The Importance of Setting Goals

An enlightened Buddhist monk took one of his students on a walk to share one of life's greatest lessons, having clear goals. The monk was a master archer, and his student had never seen him miss the bullseye in practice, even at a distance of 300 yards. To show his student the importance of having clarity of vision, the monk placed a flower on a side a tree and took ten paces away. He then did something surprising. The monk took out a small white cloth and tied it as a blindfold while his student watched in anticipation. Without being able to see his target, the monk began to draw his bow back and suddenly let the arrow fly, missing the mark by several inches. The student looked at the master in shock, "I thought I was going to see a mystical power, but you missed the flower." The monk replied, "How is it possible to hit my goal if I cannot see it?"

How Can You Hit a Goal You Can't See

Setting goals empowers us to push ourselves to achieve our full potential. It can be as small as losing a few extra pounds or a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal), like walking on the moon. Whether large or small, any goal has a much higher probability of coming to fruition once you have clearly defined what success is. Be as detailed as possible in describing your vision, and the universe will help you manifest it. This doesn't' mean you can simply write a goal, and it will magically happen without the effort, you are still required to do the work to achieve success. Think of writing it down is the first step in the process of completing it.

Plan for Success

A goal not committed to paper is no goal at all. The simple act of writing down your goal will double the probability of success. If you want to write a novel, the first step is to document that goal, and in doing so, you are putting into the quantum. Do you have a bucket list, and if so, is it written down or just in your head? Take time to write a list of things you want to do, see and experience, and start making progress on living life to the fullest while you begin to check items off the list.

For every arrow that hits the bullseye, there were 100 misses. Putting in the effort to achieve goals is how you will complete them. The first step, in any objective, should always be to write it down. Something magical happens when we put pen to paper, and emotion is transferred from our hand to the page.