b"Chapter 6 THE OBJECTIVEThere are many people who feel as if they are adrift in the world. They work hard, but they don't seem to be achieving anything worthwhile. One of the main reasons they feel this way is that they haven't spent enough time thinking about what they want out of life because they haven't set formal goals.After all, would you embark on a great journey without really knowing where your destination is?Probably not!Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of that future into reality.The goal-setting process helps you choose where you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to accomplish, you know where to focus your efforts.You'llalsoquicklyspotthedistractionsthatcansoeasilyleadyou astray.Why set objectives?Top athletes, successful business, and successful people in all walks of life all set goals.Goal setting gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses on knowledge acquisition and helps you organize your time and resources, so you can get the most out of your life.By setting yourself specific, clearly defined goals, you can measure to take pride in achieving those goals,and you'll see progress in what mighthave seemed like a long, pointless period. You will also increase your self-confidence, as you will recognize your own abilities and skills to achieve the goals you have set for yourself.Startbysettingpersonalgoals.Todothis,youshouldsetyourgoalsat different levels:First, you create yourbig pictureof what you want to do with your life or in, say, the next 10 years by identifying the large-scale goals you want to achieve.198Germain Decelles"