I know people who are afraid of setting up goals.

Sure, they have them – everybody has something to move towards. Still, not many people set up goals. They say it’s too much pressure and stress to push themselves this way.

Their argument is: I know where I am going. I don’t need to waste my time and write them down.

The thing is that everyone I know who holds this attitude is actually not achieving any results in life. They are repeating the same patterns in behavior day by day without feeling the pleasure of achievement.

Goals that are not written on paper are just wishes and desires.

Understand that setting up goals is not connected just with achieving success. Setting up goals is about bringing order to your life. It is about having a plan and reducing anxiety. You will reduce so much of your challenges if you get clear on what is it that you want?

It shows how everybody says that all they want is to be happy. And when I ask them: “What will make you happy? What do you want?” – there is silence. Many people are unable to verbalize and describe what is the thing they want?

If you don’t know what you want, you can never have that.

I will explain through examples why setting up your goals is important:

Setting up goals gives you direction.

Doing nothing about the things you want to achieve will take you nowhere. Also, working 15h a day at home and at work won’t get you anywhere further than burnout. Setting up goals will give you direction. You can’t do anything in a day (if you want to maintain your current lifestyle). Also, you can’t deal with 50 goals at a time.

Warren Buffet said in a video: I tell my managers to create a list of 20 goals important to them. Then I ask them which five of those goals are priorities? Then I tell them to write off the rest 15 goals.

The point is you don’t have to just do, do, do in professional and personal life as well. You need a direction.

It keeps you focused.

We, as humans, tend to procrastinate. We are biologically wired to move towards the easy. When I decide to exercise and reduce food, my brain comes up with an excuse: You are tired, you worked so hard, you should rest, take that ice cream – you deserved it. Take a rest, you can exercise tomorrow.

This is my brain and your brain as well.

When I have my goals in front of me, I see that it’s the little everyday steps that will take me to my wanted results.

Procrastination is a wasted time. And time is a limited resource.

Goals help you know if you progress.

There is a huge value in knowing whether you are moving forward or not. Maybe this is one of the main reasons why people are repulsed to set up goals. They want to protect themselves from the feeling of failing.

It can be discouraging to want something and move in that direction and not achieve it by the time you want. But it would be even more discouraging to move forward without a clear goal. Even if you do a lot – you will feel like it’s not much because- how will you know when you are already there?

For example, I set up my goals for this year and divided them into monthly goals. I failed to achieve half of my goals in February.

In the definition of setting up goals and getting the results, I failed. It was painful – I won’t lie. But taking responsibility for your own life is not about blaming yourself and self-criticism. It’s about seeing where the weaknesses are and improving them. How can I know what to improve in March if I ignore what happened in February?

Goals will motivate you.

Some days are great, and others are just low energy. People who have goals and purpose are much more motivated in doing the actions around those goals.

Here is how setting up goals keeps me motivated. By writing down or reading my goals, I remind myself of my desires. I remind myself what I want, how I prefer to feel, what I want to have.

I think of the places ill visit, people ill meet, the things ill give to others, things that will arrive in my life.

I wouldn’t be able to maintain my motivation without the clear goals I set up for myself.

Goals make life more interesting.

I think I heard Cathy Heller say: Opposite of depression is not happiness. Opposite of depression is the feeling of purpose.

When you have a goal and move towards it, you feel happier, fulfilled, confident, and capable. You will feel hopeful and anticipate awesome results.

How to set up goals is a skill you can learn. There is no one way to do that. You can investigate the ways of setting up goals and choose the right way for you. I will write about this in my next article.