by Lijun He

Created on: June 29, 2010   Last Updated: June 30, 2010

Aiming for the Horizon at New Years

A new year is around the corner again. Across many nations, resolute people gather together to set goals to improve both their characters and their lives, goals which will allow them to soar far above their current selves to the stars.

Sounds good doesn’t it?

It’s really too bad that most of these people will never take off. After all with our current technology, we can’t reach the stars anyways.

They’ll jump, but gravity will pull them back down before they get too far. And they’ll find out that their resolution wasn’t very great after all. They’ll forget their goals, and the give the same goals the next year in a never-ending cycle.

But you’re here to find out how to get out or avoid that never-ending cycle right?

What I find to be the two key points to making achievable goals is realism and sincerity.

Realism

Hmm… I weigh 500kg, so I really need to get some exercise. Eureka! – my new years resolution will be to place first at the 100km marathon in 2 weeks!

-From the diary of someone who never achieved a goal

Many people understand that they have to set realistic goals, but not all of them understand everything that “setting a realistic goal” entails. A realistic goal entails ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:

1. The goal must follow the laws of physics:

This is something that most people understand. The goal must be possible.  Setting the goal that you will change from being penniless to a multi-billionaire, well only if have a VERY good plan. I don’t know, but if you just invented something amazing and revolutionary like the solution to pollution, I guess this could work. But in that circumstance, your goal may be redundant and you may wish to set a goal about how you will spend your money. Overall set a goal that is within possible human physical boundaries. For example, if you are penniless, maybe set a goal to get a job. That being said, it is important to actually set a goal that achieves something. Getting a job is a great achievement something for the penniless beggar, while the goal to spend 1 more hour everyday scrounging through trash cans does not achieve much.

2. The goal should deal with yourself:

This is an extension of the first point but is subtle and not considered by many people. Your goal should only deal with your own actions. Setting the goal: “I will get along with the kid who I used to bully” is not a realistic goal.

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