Goals And How We Go About Them

The first thing I realized, while doing a workshop, was the lack of goals. We have a vague idea of what we want and how we'd like to get it (and mostly we want it to come to us by itself).These vague goals are also not articulated for various reasons - doubt, fear, lack of deservability. Some goals are given up because we think they are too big, or because one feels they are not for people like me or because they involve money or other resources which one does not have at the moment.

The Extra Moment 
But if one truly wants something, one must stay with that thought for a moment more, look at it and hold it and say, hey, maybe I'd like to hold it like this one day. That extra moment can make all the difference to the dream coming true or remaining a dream.

Articulate It
When I ask people to write down their goals, their dreams, they write down all sorts of stuff from travelling around the world, owning houses, swanky cars, money, beautiful lives.

What Do You Really Want
But most often I realise that we are writing down what we have been taught is the cool thing to desire. Most times we do not really want most things on our list. For eg. I want to travel around the world. And if someone says, okay, here's your ticket to Turkey, you say, hey not now, later, then maybe you really do not want to go travel the world.

How Badly Do You Want It
Wanting something normally, if one really wants it, pushes one into frenzied action (or even deliberate action). Ask yourself how many times you have done it for things you really want - yes, you have. If it does not push you to act, maybe you should relook at your goal and examine whether you really want it. And those items against whom have ticked as the ones you are willing to work for, those are the goals and dreams that you can pick as the ones you really want. Right, onwards with this actionable goals for now. The rest can wait.

ACT
Once you look at this list and are comfortable with it, knowing you wish to take responsibility for them, knowing you will act on your dream, all you need to do is act. Even planning or thinking about how to get it becomes an act. Then all effort and thought goes towards achieving this dream. This becomes your preparation period. In this you use your talent, you acquire and hone skills, you raise resources and are obsessed with this dream. And you realise soon enough that however big, however stupid the dream appeared, it starts taking shape and you get your chance to say 'YES, I DID IT'.

Goals Give Purpose To Action
There are many who do not like the concept of goals. There are several theories that debunk the idea of having a goal. The idea of a goal is to give purpose to action. Once you see the goal, let us say of winning the World Cup, you see it, feel it and take pride in saying you want to win it. Take the responsibility, prepare. And then let the image take the back seat. It has served the purpose of spurring you to action, to the limits you can stretch yourself. Now go and stretch yourself and find that limit.

Preparation - To Be Your Best To Achieve The Goal
And now comes the moment. On being the best that the individual or team can be. Preparation must be done until one can confidently say that this preparation will give me the World Cup. No one else can certify this except the individual or the team as a whole. And once this is done, the state has been achieved when the individual or team has prepared enough, they are put to test. To competition. The goal remains in the  background, burning like the Olympic flame and all that separates you and your goal is action, is how you put your preparation into action.

The Moment Of Truth
Then you realise as you stretch every sinew, as you fight every inch of the way in your mind and with your body, as you hold on to all that you trained for in spite of an opponent who has trained equally hard, as you do not let a shadow of doubt creep in, as you hang on even 'if I die' - the gates open slowly. And then you realise that you have opened not just the pathway to the goal but something much bigger. In sport, in business, in war, in love - it is all the same.

You Have Been There
You have seen that you can if you want to. You have felt your potential. And you know nothing is impossible. You will flow way past your goal like a surging ocean wave with a power you have never imagined. Try it with a small goal. give it your best shot, your 200%, without any excuse and tell me what happened. The result is always the same - if your effort has been honest enough, you will get much more than you asked for. And that entire process to me, begins with that one moment when you dare to look at that goal of yours and decide that it is worthy of your effort!