During a TV interview, H.L. Hunt, who transformed himself from a bankrupt cotton farmer in the 1930s to a multi-billionaire when he passed away in 1974, was once asked for advice on how other people can achieve financial success. There are only two things needed, he claimed. You must first choose precisely what you wish to achieve. In most people’s lifetimes, they almost never do that. Second, you must decide how much it will cost to receive it and then make the commitment to pay that amount.

Clear Goals Are Essential

The success of every business depends on having clear goals and objectives, and developing your own career is no different. You will spend the rest of your life pursuing the ambitions of others if you don’t take the time to become crystal clear about what it is you’re attempting to achieve. You will either ramble aimlessly or develop a career that you don’t feel good about if you don’t have a clear direction for your life.The finished result won’t resemble anything you ever made a conscious decision to develop, and you’ll be left with the terrible feeling that perhaps you made a mistake along the way, even though you might make some money and do some interesting work. Do you ever question how you came to be where you are in your career?

Why do so few people take the effort to specify exactly where they want to go if defining objectives is so crucial? Lack of understanding about how to define specific goals is one factor. Years of education may pass before you ever receive any goal-setting instruction. It’s also typical to miss the crucial significance of setting specific goals. But those that are absolutely clear about what they desire frequently exceed everyone else by a wide margin.

The worry of making a mistake frequently prevents people from creating goals. The best course of action is always to make the correct choice; the second best course of action is always to make the wrong choice; and the worst course of action is always to do nothing, according to Teddy Roosevelt. It is preferable to set almost any objective than to float aimlessly without a definite direction. Making clear, committed judgements is the best approach I know to ensure failure. If you don’t know where you’re heading, every day is already a mistake. Most likely,You spend the majority of your time pursuing other people’s objectives. The nearby fast food joint, TV advertising, and stockholders of the companies you do business with are all extremely pleased about that. If you don’t make a decision about what you truly want, you’ve chosen to leave your future up to the whims of others, which is always a bad choice. You receive a fantastic sensation of control by taking the reins yourself and determining where you want to go, something that most people never experience in their entire lives.

Many people believe that because they have goals, they must also have a direction, but this is untrue and only gives the appearance of progress. Goals are not something like “making more money” or “creating a business.” A goal is a particular, precisely described, and quantifiable state. The gap between the compass direction of northeast and the summit of France’s Eiffel Tower serves as an illustration of the distinction between a direction and a destination. One is only a direction, whereas the other is a specific place.

Define Goals in Binary Terms

The necessity of defining goals in binary terms is a crucial component. You must be able to respond with a clear “yes” or “no” at all times when I ask you if you have reached your goal; “maybe” is not an acceptable response. You can’t say for sure if you’ve achieved the goal of “earning more money,” but you can tell me with 100 percent certainty if you are at the top of the Eiffel tower right now.A specific objective for your firm might be to make at least $5000 in gross income in the month of April of this year. You can accurately calculate that, and at the end of the month, you can state with certainty whether or not your target has been accomplished. You need to be at that level of clarity in order to develop a goal that your mind can quickly focus onto.

Be Detailed

While establishing goals, be as specific as you can. Provide precise figures, times, and dates. Ensure that each of your objectives can be measured. Either you succeeded, or you failed. Set your objectives as though you already know the outcome. It’s been claimed that making the future is the greatest method to forecast it.

Commit Goals to Writing

Objectives must be expressed in writing as uplifting, present-tense affirmations of who you are. Without a commitment to writing, a goal is only a fantasy. Instead of setting goals for what you don’t want, focus on what you do want. Only if the objective is defined in positive words will your subconscious mind be able to latch onto it. When you concentrate on what you don’t want rather than what you do want, you’re more likely to draw in exactly what you’re attempting to avoid. Assume success by phrasing your objectives. Rather than stating, “I will make $100,000 this year,” use the present tense instead: “This year, I earn $100,000.” By describing your objectives in the future, you are telling your subconscious mind to keep that result out of reach for the foreseeable future. While formulating your goals, stay away from vague phrases like “probably,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “could,” or “may.” Such statements cast doubt on your ability to actually accomplish your goals. Finally, personalise your objectives. You cannot tell someone, “A publisher will release my programme before the end of the year,” or any other equivalent directive. Instead, say something like, “This year, I sign a North American retail publishing contract that will pay me at least $100,000 by the end of the year.”

Objectify Subjective Goals

What if you have to establish arbitrary objectives, like raising your own bar for self-control? How would you express such objectives in binary form? I use a scale of 1 to 10 to rate this problem. Asking yourself how you would grade your present level of self-discipline on a scale of 1 to 10 will help you determine where you need to make improvements. Afterward, decide what rating you want to obtain by when. This enables you to track your progress and determine whether you’ve actually reached your objective with a high degree of accuracy.

Goal Setting Is an Activity

Goal-setting is a proactive process. It doesn’t occur by itself. To make it so, you must take immediate conscious action. Nothing is neutral, and everything matters. Either you are advancing towards your goals or you are retreating from them. You are almost likely a victim of “getting outgoned” if you do nothing or act incoherently. In other words, you may be working on other people’s objectives without even realising it. Working contentedly to benefit your landlord, other companies, advertisers, stockholders, etc. Every day that you work without having a clear understanding of where you’re going is a step backward.Weeds will naturally grow in your garden if you don’t actively maintain it. You don’t need to fertilise or water weeds. Without a watchful gardener, they simply grow on their own. Similar to how your work and life will inevitably become overrun by weeds if you don’t take deliberate, intentional action. To make this happen, absolutely nothing on your end is required. And the first thing you’ll need to do when you finally get around to seriously considering where you are and where you want to go is pull out all those weeds.

If you don’t put this article’s advice into practise physically, reading it will do you no good at all. Unfortunately, even the best thought produces no outcomes. You won’t actually receive any compensation for your ideas. You can be the most original person in the world, but ideas are completely useless on their own. Only your physical acts produce results; your ideas can never produce results. You must put an idea into practise if you want to see any sort of measurable effects at all. It needs to be explained, created, put into practise, and made actual.

Clarity Is a Choice

It is imperative that you take the time to decide and put in writing your particular job goals if you have been operating in an unfocused manner and simply waking up each morning to see what occurs. How much longer will you climb the ladder of success before realising too late that it was positioned incorrectly? Simply choose a time in the future, whether it be in six months or five years, and spend a few hours outlining exactly where you want to be at that point.I know a lot of folks who aren’t sure where they want to go, so they try to “keep their choices open” by not committing anything to writing. What would happen if you followed that mentality all the way to the end? You wouldn’t earn a promotion, launch your own business, get married, start a family, move to that new home, etc. if you always kept your options open and never made any serious commitments—except to the extent that someone else made that decision for you.

This reminds me of an old acquaintance of mine who is still unsure of his career path. Without even realising it, he cedes control of his life to others because he is unwilling to take the time to create a vision for his own life due to his fear of making the incorrect decision. He accepts by default that other people’s aspirations are what determine how his life is lived. Consider whether you share the same situation. If a close friend of yours started making a full-time effort to persuade you to alter any aspect of your life, including your occupation, your place of residence, your romantic relationship, etc.Could s/he accomplish it simply by being utterly certain and devoted that it is the best course of action for you? Could a business associate suddenly appear and completely modify your week’s schedule without you ever consciously choosing that it is in line with your objectives? These issues affect all of us to the point where we are unable to establish clear goals for ourselves. There is a significant difference between spotting and seizing a genuine chance and getting thrown off track without choosing to change directions.

It is only a fantasy to wait for inspiration and to believe that the ideal result would magically materialise. Making clear decisions does not happen automatically; it requires active effort on your part. If you don’t know what you want, the reason you don’t have specific goals is because you haven’t taken the time to deliberately identify what you want. You won’t suddenly get a sense of understanding what you desire. It won’t come to you in the form of heavenly inspiration. Clarity is not a coincidence or a gift; it is a choice. You have to go to clarity; it does not come to you. Setting no goals is the same as choosing to be a slave to other people’s objectives.

Clear Goals Sharpen Present-Moment Decisions

Your vision will not quite come true. The point is not that. The idea is to use your vision to make judgements every day that are clear and keep you moving in the right direction. 90% of the time when a commercial jetliner travels between two cities, it is off track, yet it continually monitors its progress and modifies its heading. Setting goals functions similarly. Have a clear list of objectives, not because that’s where you’ll ultimately end up, but because it will greatly increase your level of certainty when determining what you need to do right now. You’ll be able to tell if a “opportunity” is legitimate when someone calls you unexpectedly.

You’ll start working towards your objectives, learn new things along the road, and have to change your plans as you go. If you start down that path and find it’s not quite what you want, you can always alter your mind. Even poorly formulated goals are still preferable to having none at all.

There goes another day of my life, never to return again, I should say aloud as I check each day off my calendar, according to advice I once received. You’ll be surprised at how much it helps you focus if you try it for yourself. You develop a sense of thankfulness that aids in helping you concentrate on what’s truly important to you when you finish a day with the conviction that you would have lived it the same way if you had the chance to do it over. As your day ends with a sense of loss or regret, you become conscious and decide to try a different strategy the following day.

Even if your first few tries aren’t flawless, you’ll see a measurable difference in your life the moment you set clear, dedicated goals. Because you’ll be able to understand how decisions will affect your progress towards or away from your objectives, you’ll be able to make them much more quickly. Walt Disney invited a reporter to share his bed with him on the night before he passed away so he could explain his plans for Disney World six years before it was actually built.Another reporter told Walt’s brother Roy that it was unfortunate that Walt had not lived to witness the opening of Disney World. Walt noticed it first, Roy retorted. That is why it is happening right now. You can accomplish the first part of H.L. Hunt’s success formula by setting clear goals. You may use the strength of your focus to achieve your goals by defining precisely what you want to do, writing it down, and revisiting it every day.