Imagine a scenario where you needed to travel to a place you have never been to before. You have no clue how to get there, no clue about the direction. Would you just get into your car and drive off, hoping to find your way somehow? Would you set out on a journey without a plan?
Can you imagine what would happen if someone placed car keys in your hand and asked you to drop something somewhere but you had no clue where that place was? What would you do? If the person failed to volunteer any information about how to get there, you would probably look for Google maps to help you find your way or seek the help of someone who knew the way. But you would not set out on a journey to a place you know not.
The Journey To Your Future
When you embark on a journey into your future, you have never been there before. You do not know the way. You have found yourself in this world. You have been given a life. You need to begin by asking yourself what you intend to do with that life that you have been given.
Everybody in this world is unique, has a different set of circumstances, different set of skills, and a different set of opportunities through which they are able to interact with the world and find their unique sense of fulfillment.
The beginning of every journey is a clear understanding of the destination and the route to get there. To build a life, you need to be clear about where you intend to go. Have a plan or a road map for your life otherwise you will be used by other people to make their own plans a reality.
Why do you decide to take a mortgage or buy a car for example? How does that fit into your blueprint? Design your own life then build it one step at a time otherwise people will convince you to take action to help them build their own. Do you decide to buy a car, new furniture or a new flat screen TV because it is part of your plan or because someone used a beautifully worded advertisement to convince you to help him build his own plan?
Do you commit to a mortgage because the mortgage company sent a polished salesman to convince you to help them build their own plan? Is your decision part of your blueprint or are you being used by other people to build their own plans, to make their own goals a reality? Whose plan are you toiling and laboring for?
I get people who ask me what business they can do with a capital of so much. My answer to such people is that they need to begin by understanding why they need to build that business and what they intend to achieve. What is their destination, so that they can work on the road map? After getting clarity about the destination, the next step is to list down their unique gifts and talents, skills and expertise, strengths and weaknesses.
We are not all passionate about or gifted in the same things. You better fail at being the original you than succeed at being a copy of someone else.
“It’s better to be at the bottom of the ladder you want to climb than at the top of the one you don’t.” – Stephen Kellogg
Your mission in life should be to figure out what your unique circumstances, skills and opportunities are and how you can take action to best capitalize on them. Doing what resonates with you gives all of your effort purpose and meaning.
Think of it in this way. There is someone whose gifts, talents and opportunities are around sports. Let us take for example Serena Williams. Her training from a young age, the number 1 influence in her life, was around lawn tennis. Should you choose to become a copy of Serena, probably you lack some things that she has. You might not have been conditioned as she was.
That might not be the most ideal route for you to pursue, even though you might desire to enjoy the sort of success she has achieved. For me, the influence that had the most impact on me from a young age is my mother’s way of managing finances. It awakened something in me and I am passionate about financial literacy matters.
Here is a link to a note I have written about the lessons I learned from my mother, lessons learned from a young age: https://www.facebook.com/notes/susan-catherine-keter/my-mothers-secret/10152074713850618
Goals are the guiding light that get you to your destination. You need to begin by getting clarity about what your destination is. By setting goals, you will have a vision for the life you are trying to create and a plan for creating it. Life should not just happen to you; you should create the life you desire for yourself.
“A goal properly set is halfway reached.” – Zig Ziglar
Set Goals For Your Life Based on your Values
Before you can set goals for your life, you need to take time to understand who you really are and what is important to you. What are your core values? Make a list of your core values.
Values about financial management are deeply ingrained in me. Those values are like a second nature to me. They were ingrained in me from a young age and I cannot run away from what they made me.
No matter how tough the going gets, I cannot run away from values that are a part of me, I cannot be someone that I am not. I cannot change my core values.
When you set goals that are in line with your core values, it is easier for you to keep going until you achieve them. It is natural for you to keep going on that route. Clear goals and a plan to attain them are like sign posts on a road. They let you know how far you are from your destination.
Clear Goals keep you on Track
Clear goals keep you headed in the right direction. This leads to efficiency and better results. You do not get distracted by everything and anything along the way because you know where you are going and have clarity about how much distance you have already covered and how much you still need to cover.
When you have specific goals and a clear plan to achieve them, you are motivated and passionate about taking action. You are like a marathon runner who has covered some distance but still has more to cover. The remaining distance does not discourage you because you are inspired by your goals.
Every small goal that you achieve energizes you and motivates you to achieve the next one. As you become more confident because of every smaller goal you achieve, you will dare to dream bigger.
Setting clear goals for your life makes success more achievable because opportunities are presented to people who have a record of getting the job done. People who are always losing their way and taking all manner of detours along the way are unlikely to be given more opportunities.
Effective goal setting is much more than just listing everything you desire in life. Most people will do that at some stage yet many of them don’t become achievers.
Goals Must Challenge You
It doesn’t matter who you are; as long as you have set challenging and ambitious goals, there will be times when you fail to achieve them according to your plans. It might take a number of attempts before you eventually achieve your goals.
Failures give up and quit when achieving their goals proves to be more challenging than they anticipated. But high achievers understand that failure is a temporary experience which provides an opportunity to learn from your journey, learn lessons and become better. Every time you fail, your learn some valuable lessons, you become more experienced.
This article is written by Susan Catherine Keter, Website: www.susancatherineketer.com
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Financial Independence Africa
