There is a theory that setting goals for yourself is a waste of time because most will fail to achieve them, and if you do achieve your goal, when then? There’s a brief celebration followed by a sense of disappointment and a “is that it?”

This theory misses the point of why we need goals. A goal is a vehicle we use to change something about ourselves. It gives us a direction, not necessarily a destination so that our lives have a sense of purpose and a reason to get up in the morning.

For instance, I often set the goal to complete a marathon, not because I get to a finish line, but because my long-term health in terms of physical well-being is important to me. I would rather not retire and spend the final years of my life in and out of hospital because I neglected my health in my younger, active years.

Think of a goal as a target, and you are holding a bow and arrow. Without a target, where do you aim? We require that target to give us something to aim at.

The most critical part of a goal is the change we must make to ourselves for us to achieve the goal. The daily and weekly activities you must put in place change you and become the “new” you. This is where you will hear that it’s the journey, not the destination, that matters, and that is true.

However, there is a bigger reason why goals are essential in our lives. That is, they allow you to map out what you want out of life.

There is a societal blueprint that tells us to go to school, then university. After that, get a job with a large, reputable company, work your way up the promotion pole as far as you can, and then retire.

Along the way, you should get married, have children and buy a house.

If that’s the life you want to live, that’s fine. You don’t need goals because your company and society will always direct you towards the destination we all share — death.

However, if you want to take control of your life — to live life on your terms — you will need a plan (a goal). Now for me, I prefer to see this as my vision. How do I see myself at seventy or eighty years old? What do I want to be doing? I want to be active. I would like to be able to climb mountains like Mount Kilimanjaro or go hiking in the Alps around the Matterhorn in Switzerland. But how will I do that if I suffer from cardiovascular disease because I neglected my health while I was busy working through the company’s promotional track?

Instead of living a free, active retirement, I’ll be in and out of hospital being kept alive by medication. As a result, I’ll be unable to do anything active.

My goal to live an active, healthy retired life means the daily activities I have today are designed to achieve that goal. I eat healthily, I exercise every day, and I try to get the right amount of sleep. As long as I do that, have a complete medical checkup each year and stay focused on the end goal, I improve my chances of accomplishing that goal.

It could be you have a goal of becoming the CEO of your company. The question then is: What activities do you need to do for you to achieve that goal? Self-development through learning and gaining experience will all help you to move up the promotion ladder. Then, all you need to do is focus on the next step.

What do you need to do to become a supervisor? Then, what skills do you have to attain to become a manager, and so on until you reach the leadership team?

The journey of self-discovery, education, and experience is what you want to live for.

But what happens when you do achieve your goal of becoming the CEO? What next? This is where you will modify your goal — your vision. With a CEO position, you have responsibilities that can affect the company’s direction.

Tim Cook has taken Apple in a different direction from the one Steve Jobs took Apple. Tim Cook has stamped his beliefs and philosophy on how Apple is today.

And that’s the important thing, once you achieve your goal, you don’t stop there. Now you need to modify the plan. It’s a moving target.

The key is to be a goal-orientated person. That’s how you achieve things. The fun part is setting the goal and going off in the direction you need to achieve it. It’s about solving problems along the way and overcoming obstacles.

Life is empty without a goal or vision about your future life. Your life is to be lived, and it’s better to live it on your terms than on the terms of other people.

But the most critical part of achieving goals is not the goal itself — it is who you must become to achieve it. Any worthwhile goal will require you to improve and develop new habits. To learn new skills and to change. It’s that part of achieving goals that makes it worthwhile.

For me, the desire to live an active, healthy life well into my twilight years motivates me to seek ways of safeguarding my health today. To try new things, to maintain my research on the latest developments in diet and health, and to set some milestones each year that pulls me towards my ultimate goal.

So, beware the people who tell you not to set goals. You need something to pull you towards improvement, growth, and fulfilment. Without goals or a vision, you’ll settle, stagnate and become miserable. Not the best way to live life.

If you want to learn how to set goals that inspire and motivate you, then take my brand new Goal Setting Course. One hour that will change your life!

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