In this final chapter, I would like to impart disciplines to you that will serve as guidelines to goal realisation. I believe you will find them very useful as they did to others. Some of them have been mentioned earlier, most others will be mentioned as we go along.
To pursue our goal, we need to have:
1. A sound mind with an absolute positive attitude
2. A healthy body
3. A deep spiritual faith
How do we initiate the process of goal realisation?
Deep within us is an inherent God-given skill we need to call up and bring into the open. This skill cannot deliver positive results, not until we have polished it to its full potential. It takes hard work and dedication to turn it into a workable, efficient machine that will deliver results aimed at the goal we envision to achieve.
Hard work which is reflective of all the positive attitudes we have earlier discussed will serve as the backbone in building our goal. Despite all the hardships we will encounter, we must stand firm and emerge victorious, stop at nothing until we have our goal at hand.
Ask ourselves these questions:
Have I reached my full potential in life?
Am I really satisfied with the way I am?
Have I achieved anything in life so far?
Have I contributed to the well-being of my fellowmen?
Am I an asset to society?
Am I really happy?
A “No” answer to most of the questions should encourage us to aim for our goal.
The following disciplines can serve as guidelines:
1. Feel in your heart and mind the goal you love or want to attain.
Feel and search within your heart and mind the kind of things you love to do and have the skill or know-how in doing. When you follow your heart and mind’s desires, you have gained your first step towards goal realisation. You will always be enthusiastic about it and this gives you an advantage. Doing something you are familiar with and love to do will make things easier to accomplish so there will be lesser obstacles. Even in the absence of things needed to realize a goal you love to pursue, you will somehow exhaust all the means to make it come true. This trait is inherent within us. A rather simple example, say you want to see a concert of your favorite band group but don’t have enough cash to spend for it, you’ll try to save from other less important expenses.
In the event you cannot feel in your heart and mind the goal you want to pursue, here’s a simple rule you can follow: “Find a need and fill it”. These words, credited to the great industrialist Henry Kaiser have been the guiding principle of many successful entrepreneurs.
2. Hone your thinking.
Hone or sharpen your thinking. Distinguish short term, medium term, and long term goals. See if the short term goal will benefit your medium term which in turn can be an advantage for your long term goal. Keep them co-related as much as possible. Know the capacity you can handle. Be fantastic but be realistic. When you set the plan, timetable, and scope, try to envision in your mind the sequence of event as that are probable to happen, how to go about it, possible solutions to obstacles, right approach to situations, among others.
3. Aim for the best result.
Whatever outcome comes out of your quest to pursue your goal, make sure you do your best. This will eliminate saying to yourself: “if only I did my best” in case things turn out second best or third best or worst, even a failure. However, you don’t stop if it’s a failure. Capitalize by drawing a lesson or two from it so that you won’t commit the same mistake when you do it again. “Next time, it will be …” is what you must say to yourself. This kind of experience will make you a more skillful, knowledgeable, learned person.