Goals! summary

When the author was a young man, he lived in a small cold apartment with no money to his name. One evening he had a revelation: no one was coming to save him. If he wanted to escape his situation, it’d be up to him alone.

What the author realized that night was that he had to start taking responsibility for his own life.

Why do so many people wander through their lives aimlessly, never setting any goals for themselves? The truth is that a lot of people don't know how to set effective goals. Luckily, it’s not all that difficult. You just need to consider six key principles.

The first principle is that your goals must be specific and detail-focused. A vague goal isn’t a goal at all – it’s a wish. So don't bother writing down that you’d like to be “happy.” Instead, it should be something concrete that you can easily visualize.

When you start out on your goal-setting journey, there are certain questions you’ll need to ask yourself. The answers that you provide will spur you on your way.

The first question to ask is: Do I really want this goal to become a reality? This question is crucial because you must choose a goal that you have a strong desire to achieve. This desire needs to be personal to you. You’ll never be able to chase a goal that someone else has set for you with the same sense of urgency.

How many times have you failed in your life? You might think that repeated failure is a sign you’re doing something wrong, but that’s not always the case. Actually, successful people fail far more often than unsuccessful people. Why? It all comes down to their attitude toward obstacles.

When a success-oriented person encounters an obstacle, she gives it her best shot. And because some challenges are hard to overcome, she often fails. But she gets up, dusts herself off, and tries again. 

The most successful people don’t rely on blind luck to make their dreams a reality. Instead, they create thorough, detailed plans – a roadmap toward their goals. If you’re thinking that you don’t have time to make a plan, then think again.

Evidence suggests that the most successful business leaders never jump in without sitting down and writing a business plan first.

How you spend your hours is how you spend your life. That’s why good time-management skills are crucial if you're going to achieve your goals. Of course, none of us can control time. When we talk about time management, we’re really talking about learning to manage ourselves.

When your to-do list is pulling you in different directions, always choose to focus on the most high-value task you can do. A high-value task is one that brings you closer to achieving your goals.