Lifestyle section - Article 4: Laduuuma!! On your marks, get set and goal!!

Feel it! It is here! And it is Ayoba!!!

When I originally decided I would write an article about developing and setting goals at the start of the World Cup I think I underestimated the immense power and energy this event would unleash in every South African and all our visitors. I have been so taken by the “gees” I have been emailing and arranging my plans for the Opening Ceremony instead of writing this article. However, that got me thinking… isn’t that the problem with life goals. My goal was to finish writing this article but instead I manage to get distracted and caught up in life, energy and the people around me. I know what I need to do - I even like doing it - but still my goal seems to diminish with the urgency of what life, other people and the world is presenting to me. So that is what I decided I would address in this article on goal setting: what a goal is, how to go about setting a goal, understanding why goals are important to us - all the while understanding that the process is as important as the goal. So let’s begin!

What is a goal and how to set one?

A goal is generally defined to be an observable or measurable result that is deliberately focused on and either achieved or not within a timeframe. The definitions can become quite comprehensive but generally a goal is something which people aim to achieve and take actions towards in order to complete or finalise within a specified timeframe.

For me the interesting thing to note here is that although we all believe we have goals and that we are using goals to direct our behaviour almost daily – we often fall short at meeting the most basic requirements of a goal. I would almost go as far as to argue that even the most ‘goal driven” of us instead work with intentions and not goals. To clarify I would like to offer you the following distinction between an intention and a goal: An intention is a motivating desire, attitude or approach to life and circumstances. If you want to be successful you will work and achieve high standards with the intention of being successful. However this is not a goal. There is no timeframe and generally you are motivated by a sense of how you would like things to be but not by specific observable outcomes. If we go back to my article writing example I can say I became motivated to meet my goal of finalising the article once I realised I had made plans for my evening and therefore time was running out. I had to complete within a certain timeframe in order to produce the article (observable result) and if I failed, my evening plans would be cancelled.

Therefore we can see that a goal requires the following elements:

• Specific – what do you want to achieve? What is the most basic principal of this? You need to become specific and clear on what your goal is. (i.e. Financial independence can be broken down to earning R7000 per month).

• Measurable – this implies that there is a way to distinguish when the goal has been achieved. This can be a physical change, or an object that is created. A measure can also be establishing certain emotional or spiritual states if a person decides to work towards developing emotional competencies or soft skills. (i.e. buying a house, paying off a car, becoming a more competent cook, becoming more confident at addressing my boss and people in authority).

• Actionable – this means that we need to be able to break the goal down into specific actions that can be taken. So what is the first step you can take towards your goal? Can you do this and what do you need to take action? Try work out as many possible action steps as possible, these will help break your goal down and allow you to see the long term investment you are making by setting this goal. If a goal seems un-actionable or unattainable - you may need to ask if your goal is achievable? Although this is difficult this is an important part of developing a goal and allows us a great resource when implementing our goals.

• Relevant – is the goal relevant to you and are you willing to invest in this goal? Setting a goal that is relevant to your life and context is important since it will involve a commitment of your time, energy and resources to achieve. We can all say we want to retire at 30, but unless you are willing and able to excel and work very hard or discover a new diamond mine this might not be a very relevant goal for you life.

• Timeframe – this step allows us to take the action steps we created and breakdown our goal into a timetable format. So ask yourself by when will you have achieved the final goal and then work back incorporating all the step and process’s you will need to complete. The power of this step is that by working back from the final goal we are able to relate and understand the commitment we are making to our goal’s achievement everyday. This step might take some time but the more detailed your timetable the easier it will be to stay committed to your goal and help your focus.

This breakdown is widely known as the SMART method for goal setting. It is recommended that all five elements are used to test a goal before committing to it. If you are able to work through the five elements and create a goal this would give you a clear and focused outcome on which to begin taking action. It can appear very overwhelming and I often recommend that someone works through this process with a trusted and supportive person in order to help explore all five elements in detail. This process requires you to engage with your world view and develop an understanding of yourself and your desires as well as commitments and therefore it is important to realise that the journey of discovering our goals from our intentions is half the process.

In order to stick to this process I have decided to personally add two new letters to the SMART method and this deals with our next step of developing our goals.

Developing our Goals

Okay, so now we know how we go about setting a goal. But how do we make sure it is really what we want not what we think we should do or what other people expect. I would therefore encourage you to not only be SMART with your goals but actually take ownership of them and set goals that are - SMART ME goals!

The ME in this extension of goal setting stands for Motivation and Enthusiasm.

• Motivation - It is important to explore what is your personal motivation for the goal you have set. Why is this goal important to you? Why would you like to achieve it? Is it in line with your personal values and beliefs? Or is it motivated by society and/or other external factors?

• Enthusiasm – Does your goal excite you and make you feel enthusiastic about working towards its completion and achieving all the steps necessary?

This is a great way of testing a goal since our natural enthusiasm indicates when we are aligning our goals to our values and beliefs and when we are not. It is a difficult process to discover since we incorporate society and others values and beliefs into our interpretation of how we view the world. However, we are all entitled to desire and commit ourselves to different values and beliefs. Therefore it is important to understand yourself in relation to your goals. By focusing on your motivation and the gut feeling of enthusiasm you will be able to start picking up when a goal is motivated by external or societal pressures. This will allow you to take ownership of your goals and this becomes very important when we begin the process of developing our goals and working with the challenges and distractions life will present to us.

Working with Life and our Goals

As I suggested at the start of this article, setting life goals and working to complete them can often be a lot harder than the theory lets on. For example say we develop our SMART ME goals and complete each of the elements so that we have a clear and focused goal. We write the goals down, we draw up a timetable and then… life happens.

It is embarrassing to admit but even I have taken all the time and effort to create my goals and then forgotten about them. I then spent a lot of time criticising myself for not prioritising my goals. Luckily, I realised this wasn’t helping me achieve my goals either. So I spent some time figuring out what could help me. Especially since life will always continue to present distractions and throwing us curve balls. It has often been said that adaptability is essential to achieving success in our world.

Therefore, the following can help your focus as well as develop your adaptability to handling life’s curveballs:

1. Review goals regularly – I personally stick them up on my walls or as a note on my computer. Ask yourself daily: “What did I do today to take me closer to my goal?”

2. Problem solve actively – don’t make the goal be a concern of the future, ask yourself daily: “What do I need to do tomorrow to take me closer to my goal?”

3. Optimism – being positive can have an enormous impact on your goals and focus. A positive attitude is essential in dealing with setbacks and obstacles. If you feel disheartened by your progress attempt to revaluate and refocus your energy – but don’t criticise yourself. Like I mentioned that doesn’t help us achieve our goals either.

4. Reward/ celebrate – every goal needs to be celebrated. But also remember to reward yourself for your steps towards your success.

I hope some of this will help you all not only set those goals but also make them happen. We need goals in this country and as much as we are all focusing on Bafana Bafana to score them for us. I believe we can all focus, commit and score for ourselves, our families and our country.

I look forward to hearing from you

To your brilliance…

Danielle