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G is for ‘Goals’

5:06:00 pm




Today’s letter for the AtoZ Blogging Challenge is ‘G’ for my theme ‘A to Z of Effectiveness’. You can read more about my theme here. I’m also participating in the NaBloPoMo for April.

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The world ‘Goal’ is probably the most heard of word around New Year’s time, with everyone frantically trying to overhaul their life in an instant! We identify the areas of our life that need improving and set goals for each one. How much we accomplish is another story!

In his book, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, Stephen Covey asks us to look at goals in a broader sense, more like a mission statement for life. The second habit is based entirely on this: ‘Begin with the end in mind’. Of course, this can be considered in both a macro sense (how you want your entire life to measure up) or in a micro sense (working to lose excess weight). Both kinds are important, and neither is mutually exclusive of the other.

Another thing the second habit focuses on is not about the attainment of the goal, or the action required; rather it is about setting the right goal. It’s about leaning your ladder against the right tree before beginning to climb. And that is why they say that failing to plan is planning to fail! 

The first step in this, according to the book, is to create a personal mission statement – what you want to be and what you want to do in life. As described here, it is essential that this personal mission statement coincides with your lighthouse, i.e. your core principles to be truly authentic. Personally, I used to find such activities daunting, but I now realize their importance. After all, unless I know my tree, I’m just going to be wandering around with a ladder; and everyone knows how inconvenient that is!!


So, that’s going to be an important activity for me this week, creating a personal mission statement. If you have one, I’d love to hear it! 

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