Goal Setting - Where are you going?

By James Ahola

Have you ever gone to the airport and looked at the board showing all the flights coming and going? I was at the Pearson International airport the other day and I found it quite amazing to look at the boards and see flights arriving from all over the world. When I looked out the window at the numerous planes moving around, I was struck with the thought that none of these planes were here by happenstance. Not a single one. Not only was their presence deliberate, but the time of their arrival and departure was predetermined months in advance, as were the crew members, the food that would be served, the entertainment that would be available and so on. Talk about planning!

Now you may be saying, “This is no big deal, it’s normal”. I agree that it is normal for travel, but it is by no means the norm.

If I were to ask you:

• Where are you going to be in 10 years?
• Do you know the resources will you need along the way?
• Do you have those resources in place?
• Have you planned for them to be in place when you need them?

Or with respect to sales, when you meet a client:

• Do you know exactly what will occur?
• Do you know when certain steps will occur ?
• Do you have contingency plans?
• Do you have aids at hand to help close the sale?

For the vast majority the answer to these questions is ‘no’. What is normal for travel, knowing where you are going and preparation, is not the norm for life or livelihood.

One of the most important questions we need to answer in our professional and personal lives is the simple question “Where am I going?” It has been argued that knowing the answer to this question is one of the most important keys to success in life. Studies have shown that the common denominator linking people of uncommon success is not money, family, skin colour, nationality, sex, height or education. The common link is simply that they knew where they were going. Achieving success is knowing where you are going and endeavoring to get there.

Knowing where you are going immediately cuts out distractions and misuse of time and resources and it focuses your assets and energy in the proper direction.

No one would think of traveling from Toronto to Montreal via Detroit, it would be a total waste of time and resources. Yet in our personal and/or professional lives we sometimes make that trek to “Detroit”. Usually it is because we don’t know where we are going in the first place. We may think “it would be nice to go to Montreal one day” and then leave it at that, and go along our merry way, hoping every now and then “one day we will get there”. But hoping is not knowing. Knowing requires a decision. Decisions are hard. They require us to cut away things that we may like and enjoy but are not beneficial to us and/or our goals. We may be accustomed to the road to Detroit, it is familiar and comfortable territory, but no matter how much we wish and try, the harsh reality is: from Toronto, the road to Detroit does not lead to Montreal.

In light of our goals and dreams, harsh reality demands tough decisions.  But once the tough decisions are made, finding the road to our goal, the “HOW TO” or the specific actions required to get there become relatively easy. The hard part is deciding where you want to go and then following through with stamina and fortitude.

Where are you going? Where is your career, your personal life, your sales presentation, your health, your dreams, your… plane going? Have you truly decided where yet? It is never too late to decide. Just think about what you really want, or where you honestly want to be. Then make a decision and work towards your goal. Easier said than done, I know.  But, when you do, you will be like one of those planes at Pearson International airport, capable of going almost anywhere in the world with a 100 per cent chance of success. Your boarding pass is waiting; choose your destination.