There's an old story about a kid shooting arrows into his backyard fence. After shooting an arrow, he would run over to the fence and draw a target around it.
Suddenly one of the boy's friends shows up and says: "That's no way to have target practice! You are supposed to draw the target and then shoot at it."
The boy responds, "I know that, but if you do it my way, you never miss!"
Sadly, many people approach life like this fanciful archer. They cheat or are afraid to set goals for fear of failure. Don't give up on your goals, or your goals will give up on you. The harder you work for something, the greater you'll feel when you achieve it. Goals give you a sense of accomplishment.
Goals can create more excitement in our lives and prevent boredom. They stretch us and make work more fun. Goals give us a sense of purpose and help identify what we want. Goals keep us pressing on and enable us to accomplish more.
"People with goals succeed because they know where they're going," said Earl Nightingale, one of the motivational authors and radio personalities I followed when starting my business career.
In short, setting goals is an important prerequisite for success. But the way you set your goals and pursue them can be determined by many factors.
Bottom line: It's difficult to advance in your career unless you're working toward goals. Aim for goals that are:
