These 5 Questions Will Define Where You’re Going in Life

Over the years, I’ve developed some ideas about effective goal setting, and I’d like to share those with you. I also want to point out some traps of goal-directed behavior that aren’t usually talked about but certainly ought to be.

When I was a kid, I used to dream what it would be like to buy a ticket on a train and just go someplace. I didn’t really think about where I’d be going or how long it would take to get there. I just loved the idea of getting on the train and letting it take me somewhere.

I guess there’s still something appealing about that idea, but it’s not really the way you should live your life as a mature human being. When you grow up, you buy a ticket on a train or a plane because you want to go someplace, and you know exactly where you’re going.

You might have to change planes in a different city; your flight might be canceled; you might have to switch to another flight; you might not feel like talking to the person seated next to you. But you will persist. You know where you’re headed, and you’re quite determined to get there. That’s goal-directed behavior in its simplest form.

Related: Are You Willing to Do Whatever It Takes?

There are short-term goals and long-term goals. Sometimes you’re flying across the country; other times you’re just walking down to the corner grocery store. Long-term goals are the equivalent of a major journey. When you reach the point where you’ve achieved your long-term goals, your life will be fundamentally changed, and the process of getting to that point will have transformed you into a stronger, wiser and higher-performing person.

How can you identify your long-term goals? On a sheet of paper or in a notebook, write these five questions:

1. What do I want to do?

2. Who do I want to be?

3. What do I want to see?

4. What do I want to have?

5. Where do I want to go?

Under each of these categories, write down several possible long-term goals. Be very relaxed about this. Just allow your mind to flow and come up with three to six ideas for each category. Don’t worry about a lot of details at this point, and don’t spend too much time describing a particular goal.

For example, refer to category one. Suppose you want to write a book about the history of your family going back to the arrival of your great grandparents in the U.S. Just quickly jot down, “family history.” Then it occurs to you that you’ve always wanted to see the pyramids in Egypt, so you write “pyramids.”

Keep writing down ideas as long as the list of categories continues to inspire you. You’ll probably be surprised at some of the things that turn up. You might have kept a great many desires and aspirations hidden in the back of your mind, but the opportunity to write them down will move them to the forefront of your consciousness. That’s one of the benefits of this technique.

When you’re satisfied with your list of long-term goals, read through the list once again. Then beside each item, write the number of years that you believe it will take you to achieve that particular goal.

It’s best to round off the numbers into one-year, three-year, five-year and 10-year time frames.

SOURCE:success.com