I have said that goals are tools to be used to measure progress. That is true, but it’s also true that goals are the tools we use to achieve internal peace, happiness and satisfaction in many ways. Our achievements that come from our goals should be able to spark an emotional response in us. If they don’t, we need new goals or a better understanding of the goal.
If we have a goal to have a business with $1 million in revenue, we should be very happy when we reach it, presuming of course our expenses now and in the future aren’t overwhelming our revenue. That amount of revenue is an awesome achievement no matter what. Take pride and joy in building and achieving it.
By associating satisfaction, peace and happiness with the accomplishment of our goals we are conditioning ourselves for more of the same. We will want to do more, create more and achieve more, because we get an emotional high out of it. In other words, it makes us happy; and we are always moving toward that which makes us happy. By recognizing the link between that happiness and goals, we can accelerate the process.
When you know that accomplishing something enhances you or your performance while generating positive emotions, you will automatically keep seeking out new ways to accomplish things. As long as the enhancements to you or your life and the positive emotions outweigh any negatives, such as pain, cost or loss of freedom to do other things, you will keep striving to accomplish more and more.
At this point we can see that our goals provide specific tools and projects to accomplish ever more. Therefore the goals and their accomplishment become more and more important, providing us with the tools to achieve our Vision. The goals become what they really are, stepping stones and mile markers on the way.
Now, as a tool our goals should serve a specific purpose. You have to have the right tool for the right job, correct? Some goals we can set may take us closer to our desired Vision, but they may not provide the emotional boost that comes from the accomplishment. We must get this boost. It is essential. That is the motivating factor in goal setting. If we aren’t getting it, we will give up on the goals and Vision because there’s more pain in the achievement than there is in not doing anything.
We focus on the goal, achieve it and then move on. We can take the time to savor our accomplishments, and we definitely should because it reinforces the positive emotions we associate with the accomplishment, but then we are eager to move on to the next goal because we know the payoff will be even bigger the next time around.
