How To Define Your Goals And Have A Vision

The first thing you need to do before you achieve anything is almost always to define your goals. This is very integral to your potential success as you can't very well succeed until you know what it is that you want to achieve!

'Chase your dreams' people say. 'Follow your heart!' they announce. But what if you don't know what your goals are? How can you go after the thing that will make you happy when you have no idea what that thing is? The problem a lot of people have, is that they start with a goal rather than a vision.

In reality, a goal should come from a vision and you need one before you can have the other.
So what's the difference? A vision is a lot more abstract than a goal. A vision is not a plan or an idea but rather it is a lifestyle, a way of life, a state of affairs, a dream. Your goal will then fill in the steps from there.

To find your vision then, the simplest strategy is to try picturing your perfect life. Imagine you have been given a magic lamp and can make three wishes. Meanwhile, you also won the lottery. What does this perfect life look like? What does it entail? Where do you see yourself? Who is there with you?
For some people, this vision is going to be the typical archetype of success. You might be as we described earlier, standing on top of a high-rise building, looking out over your domain and wearing a smart suit.

But maybe that's not it. Maybe you're sitting in a hammock, drinking a cocktail while watching the sun set over a tropical ocean? Or perhaps your dream is more modest? Maybe you imagine having a beautiful house, a beautiful wife/husband and great kids. Maybe you envisage being able to spend all your time with those kids.

Or maybe, just maybe, your vision is completely bizarre to most people. Maybe your vision involves playing World of Warcraft all day. Maybe your vision isn't even physically possible.

All of this is fine - and the first crucial lesson we need to learn here is that you have to be honest with yourself. You need to be 100% brutally honest and if your dream is to enter a beauty pageant - as a guy - just admit it. Maybe your vision is just to be a bum and lie around the house!

Too many of us feel as though we have to live the life that others set out for us. We feel as though we need to achieve what is considered the traditional view of success. We feel the urge to please our teachers, our parents. And so when someone asks us 'what is your goal?', we will often say 'to be a lawyer'.

We're too embarrassed to say that we just want to spend more time with our kids. And we're too embarrassed to say we want to be a pop star. But what is the point of chasing someone else's dream? Go after the things that you feel passionate about and never feel ashamed of whatever they may be!

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