Sharma mentions that a convergent approach towards goal setting and a systematic clarity of purpose is where the secret to success lies. According to him, knowing how to define and work towards realistic goals can be immensely beneficial to employees, entrepreneurs, and intrapreneurs, alike. Systems thinking is important in all facets of life.
How Do You Set Goals?
If you want your dreams to take shape, you have to be willing to brainstorm and figure out how you will set achievable goals. Think about being a student, being in college or school. Here are some examples to illustrate different goals.
Educational Goals: A student can aim to become the topper and gold medalist in their university.
Business Goals: Development of business franchise and mastering the business language.
Sustained Employment: If you are passionate about social issues, you may want to prefer an NGO over a corporate one.
Considering the goals you have set and the work that stems from them. Let’s say you set a goal to make 50 lakh rupees per year. If you succeed, like you said, most certainly after 12 months, you will have 50 lakh in your bank account.
In order to reach larger goals, break them down into specific smaller targets. Look at Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of Paytm. He started off by building a small product through his company One97 Communication, where he learned about the telecom industry prior to launching Paytm. This approach allowed him to grow his mobile VAS company, One97, into a digital conglomerate.
You could also set a 1 year goal and derive daily targets out of it. Every step during the day should focus on bringing you closer to the larger goal. Consider broadening this timeline to 1000 days and putting more thought into how you achieve your goal.
What Steps Should You Take to Goal Setting?
The process starts with one’s self-discovery. It is necessary to know what excites you the most as this will assist you in selecting a suitable path for yourself. Try this three-step method to realize your potential:
Who Am I?
This step focuses on understanding your interests and being open to the possibility of new passions. To accomplish this, do the following:
Discover Your Interests: Come up with a list of 4-5 areas that you are truly passionate about. It can be something like a business, travel, music, or anything else that you adore.
Explore Preferences: Try to narrow it down to the top 3 or even one area you are extremely passionate about. Doing this will ensure that your efforts are channeled appropriately.
What is the Right Career for Me?
Selecting a career path turned out to be somewhat complicated, but understanding your interests simplifies it. Paritosh Sharma tells the story of a friend of his who was continuously switching from one job to the other until he found his love for business. Currently, he owns a music academy and is much happier.
This brief will focus on the steps one must take in order to pick out a career choice that most suits their skill set. It is important to note that setting specific goals will work tremendously in reaching the desired job position. Defining these goals falls along what is called the SMART approach.
How do I Pick the Right Job?
The first step to achieve one’s ideal job position to ensure that you are well acquainted with the career options available along with what they branch into. Creating a list of potential jobs is one way to go about it. Setting a hierarchy based on what is found most appealing from top to bottom will provide greater scope into which one might value more. Having this list will prove valuable later on.
A vital thing to keep in mind would be the amount of research put towards each field of study as it pays off in the long term. What school did a potential mentor attend? Which private school do they work in? Asking them questions that pertain to their field will allow you will unlike peers as you have the advantage of greater insight. Sites such as Google, LinkedIn and Facebook allow people to set up online profiles where they might post blogs about their personal undertakings which one can follow.
When searching for a mentor make sure you look for someone from the industry you aspire to be a part of. This will allow you to learn from them in a more effective manner as they have walked the same path and will help you avoid common problems.
How Do I Optimize My Job Search?
Once an ideal position is found, the next step is to have a thorough understanding of the skills and tools that will be needed along the way. When creating one’s ideal job expectation, always remember to be realistic in order to reach the end goal in an effective manner. It is also encouraged to keep some persistence in one’s new ideas as they will keep proving useful as obstacles surface along the way.
Plan B: Alternative Resolution If Things Go Wrong
Problems could arise regardless of how intricate you planned your strategies. Consequently, you should create a back up. If you do not succeed in attaining your objective, ask yourself:
- Did I set an achievable target?
- Did the steps I followed get me to where I wanted?
- Did my goal capture my interest?
You can learn from your failures and improve on your methods through self questioning. With Plan B, you must return to your original goal and amend it. If your attempt at Plan B also fails, don’t stop there. Create a Plan C. Just remember, success will only come to those who remain determined and flexible.
Conclusion:
How Important Goals Are
Setting goals is but a sequence of steps that starts from self realization paired with knowing what you want to achieve. It entails knowing your passions, researching field s of interest, setting the respective smart objectives, and assessing your performance time and again. Just know, part of the process is having a backup plan and understanding that problems are meant to be tackled and solved. It is in this journey that you will discover the importance of having a plan B (or a plan C).
Setting and achieving goals is integral to succeeding at your job, starting a business, or making positive impacts on society. Furthermore, with devotion and the correct attitude towards problems, you can create your dreams into achievable goals. Thus, this enables you to reach your fullest potential.