Why set goals?

Some say all our efforts, ambitions, and talents are meaningless if we are not driven by goals. So, what does it mean and what happens if you ignore the goals?

One more you can often hear is, "One must aspire to success". But what is success, really? Success is not about surprising or impressing someone. Success is about getting what you want. Whatever it is - money, world peace, or problem solution - it is your goal, and reaching this goal means to succeed.

The world pays for results

The goal is never as important as the result. After all, even the Bible says, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire". You might have also heard another expression, "Success is never blamed". Both of them point out the social tendency to justify the means to an end as long as the end is achieved. At the same time, the lack of a goal is much less publicly tolerated.

Those with no goal in mind have no chance to succeed. Of 100 people who achieved success, 100 came to it purposefully and 0 were talented ones yet not able to follow their goals.

Channeling the Energy

Why does this happen? When you hear people say, "If he is so smart, how come he hasn't succeeded," remember that cleverness or any other talent alone cannot lead you to success. It is not talent, intelligence, passion, or strength that defines success, but the ability to channel your energy.

Moving purposefully does not require extra effort. On the contrary, moving toward a goal means no idling. For that, you need to identify what you need to do and put maximum effort into it, and nothing else. Channeling your energy is about setting priorities and keeping your focus on them as you pursue your goals, i.e., your success.

If you fail to set goals, you will never succeed. This is why goal-setting training serves as a great success-generating tool. Proper goal-setting provides the direction and marks the first and most important step to success.

What happens if you don't set goals

Now let's find out what happens if you don't set a goal.

If you fail to direct your efforts toward the goals, your direction becomes a matter of circumstances. We can still produce something, but without the understanding of what we head for, we can't distinguish the right from the random. Without selection criteria, we have no idea what to choose and what to reject. With our choices being dictated by current circumstances, our decisions become completely random. In other words, we act reactively.

Acting reactively means that instead of moving toward a goal, one reacts to random circumstances or sudden desires.

Without the selection criteria, such thing as priorities simply has no place in reactive motion. And when you don't prioritize, you don't plan, which means you don't manage your time. And we cannot predict the duration of our current journey without the checkpoints mapped out along our path.