Give Power and Passion to your Goals

[Mike Oliver]

Go to any corporate training program, seminar, or meeting and the topic of goal setting and time management is likely to be of primary concern. Goal setting is also a major part of your martial arts training as well. People that don't set goals are less likely to achieve success in their lives. I can't tell you how many martial artists I've seen fail to achieve the rank of black belt because they never set real goals.

Today though, I'm not going to tell you that the secret to goal setting is to write them down and put them in a place that you see them everyday. I'm also not going to tell you to develop a plan of action and to set a time limit for yourself either. You know that basic stuff already don't you? (Well, you do now!) I'm going to share with you the one secret that has time and time again been the primary factor in leading to my successes. Get your goals in line with your ultimate purpose.

What's your ultimate purpose? No really, I'm asking you. It's going to be different for everyone. Why do you get up in the morning? What gets you out of the house? Find your ultimate life purpose and make it the driving force for as many things as you possibly can (In Okinawa, this is called one's ikigai). Don't worry, your ultimate purpose can, and probably will change as you progress through life--mine certainly has. At some point though I decided that I got the most personal satisfaction by helping others and changing lives. So now, when I set goals and plan my time, I put the most focus on the things that help me do that. Sometimes I will set goals that involve eliminating the things that are preventing me from achieving my ultimate purpose. Here's an example of this top-down approach that I recently used:

Helping Others -> Teaching Martial Arts -> Running Martial Arts School -> Hosting Events -> Dojo Picnic -> Food Drive

You can see that just about everything there relates in some way towards helping others. I can't begin to explain how much easier it makes doing the hard work towards achieving your personal goals.

Once you've figured out an ultimate life purpose for yourself, try starting your day by writing it down at the top of your planner. Do this every day for a year. Plan your new goals with it in mind. You will see your life taking a change towards this ultimate purpose and in turn real happiness.

[Lisa Clark]

What strikes me most about your post is the simplicity of your primary goal. So often we think our grand purpose should be, well, grand. As a college student, many classes start with a "pep talk" about setting goals to get through the semester. Many teachers rightfully encourage ambitious goals, but wrongfully convulute them with fancy language. "Helping others" is as grand, as ambitious a goal as I have ever heard.