermore, it saves you time.
However, if a model is not available, you do have to resort to your own brain. You have to ask yourself what can I do to get to where I want? How will these steps help me get there?
3. Gather the resources you need. - Determine what you need to help you get to your goal. Usually, resources are money, information on the web, books, or people. So start the first step of your plans by listing what you need and gathering them.
If it’s money, go work and make money. If it’s books, go to the library. If it’s people, net work. Talk to people, tell them your interests, and see what they say. They might be able to connect you.
4. Take Action - I can’t emphasize this enough. Often, we do a lot of planning, but when it comes to taking action, we somehow freeze (usually because of fear that something might not work out). Also because we are inherently lazy. But if you want something, you have to work for it.
Take action and see what happens. Too many times, we expect things to go a certain way and it doesn’t. Don’t let this discourage you. Furthermore, don’t let your fear hold you back or create problems that are not actually there.
Instead, take action, see what problems happen and adjust your sail along the way.
5. Be prepared for disappointments, but always have a reminder to continue. - This point reinforces point number 4. Be ready for failures and use the failures as opportunities. There’s a saying that to succeed, one must try to fail. Just kidding, I created that up. But the point is obstacles are unavoidable. If you want something, you have to fight for it.
If you become discouraged, remind yourself why you started and the reasons for it. You can also refer back to your role models and how they did it to get your inspiration that if they can succeed, so can you.
6. Keep Track of Your Progress. - I was at a barber one day, and he said something enlightening to me. If you look back at yesterday, it might not look like you’ve came that far. But if you kept track of all your progress, and you look back to when you first started, you will see that there was a lot of progress made.
Often times, we can’t feel the improvements over a short period of time because improvements are gradual. But if you take a snap shot of the different points in time, you will notice the differences.
7. If You Are Succeeding, Take Note of that. - Sometimes, we succeed, but we don’t know how, because we don’t really pay attention to what we did. But if you do pay attention and figure out the causal effects, then you can learn to keep doing what you are doing, optimize your strategies and succeed even more.
8. Don’t Lose Sight of the Big Picture - Sometimes, we get too caught up in our success that we forget the reason why we started. For example, some people might aim for wealth because they want to support their families. But after they become wealthy, they spend all the money and forget the importance of family. At times, you need to remind yourself what you are really fighting for and take different paths again.
*Though it's already a little bit late, but Selamat Hari Raya! Have a blast and a blessed one :)
