Goals must be set in advance! Determine your direction accordingly.

When you consider setting goals in your life, you are much like the captain of a ship. You have the vast area of the sea of your life before you. You have the ship of your abilities, potentials and desires to carry you to your destination your purpose or goal-target. A captain considering a navigational chart knows there are many routes to his destination. It is his prerogative to choose which he will travel, then to plot the course, moving from port to port until his voyage is completed. Just as the captain charts his course to a planned destination, you also determine the direction of your life by the goals you choose.

Goals should be realistic and attainable.

The difficulty of a goal is not a deterring factor as long as the goal is practical. Choose goals that are in the realm of the attainable for YOU.

Goals should be concrete and measurable.

The success of any expedition depends on the knowledge and provision of exact amounts of supplies, miles and method of travel and intermediate destinations along the route. These are definite, measurable substances that can be calculated and achieved while contemplating the over-all magnitude of an extended journey into regions not traveled before. You should actually be able to plan the methods of accomplishment in detail for the goals on your route, aiming toward a definite result. Then, in retrospect, you will be able to say, “This is what I did, this is how I did it.”

Goals should be extended to cover a given timetable.

The captain has predetermined his scheduled time of arrival at each port. In planning your goals, schedule a timetable for the completion of each one. This will keep you moving and prevent being “becalmed” by periods of inactivity. A time