SELF-DISCIPLINE AND GOALS(SETTING) EPISODE FOUR

SELF-DISCIPLINE AND GOALS(SETTING)
EPISODE FOUR 
"you can't hit a target that you can't see"
"if you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there. "
You have probably heard these statements above, but to what do you relate them, if not setting of goals?
Your ability to discipline yourself to set clear goals for yourself and then to work toward them every day will do more to guarantee your success than other single factor........... Said by Brian Tracy

From countless of researches, it is concluded that people who set goals are more successful than those who do not.
For instance, the 3% percent adults who have written goals and plans perform more than the 97%  (who do not) put together.

But the bad news is that,  most of us think we already have goals but they are just hopes and wishes.
Goals that are not written down usually are just like wishes or hopes.

On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced a goal:  America would put a
person safely on the Moon before the end of the decade. Many thought this was
impossible. To people’s amazement, Kennedy’s ambitious goal was achieved on July 20,
1969, when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon's surface. In this context, JFK’s initial
goal setting guided and motivated Neil Armstrong’s giant step for mankind. Goals are not
only in the domain of leaders, though. They are part of our everyday lives.

WHAT AT ALL IS GOAL SETTING?
Goal setting is the process of establishing an outcome to serve as the aim of one's actions.
 SOME IMPORTANCE OF GOALS SETTING
1. Goal setting increases achievement : in that those have the habit of setting goals usually have laid down plans or strategies which guide them as to how to go about that particular thing they want to achieve.
2. It increases motivation : if one has a goal, he or she is naturally motivated to achieve that goal. Motivation and goals are closely linked.
3. Goals multiply your chances of success. And counting...
The first step is to attain;
THE DISCIPLINE OF WRITING
From the experience of many notable successful people in the past, the disciplined act of writing out  goals, making plans for accomplishing them, and then working on those goals daily increases the likelihood of achieving your goals by ten times.
Meaning if you are community where writing is a even problem for many people, it tells you that there would be lack of reasonable  goal setting skills.
However,  this does not mean that writing out your goals guarantees success a,  but rather that it increases the  probability of success. 
TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE
We as humans are  purpose driven as Aristotle put it that we are teleological organisms.
You actually see yourself as the purpose driven person, when you have clear goals and working on them.
........you may not need to know how to get there,  but you just need to know and be clear about  what you want to accomplish.There is a goal-striving mechanism in your brain which will guide you to your destination.

SELF EXPLANATORY SEVEN -STEP METHOD TO ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS
1. Decide exactly what you want. Be specific.
2. Write it down. If it's written down, you can see, touch, read, and modify.
3. Set a deadline for your goal. Pick a reasonable time period and write down the date when you want to achieve it. You can also St subdeadlines. This a forcing system in your brain that helps you to get the work more done just as when you are under pressure.
When you don't achieve the goal before the deadline, set a new deadline. This is due to some external circumstances that may interfere with the time you need to accomplish that goal.
4. Make a list of everything you can think of that you could possibly do to achieve your goal. Including obstacles and difficulties, and knowledge, skills and people.
5. Organize the list by sequence and priority. It will help you to know what is to be done  first, second or later.
6. Take action on your plan immediately. Don't delay, get going.
Remember procrastination is not only the thief of time; it is the thief of life.
7.Do something everyday that moves you in the direction of your major goal.
Apply all these steps to  a single goal and make  plans and achieve it. Then another.
One at a time method.

EVERYONE AS WELL AS  STUDENTS,
need to learn how to set goals.
 While instructors can set course­level learning goals to help structure their content, you
can also set your own goals. It will improve your learning and motivation.
Goal setting will make you take responsibility and ownership of your own goals, giving some internal motivation and make you take proactive actions.

It's specially helpful to students with low achievement motivation.
Also, Students who invest in their goals also demonstrate greater persistence, creativity, and
risk­taking in their achievement of those goals. (Dewett, 2007; Lepper, Greene, & Nisbett,1973)
It will also help the student to self-regulated.

IN CONCLUSION,  goal setting ability is not limited to only some people everyone can learn it and make good use of it. If you don't like writing your goals down it is easy to forget. Write it down.
And whatever you think about your goal is definitely what you will achieve.Napoleon Hill, author of 'think and grow rich'(1939) put it this way "whatever the mind of man can conceive, and believe, it can achieve "

You can't leave God out of the equation.
Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established. Prov16:3
At the conception of a goal, thank God and commit it to Him.


References
1.The power of self -discipline, by Brian Tracy, Chap 4.pages 64-78
2.http://vpal.harvard.edu/publications/setting-goals-who-why-how