At school, may it be intentional or not, we are taught to set goals for ourselves. They teach us to assess our skills and interests and usher us according to the result. This works for some but others may not have their own choice due to family insinuations. This is almost always true in Asian Families. There’s an order we cannot refuse. But what do we actually mean by goal setting? What does it have to do with personal fulfillment? Is that a barometer for success if we somehow reach it? What we want to do in life is more often a blurry haze for most of us, if not everyone. Especially if you are caught between a rock and a hard place, juggling to survive from paycheck to paycheck.

Cary David Richards in his book, Smart Goal Setting Made Simple has truly put in laymen’s term how it is to break down your life into what you want and achieve them. Drawing out from his entrepreneurial spirit, he walks his talks if you’ll ask for proof. Goal setting is not just a bunch of nonsense we tell ourselves. Rather it’s a guideline we must based our lives on. His book resonated to me in a way that has aligned to my personal experience, which I have proven to be true and effective.

Live in the moment.

Fretting about the past is the best way to waste your time. Choose to live in the moment and take it all in. Tell yourself “I’m okay no matter what is going on around me.” This is not an outside state of being but otherwise an internal resolve to be centered. You see, you have to decide that you are enough. Don’t walk around feeling defeated because the truth is, it doesn’t have to be perfect in order for you to be happy. You have to trust that if you seek welfare, then you will find it by feeling grateful for all the small things around you. There are a lot of things we take for granted. If you find yourself rambling, be reminded that other people have lived with less than what you have. Life could wreck havoc, throw you a curveball and exasperate your spirit but

Trust that things has a way of settling down no matter how wrecked they are and centering yourself to that powerful truth will change your life big time.

Write it all down.

One big thing that rings true in the book is the exercise of putting all your free-flow ideas in a paper. Richards suggested that you get away from the chaos of daily life and put yourself in uninterrupted peace and quiet and know what it is that you truly want. Zip out the voices in your head that tries to distract or defy you. Don’t think about limitations and just follow your bliss. There was a time in my life I felt everything was closing in on me. I was depressed knowing that I’m not living the life I wanted. So I took out my journal and wrote everything my heart was longing for. It was sketchy at first until things got clearer. I enunciated on every little detail and examined my heart long enough to outline my identity.

This is called What-I’d-want-my-life-to-look list.

Unless you want something so badly you can taste it. Unless you are willing to do anything within the bounds of the legal, ethical and moral structures of our society to get that thing and make it reality, the chances of you accomplishing a goal of any consequence are pretty slim.

Go big or go home.

Taking charge of your life means not settling for mediocrity. I’ve lived long enough to tell that if you don’t like what you’re doing then nothing in life will make sense. That goes for every aspect of life. Once you have defined the terms of your goal, this is the part where you have to do the legwork and run it over to what Richards call “real-o-meter” Big dreams doesn’t have limits but it has to be in the context of reality. Break it down to pieces and take part in getting there step by step. Affirm your goals daily. Even if it means you have to put in sticky notes and paste it in your bathroom mirror. Internalize it. Give yourself a pep-talk before you start your day. The point is after knowing what you want; you have to take actions then. Visualization or what I call daydreaming about the future is a mental boost to lighten up.

It takes a while to reprogram your own belief system.

Lead an intentional life.

It doesn’t stop there. Be done keeping up with appearances. An intentional life is a life with a purpose and you wake up everyday aimed to a goal you have committed yourself to accomplish. When you are fully intent to live a life of purpose, you’ll stop wishing for weekends, or for summer or for better days altogether. The nice thing is, every step of the way is an important step towards the finish line and you get happiness in whatever you undertake.

I will assure you that a series of serendipity will start taking place in your life and you will attract the desires of your heart.

Just do it.

A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken new action.If there’s no action you haven’t truly decided – Anthony Robbins

A lot of people’s destiny are chained to a fact that they only had wants. – Richards. A goal will stay a goal if you will not do anything about it. A goal becomes a success when you have an action plan. Execute it at all odds, go out there and see what happens. You don’t have to know everything before you do it. Keeping up this mentality will enrich your life as an entrepreneur.

Part of the thrill is braving the unknown. You may risk failure but there is no losing, only learning.

If you feel the need for a vision, here’s how