Why set goals?
If we don’t know what we ultimately want, then sometimes we get what we don’t want at all. We wanted any car, we can get a Zaporozhets, we want “at least some housing,” we can get a dilapidated room on the outskirts.
But if we clearly understand why we set a goal, what we want, then it is this awareness that allows us to take concrete steps to ultimately get what we want.
But someone has only an ordinary life without a “home-work-home” plan, and all this is interspersed with weekends and vacations, which are also not planned at all. Many people, living in St. Petersburg, don’t go anywhere; they hardly know where which street or museum is. Many people don't have a plan to read books in a year. Many people sit and watch TV shows and DNA every day, and they don’t even think that it would be nice to start some new skill or habit. There are no goals, and life goes on “day after day” without any events or interest in life.
Therefore, Life, in which there are goals, becomes filled with meaning, and even the most modest achievements bring moral satisfaction and quite tangible material benefits, and this is our growth and movement forward. This is the most important reason why you should always set goals!
Ask yourself the question: what do I want to have, or how do I want to live in 3, 5, 10 years? What are your aspirations?
Reward for Determination
Having taken an active life position and defined a goal for ourselves, we make conscious and organized efforts to achieve it. We develop, posing and solving increasingly complex problems. We learn to manage ourselves and improve the quality of our experiences.
The reward for efforts towards a new goal is the experience of a “state of flow” or “optimal experience”, described in the book “Flow” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
The goal leads into the flow.
Mihai calls the state of flow “the leading edge of evolution,” a powerful incentive that forces you to move forward, grow intellectually and spiritually, and improve your already acquired knowledge and skills.
What goals do we most often want to implement?
We always have a picture in our heads of how we would like to live:
- someone wants physical changes: figure, face, appearance in general
- others want career changes and material satisfaction
- someone wants to carry out a personality transformation, “grow” themselves spiritually too
- others dream of devoting more time to their family and children
- someone dreams of traveling all year round
- and someone, on the contrary, wants to develop their hobby and monetize it
The point is that few people can clearly formulate why these goals are needed. They want changes, but they cannot plan the steps and cannot formulate the goal itself.
Tips for writing an essay
First of all, try to achieve a coherent narrative. It should be based on the main idea and logic of reasoning. State the main idea at the beginning, for example, “The purpose of life is important to a person.” Next, provide evidence: what a purposeless existence leads to and, conversely, what the presence of meaningful desires leads to. Support what has been said with examples from literary works and provide quotes.
What is important to consider while writing:
- Formulate your thoughts clearly – there should be no vague wording in the text.
- Give reasons and support each thesis with evidence, avoid arguments.
- Don't go against public opinion, don't use sarcasm.
- Use at least 2 examples from the literature.
- Express your position and compare it with the position of the authors of the works.
- Re-read what you have written - this will help avoid mistakes.
- Keep track of the length of the essay; it should include about 350 words.
- Do not use terms whose interpretation you are not entirely sure of.
- Do not use quotes or works whose names of authors and heroes are in doubt.
It is very important that you can draw on a literary base. Usually the direction in which the final essay will be written is known long before the exam itself.
Don't be lazy, look for as many relevant examples as possible and memorize some quotes. Practice shows that the same example from a literary work can be used in an essay on any topic from a given direction. Therefore, the wider your literary base, the better.
Reasons for a person's lack of goals
Let's look at the main reasons why people don't have goals:
- many are “afraid to make God laugh” with their plans
- cannot formulate specifically what they want to get as a result
- there is an intention, but nothing is being done in this direction
- deferred desire due to lack of time, something constantly distracts, sometimes it stops your age, appearance (for example, I want to dance, but I have a lot of excess weight, I’ll wait until the weight comes off)
- lack of discipline and a system of “control” over oneself, after a while everything is abandoned, but you had to overcome yourself for at least 21 days and take steps towards your goal
- fear of change and the desire to “secretly” implement everything with unbearable difficulties, and in such a way that the goal becomes unnecessary, since another, more valuable thing, for example, health, is lost
- idealization of a goal, when this is the only way it should be and nothing else. They often want something that “was part of the plans and is extremely important,” but it cannot be realized, because the will of another person is also needed, if he is present in your plans or helps to implement them. I want to marry Kolya, but Kolya doesn’t even know this, and may even be married. And then the goal will not be at all environmentally friendly in relation to others
- lack of a “back-up option” in case something doesn’t go as we plan and, most importantly, loss of confidence and fixation on the “bad version of events”
- “we run out of steam” over a long distance, and there is no energy and other resources to move on, and any big goal is a “long-term process.” You always need to add 3-6 months, and sometimes more, in case of such scenarios, and resources are also needed
There is another option that often comes across - this is a “wizard in a blue helicopter” who will fly in and the desire or our goal, “in some way known only to him,” will come true. It is a complete utopia to think this way. But many people do just that, plan it, then “hide their head in the sand” and wait until everything comes to fruition on its own.
Hence the negative emotions, stress and worries about one’s “unlucky fate”.
I will please you with the fact that a person who clearly knows what he wants and his ultimate goal goes through his difficulties and obstacles on the way to it easier, he knows that there is no way to do without it. Therefore, he perceives failures not as “unlucky fate”, but as tasks that arise on the way to the goal and which he solves.
Aimless life. What could be worse?
People without a goal have no motivation to live. They are accompanied by despondency and apathy. A man without a goal is like a drifting ship without a captain. Aimless travel on the water runs the risk of colliding with an iceberg or hitting reefs.
A purposeless life literally kills. A person who does not see a clear direction in which he should move is doomed and will disappear as a person. A person without goals is prone to alcohol and drugs and degrades both physically and spiritually.
What are the benefits of goal setting?
Goal setting makes our life much better and calmer. And if you look at why it’s better, the following picture emerges:
- We have a meaning in life, we know what we want in the end
And this is the biggest advantage of goal setting. If you wake up every day and know that today you will take another concrete step towards your goal and it will become closer to you.
For example, you are saving money and the next “tranche” in the piggy bank will bring you satisfaction and pleasant thoughts from the fact that your “financial capacity” has grown and increased.
Life does not pass in vain, it definitely takes on meaning and becomes an exciting process.
- There will always be control over the situation
It is worth noting that the clearer you understand why you need this goal and where you want to go, the clearer it is how you need to move, in what direction, at what speed, and how much time it will take.
But if the goal is not clear, then there will be nothing to control.
- Confidence and enthusiasm only appear when the goal is clear
“Go there - I don’t know where” often leads nowhere, because there is no confidence and desire to do anything at all. The goal should always be desirable, the end result should please you, only then does the desire and enthusiasm to “go and do” appear, as Richard Branson says.
- Evaluate your intermediate results
The road to a goal is always divided into small, small steps. But in order to understand what worked and what didn’t, it’s worth periodically auditing what’s been done. I recommend making all entries in your planning and evaluating what has been done and what has not been done, and adjusting the deadlines.
- The feeling of “victory” and self-realization increases self-esteem
When the final goal is realized, each of us feels that this is a “victory.” Victory over yourself, first of all, you can praise yourself for not being lazy, but doing everything in your power to achieve your goal.
Often, a non-standard approach, the use of some new skills, and the help of other people greatly helps in achieving goals. Therefore, it is worth using all options. “Expand” the horizon of your capabilities and make new useful contacts - this always has a positive effect on the realization of your goal.
If you don't take control of your life, then someone else will control your life.
Achieving Goals: Stories
Napoleon Bonaparte
- is a prominent historical figure. For him, there was no environment, only a goal. All of Europe had to grumble just at his name, for the great Frenchman threw it at his feet. Even despite the fact that failure awaited him in Russia, Bonaparte managed to fulfill his intention.
When a crisis arose in France, it was overcome by revolutions, Napoleon took advantage of the moment and stormed the city of Toulon and conquered it. Thanks to this victory, everyone started talking enthusiastically about him. Subsequently, he managed to join France in countries that interested him. These are Italy, Alexandria and Cairo.
Successful military campaigns brought Napoleon to the Imperial throne. For 10 years he ruled and was able to make France a powerful state. But the growth of the emperor’s ambitions did not leave him, and fate brought him to the battlefield with Russia.
But with this defeat, the attitude towards Napoleon did not deteriorate, and to this day he is considered the ruler of Europe.
Jules Verne
- everyone knows that he was the most fantastic writer of all time. In his works, the presence of scientific details and fantastic moments still baffles people. His books are read by the whole world, young and old.
Ever since childhood, Verne had a goal of traveling around the world, but his parents were not satisfied with this, and they predicted a serious education for their son. Indeed, Jules Verne became an educated man and lawyering lay ahead of him. But, having received his diploma, he remembered his old dream, and in addition to this he began to write. His first adventure novels were incredibly popular, which brought him a lot of money and luxury. But time passed and Paris began to not suit him, and Jules Verne found himself a quiet place where his writing career continued.
He disobeyed his parents and set about building his destiny the way he needed it. And now everyone understands that Jules Verne did not do it in vain. He became a role model for travelers.
What is the difference between a goal and a dream
The difference between a dream and a goal is huge. A goal is always some kind of final result. And in order to achieve it, a plan for achieving the goal with specific deadlines for its implementation must be developed.
Recommended on the topic: Wheel of Life Balance - Setting and Achieving Goals
Here is an example of goals for 2021:
- For 6 months (from January to June) reduce weight by 20 kg
- In 12 months or a year, earn and collect money in the amount of 2 million to buy a studio apartment (it’s better to describe in detail where)
Criteria for evaluation
A good essay must meet the assessment criteria. Your eloquence and strong authorial position will not play a special role if the verification reveals a discrepancy with the criteria. If you think that a goal in life is not only unimportant, but also harmful, you should not write about it. You may be right, many psychologists will agree with you. But you won't get a high rating. Therefore, in this case, be a hypocrite and write the work according to all the rules. And you will still have the opportunity to express your true opinion, believe me.
According to FIPI, the criteria for assessing the final essay are:
- Relevance to the topic.
- Argumentation using literary material.
- Composition and logic of reasoning.
- Quality of written language.
- Literacy.
Basic criteria – first and second. Pass or fail is indicated here. Accordingly, the essay should reveal the topic and have a communicative intent. As an argument, it is important to use literature, preferably the one you studied as part of the school curriculum. Quotes and examples from literary works must be given correctly, as if finding confirmation of your arguments in the words of the author.
It is impossible to write an essay without using literary material.
The composition and logic of reasoning is actually the sequence of presentation, as well as the relationship between theses and evidence.
If you have put forward a thesis, provide evidence and support it with examples.
The quality of speech design refers to the variety of vocabulary. Try to avoid cliches and use appropriate terms. If you are not sure about the interpretation, do not use it.
As for literacy, a failure is given when grammatical errors make it difficult to understand the text. Usually no more than 5 errors are allowed per 100 words. We advise you not to use words whose spelling you are not sure of. The Russian language, as you remember, is rich, flexible and picturesque - find synonyms.
