A Novice’s Guide for Life

It’s in the young adult stage of our lives that we start observing the world for as it is and dreaming about what our lives should be for us. It is vital that you start dreaming and planning life. This is essential not because every tiny detail that you plan will go accordingly, but because when you dream you grow up to be an individual with a vision. Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish- American industrialist stated that, if you want to be happy, you need to set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes. Pablo Picasso states that our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success. Analyzing the comments these visionaries have set forth it is evident that we need to set ourselves goals and work towards achieving them. We need purpose in life. There needs to be hope and vision to live life fruitfully.

Brainstorming your life goals

Find a quiet place to sit and work on this section for 5-10 minutes. If you find yourself hitting a roadblock, try getting up and going for a walk, or perhaps taking a shower. Some of my most inspirational thinking has come from my time spent in the shower.

I. Think about everything in your life that is really important to you.

II. Think about the couple of things you’ve really been pondering lately or your biggest struggle in life.

III. There are plenty of areas of your life you can set life goals in: careers, family, friends, other relationships, schooling, spirituality, traveling, fun, charity, money, health, and many more. These are just some to get your brain churning.

IV. Write down anything and everything that comes to mind - all of the things you’d like to accomplish and those that sound fun or exhilarating to you.

Setting your life goals

The things you come up with during the above exercise, by no means, have to be your definitive life goals for the rest of your life! People change and so does what’s important to them. Just try to focus on the things that are important to you currently.

• Look at what you’ve written down from your brainstorming session.
• Narrow that list down to the things you absolutely couldn’t live without doing - those are your life goals.
• Next try to clarify each of your goals with a specific target and a clearly defined outcome. You should be able to picture what your life will be like when you achieve the goal.
• Pat yourself on the back for identifying what’s truly important to you. (Do this, appreciate yourself !)

Building a plan to achieve them

Once your goals are defined, the next step is creating a plan to get there. It’s called backward planning and is a method used by the US military.

To summarize, think about the last step needed to accomplish just one of your goals. For example, if climbing Mount Everest was on your list, then literally your last footstep onto the summit should be what comes to mind. Before that, you’ll need to come up with a team to do it with, a conditioning regimen to prepare yourself, travel plans, and much more. Work all the way backwards until you land on the first step that you need to take. It should be something actionable and achievable in the very near-term.

Getting after it

Once you’ve planned out each one of your life goals, you may feel slightly intimidated, and that’s okay. After all, these are your life’s biggest accomplishments to-be. The best way to start checking them off your list is to work on them one at a time.

Let me repeat. One at a time!

Choose just one of the things you’d like to accomplish, preferably the one that’s most important to you right now, and put your plan into action. Start adding the steps you drew out in the previous exercise onto your calendar and deciding when you’re going to take each step.

If your goal is something that’s going to take several years to accomplish, what can you do this year to get that much closer?

What can you do in the next few months?

Your goals become a lot less daunting when you focus on the smaller, more accessible steps you need to take to achieve them. Believe me, I feel overwhelmed in the little things I have to do day-today. I’m constantly reminding myself to take things just one step at a time. It makes everything manageable. Once you’ve got all of your preparation done, it’s on you to go after it. Remember to choose just one life goal and focus as much energy as you can into it. If it’s something you truly desire, then motivation shouldn’t be a problem. Ride that wave of energy and watch yourself accomplish amazing things over the course of the next 5-10 years! In conclusion some things to remember would be that, you will often feel like a failure and fed up of the challenges that life throws at you. But the important thing is “keep at it”. Imagine having a dirty stain on a cloth, if you give up on removing it, you lose the cloth and the opportunity to wear it. But if you make the effort of removing the stain, you’ve accomplished the harder task.

The easiest thing in life is to set goals, but the tough part is the perseverance and commitment you have towards achieving it. If you need to fly abroad for studies, start saving up. Make your life, worth living and make it yours completely. If you have enough free time, go apply for a part time job and start earning your petty cash. Save and plan your academic career. Want to build a house? Buy a vehicle? It is not the most daunting task. If you want to make it happen, it takes only the effort, willpower and the determination to succeed. Invest in your future while you are in your twenties!

Devuni Goonewardene Email any further queries, comments, feedback on [email protected]