Earl Nightingale tells us that success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal. This means that we are successful when we are working toward a goal, not only when the goal is achieved. High school students normally have the goal of graduating. I love telling my students that by showing up each day and by doing each assignment, they are successful because they are progressively realizing their goal, no matter how far off it may seem.
New Year's is a time to look back upon our accomplishments of the past year and to set goals for the new year. How far did we progress toward our goals in the previous 12 months? Maybe there are some goals that we achieved with relative ease, maybe others are a work in progress and we need to re-work our plans for achieving them. Either way, we are successful because we are progressively realizing our dreams.
Setting goals is different from verbally making New Years resolutions. The key with goals is to write them down so that we can re-read them at least twice a day. In doing so, they are always fresh, and we never forget about them. We really do become what we think about, and if we are thinking about our goals, we will achieve them. We keep ourselves moving forward on the right course and we allow amazing things happen.
In looking back over 2014, I am astounded at how far I have moved forward. What has come clear to me is that it is more important to know where I am going than it is to know how I am going to get there. I knew that I wanted to write and expand the reach of my teaching, for example, but I never expected to have a weekly column in the Prince George Citizen, or a weekly commentary on CFIS Radio (93.1, 10:30 am on Fridays). These opportunities came my way because I was moving forward and looking for opportunities. It is as though they were drawn to me, as metal is drawn to a magnet.
Some of my goals have not been achieved by the end of 2014, but I know that they are much closer than they were a year ago. In looking forward to 2015, I evaluate the progress I made in 2014 and set new goals. It is a wonderful, amazing and exciting process.
Whether or not you have set goals for yourself in the past, I encourage you to set goals for 2015. These could be in any area of life, from health to finances, from relationships to sports. There are many free tools available to help us when setting goals. One that I have found very useful is Napoleon Hills book Think and Grow Rich. It has an excellent chapter on this topic, and it is in the public domain in pdf format.
Celebrate and give thanks for the growth that 2014 brought into your life, and look forward to an amazing and wonderful 2015. That is what setting goals is all about.
