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Ready Fire Aim

"Oh

......They've printed the heading wrong. As we've heard it should be Ready Aim and then Fire. How can we fire without aiming?" Didn't you think this way when you first had a look at the heading.. I guess you thought that way....Ok... What's the meaning of this absurd heading? Ready Fire Aim....ok.. be cool...! I'll explain you in stages.

In a nutshell, today, my dear readers, I am going to talk about setting goals. First of all, I'll tell you what a goal is.

A goal can be defined, as I feel, as a thing that we want to achieve in our life, that we desire and long for. Setting a goal is a powerful process for personal planning. The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life.

Because as Mahathma Gandhi said "A man is but the product of his own thoughts; what he thinks he becomes". One of the Muslim scholars once said "A person's value is measured according to his determination and his goals" Isn't it good to have goals and directions in your life rather than sailing without a direction, lost at sea.

Have you ever set goals in your life? "Yes" you will say. Were you able to achieve them. "Very often I failed in achieving my goals".. If this is your answer, then of course you should learn how to set goals as well as to achieve them. Don't be overwhelmed.

It's a simple process if you have the desire to achieve goals. And remember, inspiration of attaining a goal is not enough. Hard work is most required. Swami Wivekananda said that no great work can be done without sacrifice. Dare to do great work and to be identified as a unique human being...?

Be SMART

SMART technique is very effective if you can apply in your goal setting process.

S specific
M measurable
A achievable
R realistic
T timely

The goal should be specific enough so that you know exactly what you're striving for. In other words, create a big picture of what you want to do with your life and what large scale goals you want to achieve.

Then breakdown these goals into smaller, measurable portions. You should be able to measure your goals. For example, you want to be an educated person. But it's not measurable. What are the requirements to be an educated person? You should think about the necessary steps to be educated. Make it measurable.

First you need to study. Identify what you're going to study about. And set goals to get a bachelor's degree, then a Master's and then a doctorate.

Set practical and realistic goals. Never set goals that are not achievable and not realistic. It's not practical if you want to be the King or the Queen of Great Britain. Be practical and always set goals which you can afford to achieve.

Always remember how much you want and by when. "By when" is very important because if you have no deadlines for your goal then you've to go behind that goal throughout your life and there will be less possibility of achieving that. That will well be explained by Ready Aim and Fire.

You're ready with your goal and then you'll have to aim...aim...and aim...if you have no deadlines you will never be motivated to fire. You'll have to keep on aiming till you go to your grave for eternal rest.

Do you know when Lord Buddha sat under the Bo tree with the strong inspiration of not getting up from under it unless he attained Enlightenment. As he set his noble goal and the deadline to achieve it, so he was able to achieve it through his strong ambition and setting a specific time period for that.

He later explained how He attained that sublime goal. "It's through unshaken perseverance, that I have reached the final goal and enlightenment. Trough unceasing effort, that I have reached the peace supreme. If you also will strive unceasingly, you too will in time attain the highest goal".

Set goals..!

Don't confine yourself to one goal at a time. Make several goals. Goals including your family, your religion, your leisure time, your hobbies, your career, your education, etc., and list them according to priority. But be extreamly careful not to get yourself messed up with too many goals at one time.

Tom Watson, the founder of IBM was once asked what he attributed the phenomenal success of IBM to and he said it was three things. First he created a very clear image in his mind of what he wanted his company to look like when it was done, second he asked himself how would a company like that have to act on a day-to-day basis. Third in the very beginning of building his company, he began to act according to the latter.

The last great Earl Nightingale who studied on what made people successful and methods of self-improvement said the easiest way to reach our goals is to pretend that we've already achieved them. Be a big dreamer.

Dream about your future the way you want it to be! That is beginning to walk, talk and act as though we're already experiencing the success you seek. Then those things will naturally come to you through the power of your subconscious mind.

Get a notebook and write down what you want to achieve within this year. Give priority to the most important thing. When achieving goals some people use story boards. That means if you want to buy a car, collect pictures of the particular car from magazines, newspapers, brochures, etc., and paste them in a book.

When you constantly see the picture of the thing that you want it will excite you.. knowing well that as you look at them everyday, they will soon be yours!

It's a good habit to read your goals once before you go to bed and as you wake-up in the morning. It'll constantly remind you about your goals and what necessary steps to be taken next.

Decide on three things that you want to achieve before you die. Then work backwards listing three things you want in the next twenty years, ten years, five years, this year, this month, this week and today.

Fire..!

Yes......! get motivated, be enthusiastic and energetic...Fire..! stop aiming.. you will just waste your time and energy by aiming. Once you have the courage to fire and you dare to do that, of course you will get used to fire and you'll be able to achieve your goals very soon.

As you think about your goals, instead of wishing for them to come true, ask yourself how and what you can do to make them come true. The sub conscious mind will respond to your goals far greater than just making statements or making wishes.. Again success comes through 10% of inspiration and 90% of perspiration...