Personal Development
Hate Goal-Setting? Maybe You Have the Wrong Key
By Susan K. Minarik
Feb 10, 2007 - 7:12:17 PM

If the mere thought of setting goals makes you want to run and hide, you’re not alone. Goal-setting is right up there with public speaking on the list of things people dread more than death. 

Why do the highly successful keep telling us to set goals when most of us find the task so repugnant?  How can a means of achievement be so heralded on one hand and so widely loathed on the other?  Let me tell you the story of how that came to be . . .

Once upon a time there was secret key rumored to unlock the door to treasures beyond measure.  Mere possession of it, so the stories went, bestowed near-mystical powers that enabled its owner to perform remarkable feats.  So mighty was the key that captains and kings sent emissaries world-wide in search of it, and when they succeeded in obtaining it, they held it closely, guarding its power and sharing it only with the most trusted members of their inner circles. 

But no secret stays secret forever.  As time passed, knowledge of the key seeped, bit by bit, into the realm of public knowledge.   People-in-the-know started calling it “setting a goal.”

Those who sought out the true knowledge of the secret found the key did indeed give them incredible powers.  But significant pieces of the key were lost to most. The instructions they got were distorted and turned inside out.  For them, using the key was not only futile, but a whole lot of work.  Thus, among the masses, the whole business of “setting a goal” got a really bad rap.

To make matters worse, as time went by and industries evolved, employers began imposing “goals” on their workers, believing the magic lay in the word alone.  When it didn’t work, the employers hired great teams to dissect goal-setting and develop minutely detailed instructions for building goals effectively.  Reams of forms were created, and higher mathematics applied.  Managers were instructed to measure each worker’s compliance with all the intricate steps involved.  Promotions and demotions were meted out accordingly.  Thus, among the masses, the word spread: Screw goals.

Yet, deep inside the councils of the most-wise, the secret key has been preserved intact. And once again, knowledge of its true essence is seeping out.   Look for it.  It’s worth possessing.  You’ll recognize when you have a piece of the true key by three signs: 

• It will tell you that true goals must come from your heart and no one else’s.

• It will tell you that goals rise from the depths of your authentic values and reflect components of your most cherished dreams.
 
• And, above all, it will tell you that a true goal will possess you, that it is your future-self calling to you, shaping you for readiness to receive it with every step toward it you take.

Find goals stamped with these hallmarks and the genuine key to success is yours. ##

Want to learn more about using goals to realize your dreams?  You can subscribe to Susan’s free newsletter “The Magical Mirror,” find top dream-builder resources, and read success tips for creating life the way you want it to be at http://www.thetomorrowgame.com

Susan K. Minarik is the author of “Winning the Tomorrow Game: How to Discover and Create the Life of Your Dreams.”