Aim Higher....!!!

“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”

                                                                                                                       -Bruce Lee

 

Ever since I read this quote, I always ased to wonder why the goal is not meant to be achieved,why the greatest martial artist of all time has said so. I was always thinking that the goal always needs to be achieved otherwise it will be considered as failure. Yet again I was proved wrong by Dr.Mandi. This time I am enlightened by the learnings about goals.

Dr. Mandi explained us the importance of setting the goals very high.The goals should always be set very high. It should always be higher than what we consider our true potential to be. Otherwise we are simply underestimating ourselves. After setting the high goals then we should think about the way to accomplish it. It is a sequential process. First we should set the goals very high without thinking whether it is realistic or not and then we should strive to achieve it. This way only we can realise our true potential. Even though the goal is not reached, the high set goals will always get the best out of us and we will perform better than the previous. This cycle of setting the higher goals, performing better than the previous best can be related to Fibonacci spiral. As the spiral gets wider with each turn, our performance gets better with the higher set goals.

The ideal goal should not only be high but it should always be SMART. What I mean by SMART is the goal must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable,  and Timebound.

1.       Specific:

·         The target should be clearly defined.

·         The questions like What? Where ? Who? Should be answered by it.

·         e.g. To win 1^st prize Business Plan competition in Prerana 2013 at NITIE.

2.       Measurable:

·         One should be able to evaluate the goals.

·         Whether the Goal has been achieved or not can only be decided by measurable goals

·         e.g. To win 1^st prize Business Plan competition in Prerana 2013 at NITIE

·          

3.       Attainable:

·         The target shoul be feasible.

·         It should be realistic under the current circumstances.

4.       Relevant:

·         The goal shoul be in-line with vision and mission of an organisation.

·         The goal should be worthwhile to achieve.

5.       Timebound:

·         There shoul be timeframe associated with each goal.

                  ·      This will lead to accomplish the goal within time.

 

Dr. Mandi also threw light on Pygmalion effect.The Pygmalion effect is the phenomenon in which the greater the expectation placed upon people, the better they perform. It also has an interesting story attached to it. Pygmalion was a sculptor who lived in Cyprus. Women who lived on Cyprus didn't stay virtuous, so Pygmalion decided to live alone and made a perfect sculpture, Galatea. During the Aphrodite feast, thanks to Pygmalion`s prayers, the sculpture turned into a real person. This was called The Pygmalion effect. This theory is being used by the the managers across the globe to improve the performance of their employees. 

 

Happy Reading!!!