Every day, people wake up and go through their lives without a clear purpose. They fill their time with things that make little difference in the long run and never achieve anything meaningful. You can change your life by defining your purpose and planning your goals.
Every person has a unique deep-seated desire to make an impact and be part of something bigger than themselves.
This is your life’s purpose, and it can’t help but express itself in everything you do. The trick is learning how to define that purpose clearly by asking the right questions about what you want from life.
Once you have a clear purpose, it’s much easier to plan your goals and map out the steps that will bring you closer to where you want to be.
Once again, there are powerful paradigms for success involved with goal planning so make sure to define your outcome before you begin.
Once you have your purpose and goals defined, it’s time to develop a plan of action for how you can get there.
You need clearly define the first step towards achieving each goal so that every day is moving forward in meaningful progress towards where you want to be. Don’t forget to take a moment to celebrate your wins along the way!
When you have an understanding of who you are and what you want from life, it’s much easier to pursue your destiny.
You can make decisions without hesitation or fear because they all align with where you’re going in life. Once again, remember to define your outcome so that every effort you make moves the needle in the right direction.
The final step is to continue growing towards self-actualization. Unfortunately, most people stop learning after high school or college and never take another class again! You can learn every day by reading books, taking online courses, or attending seminars.
Why is it important to ask yourself what you want from life?
Without an answer, there is no motivation for change or growth in any aspect of your life. You will simply go through the motions and wait to die, wondering what you could have done differently with your time on earth.
If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.
Your goals need to be specific in order for them to hold meaning and create a direction that is positive and life-affirming.
What types of goals should you set for yourself?
Goals can be as broad as your imagination or as specific as a single action that needs to happen. Many people have dreams and aspirations, but they do not know how those will manifest themselves in real terms because they don’t have a clear idea of what they want out of life.
For example, you can dream about getting rich by taking big risks on the stock market or real estate investments without having a clear plan for how that will happen and what your investment goal is. People who don’t define their goals are living with no direction – like ships at sea with none to guide them but the winds.
Now, let us learn from those that came before us and stand on the shoulders of these giants to help us define, plan and achieve our dreams and goals.
“All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great projects always look impossible until they are done.” -Napoleon Hill
You might have a lot of ideas, but you will never do anything with them until you define and plan your goals. You need to know where you are going before getting started on the journey.
“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” -Tony Robbins
You need to set goals so you know what you are aiming for and can focus your energy on achieving them. You might not be able to predict exactly how things will turn out, but at least there will be a clear path forward and you will be moving towards your highest aspirations instead of wasting time and energy on things that make no difference to the outcome.
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” -Robert F. Kennedy
You need a big vision for what you want from life or else nothing meaningful is going to happen for you. Dreaming big is essential to achieving big, but it also takes commitment and action.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
You need to set goals so you know what you are aiming for and can focus your energy on achieving them. You might not be able to predict exactly how things will turn out, but at least there will be a clear path forward and you will be moving towards your highest aspirations instead of wasting time and energy on things that make no difference to the outcome.
“It is not enough to take steps which may someday lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
You need to take action but that just leads you into the next step. This is a circular process and there isn’t an endpoint, except achieving your goal and defining another one. You cannot just sit back and wait for things to happen – you have to make them happen by taking lots of small steps.
“I have not failed, I’ve just found 10000 ways that won’t work.” -Thomas Edison
You will go through many setbacks and problems on the way to achieving your goals, but this is part of the process of learning what works and what doesn’t so you can achieve your highest aim in life. You need lots of failures to become an expert at anything and this is a natural part of the learning process.
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again, fail again, fail better.” -Samuel Beckett
You will get things wrong plenty of times but this is not a problem as long as you keep going and learning from each setback so you can improve in the future. It’s important to pick yourself up after each failure and keep going instead of giving up.
“The path is made by walking.” -Antonio Machado
You can plan your path to success all you want, but it’s what you do that will lead you towards achieving your highest aspirations. It is possible to achieve anything if you are prepared for the long haul and dedicate yourself fully to working hard each day on whatever task needs completing. This requires having a great work ethic so you can get more done in a shorter amount of time instead of wasting energy on distractions.
“The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.” -Norman Vincent Peale
We get our power from being devoted to something greater than ourselves, which makes us more self-confident and assertive. You can either dedicate yourself to a big project or cause that you believe in fully instead of only giving partial effort with little purpose, or just work on improving your own character traits so you have inner strength for when times get tough.
“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” -Abraham Lincoln
You need to take control of your own destiny so that you can define how successful or happy in life you become instead of relying on luck, chance, or other people to determine your future. You can then use this quote in order to motivate yourself when dealing with challenges because it is a reminder that you are the one who is responsible for whatever results come out of any action or inaction on your part.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
Believing strongly and consistently about something will help you achieve it since your mind-power is a strong force that can create positive results if we keep focused on our vision. This quote reminds us that it’s important to keep optimism alive since our dreams are worth fighting for, which will give us hope and energy along the journey.
“Follow your bliss.” – Joseph Cambell
Your calling in life is to do what you love, so it’s important not to shy away from following that passion. Once you commit yourself fully towards doing something that makes your heart sing then success becomes inevitable since this means feeling fulfilled and energized with every step taken along the way.
If you’re having trouble defining your purpose, planning your goals, and following through with the journey to success, it’s time to create a plan that will take into account how we think. Once we learn about our own cognitive biases and those of other people then we’ll be able to articulate what works best for us as individuals in order to lead ourselves towards success. The future belongs not only to those who believe but also to those who act on their beliefs so let yourself dream big while taking actionable steps today!
Jeremiah O’Brian is a faculty member at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. His exceptionally diverse background – from gritty nuts-and-bolts firefighting to film and theatre credits and accolades – is bolstered by his several graduate degrees.
