The ancient vikings were masters of navigation, able to sail great distances while lacking all of the modern technology that we rely on today. How did they pull it of? Well one reason is that they were able to maintain an accurate course using the sun as a guide. Specifically, they had an idea of where they were and knew where they were going. With these alone they were able to travel the globe and make voyages that some modern historians find hard to believe.
Why are we talking about vikings??
Because vikings are fucking awesome, that’s why! Also, because I want to allude to a larger point. Are you floating through life aimlessly, not knowing where you are or where you are going? Or do you have a laser focus on what you want, how you are going to achieve it and what it is going to take to pull it off? If you are in the later group, you can stop reading. Check back in later for more relevant content :). If you are in the first group, this is going to be important, you’re going to want to pay attention.
Ideas are easy, execution is hard.
Goals are important for a variety of reasons. They give us structure and focus while allowing us to project ourselves into the future. Humans are complex creatures but we can have a few simple rules that guide us. If we have nothing to look forward to we can quickly spiral downwards into an existential depression. Take away our meaning for life and we may find that we lose our eagerness for living.
Piece by Piece
In addition to giving us focus, using smaller, strategic goals can help us achieve larger more complex projects. When you have a massively daunting task ahead of you, breaking it up into more achievable units can help diminish the feeling of being overwhelmed. It also creates a path that we can follow, allowing us to focus on the present task at hand instead of an enigmatic idea that can’t be accomplished in one motion.
Motivate, Motivate, Motivate
Goals and the rewards that we tie to them act as powerful motivators. With large tasks, if you withhold rewards until the end, you may find yourself burnt out and unmotivated. If you break it up into subtasks and provide rewards for the completion of each one, you can maintain motivation and excitement as you ride the wave of each individual success all the way to the completion of the overall task.
Don't be dumb, get SMART
When creating goals make sure that they are specific, measurable attainable, realistic and time oriented. You can remember this using the SMART acronym. Without well defined goals we run the risk of losing motivation, getting off track and figuratively “spinning our wheels” while we are actually accomplishing very little.
Just do it!
If you don’t have well defined goals in your life, take a moment today to write down what it is that you really want to achieve in the next 6 months. Create a list of goals for your work life, your personal life and some that would benefit society as a whole. Make sure they are SMART and break them up into tasks that can be accomplished in one day or less. Continue to evaluate and course correct over time while maintaining focus and you will be surprised by the things you can achieve!
Steem Bottom Portion
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