Giving yourself a deadline for achieving your goal can help keep you on track.
Q: Jill, a few friends and I were having a discussion about goal setting, and achieving our dreams. For some of us, we’ve vowed, over the years, to keep plugging away regardless of the challenges until we achieve our dreams. However, some of my friends, in my opinion, have already given up their dreams and are settling for safe, traditional routes and for some others it appears they’ve got a different dream every month. What is your opinion on setting goals and when, if ever, do you have to give up the goal?
A: Well Danielle, you and I certainly have something in common. I tend to have this discussion with my friends almost on a weekly basis.
For me, it is extremely important that I set long-term goals. Goals are allowed to be lofty granted you’ve got a strict set of pre-goals, or measurable mini-steps, that work to help get you that much closer to your final destination. My mom always tells me, “If on the test, you set your goal to just pass, you will certainly fail, but if you set your goal for 100 per cent, you’re bound to get an A.”
I don’t believe in giving up your dreams, however, I do believe that dreams can be altered as we mature and face different personal and professional challenges. Sometimes what we once thought was our dream, we later realize was someone’s dream for us.
When setting goals, I strongly encourage people to be honest with themselves. We’ve got to realistically assess our strengths and our weaknesses so that we can set the most attainable goals possible.
If you’ve got a goal set deadlines for achieving it and share your goal with others who you admire, whose opinions you trust, and who can help keep you on track.
Some books I would suggest reading are:
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Masters Of Success: Proven Techniques For Achieving Success In Business & Life by Ivan R. Misner, PH.D. and Don Morgan M.A (can be found in most major bookstores).
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The Courage To Succeed by Company of Women Contributors (more information on this book can be found at www.companyofwomen.ca).
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The Fabulous Girl’s Guide To Decorum, The Fabulous Girl’s Code Red by Kim Izzo and Ceri Marsh (can be found at most major bookstores).
Jill Andrew — CYW, BA, BA (Hons.), BEd. Please include your full name, address and telephone number when
e-mailing. All letters are subject to publication.
| jill’s tip of the week |
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• It’s easier to give up on your goals than it is to challenge yourself to strengthen your shortcomings. If you do not stick to the goals you set, your weaknesses will follow you from one job to the next. It’s better to face them head on.
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