1. Goals
When you take a sneak peek into the lives of successful people, the
primary factor responsible for their upward career trajectory is a goal. Their
lives start and end with goals. They are simply crazy about their goals.
Consequently, they are sitting pretty in life with tons of sublime self-
confidence. The theme of this discussion is setting worthwhile, reachable
goals and shaking hands with success on a regular basis.
Goals are the tools you will use to build a new life. You have
created a vision like an architect. However, an architect does not build a
house. It takes hammers, saws, nails, wood, and concrete and a step-by-step
plan to construct the house. Your goals become the tools that will make your
vision a reality.
Observe large organizations, for instance. They lend credence to the
idea of goal setting (it is the password for their business success). An
organization appropriately delegates a variety of work among different
levels of employees and lays down a respective time frame to achieve goals.
Failing to attain these goals puts organizations in a real bind. For an
organization to be successful under the stewardship of Mr. “X,” the
employees need to be committed to their assigned goals. Collective efforts
can only serve as a conduit for an organization’s growth. It is a team game,
like Cricket, in which every player has to perform to secure a win for his
country. What I like most about successful organizations is that they do not
wallow in self-righteousness. They keep setting higher goals in the form of
more and more expansion.
Many unsuccessful organizations make a tame viewing (no need to
sugarcoat the reality of their failure) because their employees do not enjoy
the working environment and feel stuck in stodgy jobs. They have no
overwhelming desire for excellence because they have no goals and their
organization conducts business without planning for the future. Furthermore,
their boss punctuates the need for productivity and increased turnover, but
the system in place, an old hat, is anathema for its employees. As is
predictable, these organizations soon get outpaced by their competitors. You
see, having a vision for the future or a lack of it is a harbinger of things to
come.

2. “Citius, Altius, Fortius,” which is Latin for “Faster, Higher, Stronger,”
was the motto for the 2008 Olympic Games. Giving one’s best shot and
striving for personal excellence is a fail-safe recipe for success.
Team USA’s complete dominance in the 400-m hurdles is the
ultimate example of that principle. Silver medalist Kerron Clement pinned
the hope in the success of his team and even went on record saying that his
team would bag the gold, silver, and bronze medals. And guess what? His
team did stark justice to his belief. We need to show respect for Team
USA’s achievements (for taking the Olympic slogan to heart and bringing
joy to their fans). The good thing is that this is an idea that rises above the
Olympic Games and is very much relevant to our everyday lives.
Goals are like guiding forces: As long as you have a guiding force, you
can move toward your destination without much difficulty. It provides
direction for your plans and actions. The possibility of veering off-track and
derailing into failure is eliminated. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “The
world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.”
Once the Mayor of Chicago, clad in a tuxedo, shirt with a bow tie, and
black pants, was traveling in a train. A conductor, as part of his duty, came
to him and asked “Excuse me sir, can you please show me your ticket?” The
Mayor searched for it, obviously irritated, as the conductor stood by,
waiting. Finally, the train official told the Mayor, “Never mind, sir, after
finding your ticket you can simply mail it to the railroad. We have complete
faith in you.” The Mayor replied, “Bullshit, I am not putting too much
emphasis on you getting my ticket. I just wanna know where I am going.”
Goals are yardsticks: Goals help in reflecting on your progress or the
lack of it. Had they not been reminding you where you are and what you
should be doing to get where you want to be, you would have been plumb
baffled. Combine your plans with day-to-day actions, and voila, you achieve
your goals.
Jorge and Mikayla took a long flight to Asia on their honeymoon
trip (they had paid for their holiday abroad in advance but had to pay a
surcharge because of the devaluation of the pound). While they were on the
plane, the screens that usually showed movies and preflight safety
information were used to project a large map of the world, which indicated
the plane’s current position. As time went by, and the couple watched the

3. little plane on the screen make its way across the Pacific Ocean, they had a
visual reminder of how much progress they were making.
Goals draw out your sense of purpose: Do you know the purpose of
your life, or are you just drifting in an unknown direction? A purpose is a
vision that facilitates what, when, and how you want to do a certain thing. A
purpose provides the directions to your future voyage and depending on it
you can invest your time, energy, money, and talent. Whoever moves ahead
single-mindedly on his chosen path is sure to have success follow him.
Though a lot of thorough planning and preparation are required to define the
purpose of life, it is well worth the time spent as nothing is more important
than this self-improvement exercise. Even trees and animals have a purpose
and so should you. The countdown to your progress and growth has already
begun.
Most people do not live a purpose-driven life. You ask them what
they are going to do tomorrow? They say, “I don’t know.” You ask them
what they are going to do next year? They say, “whatever” or “let’s see what
comes up.” A life without purpose has no meaning, and such an aimless life
cannot inspire anyone. People with a meaningless existence are not only
unhappy themselves but also make others unhappy. Pulitzer Prize-winning
writer Katherine Anne Porter observed, “I am appalled at the aimlessness of
most people’s lives. Fifty percent of people don’t pay any attention to where
they are going. Forty percent are desultory and will go in any direction. Only
ten percent know what they want, and even all of them don’t go toward it.”
Walt Disney’s purpose: “To make people happy.”
Dr. R. Buckminster Fuller’s purpose: “Humanity’s comprehensive
welfare on spaceship earth.”
Henry Ford’s purpose: “To mass produce, mass distribute, and have cars
mass consumed.”
Andrew Carnegie’s purpose: “To manufacture and market steel.”
Mother Teresa’s purpose: “To care for and comfort the poor, sick, and
needy all over the world.”

4. Goals help modify your strategy: While researching for this book, I
interviewed two groups of successful people and they had this to say: The
first group of people devised a particular plan of action to accomplish their
goals but soon after realizing that the same strategy won’t work in other
situations, they changed their strategy. They went on rising higher in life.
The second group of people were those whose success was a flash in the pan
and could not go the distance, merely because they were overbearing, had
shut their minds for alternatives, and lacking in attitude for positive change.
Hence, their lives turned out to be ordinary. In short, they threw away their
success, though not intentionally.
Many people make a mistake when they keep flexibility on the fringe
of goal setting. The vital point here is that some of the goals that we had set
five or ten years ago do not hold the same meaning anymore. Thus, it is
necessary to redefine them a little. There are no failures in goal setting—just
adjustments to the process or to the level of the goal. Goal setting is your
servant, not your master. Reaching a goal should bring you real pleasure,
satisfaction, and a sense of achievement.
Are you willing to pay the price?
Jared is a self-aggrandizing media mogul based in New York City (the
cosmopolitan, financial capital of the world is also an international capital of
the musical avant-garde and a hyper-kinetic city). He owns multimillion-
dollar estates and golden parachutes. He has investments in the London
Stock Exchange and in the NASDAQ in the United States, as well as
Barclays Bank in the United Kingdom. Success, fame, and recognition are
synonymous to Jared. He is in the sunset years of his career, but he is still
young at heart.
One day he was invited to a cocktail party. Upon his arrival in a
Cadillac limousine, he was given a regal welcome by many of his friends as
well as his fans. He smiled at them, waved his hand, and said, “Thank you. I
love you all.” Forty minutes into the party, the mogul was holding his hors
d’oeuvre and cocktail in one hand while making animated conversation with
the other. This was the moment when one of his fans walked up to him and
said, “Sir, I want to emulate you.”

5. The mogul gave him a cursory glance and replied, “Well, you cannot
become like me.”
The fan was somewhat taken aback, but this time, he replied more
firmly, “I most certainly will become like you.”
The mogul, sensing the hurt he had caused to his fan’s fragile ego,
explained what he really meant: “In life, there is nothing such as a freebie. I
am here today because I have been putting in effort to the tune of sixteen
hours a day for the last forty long years to reach the place where I am today.
Unwavering passion and single-mindedness toward work have served me
well.”
Cleverest method to achieve goals
Goal setting and goal achieving are two different kettles of fish, i.e.,
there is a sharp division between the two. Suppose you have set goals but
failed to achieve any of them. What could be the major obstacle standing in
your way? The only simple, straightforward answer I can figure out is a lack
of required motivation. Even if you were to say that “I set goals with all
seriousness and still I didn’t get there!” then also I would say that your level
of motivation was not sufficiently high. Your motivation levels should make
you constantly think about your short-term and long-term goals, even in the
throes of catastrophic situations. This way your motivation leads to actions
that bring you hard-fought victories. As the success rate in your life
increases, so does the level of your motivation.
In his teens, Stephen Spielberg started to watch movies for pleasure,
and bingo, he was hooked. He decided to make movie making his
profession. Today he is one of the most respected Hollywood directors,
known for his larger-than-life portrayal of characters. His movies do not
have a déjà vu quality about them.
Whoopi Goldberg fought tooth and nail to transform the negative
situations from her childhood into positive ones. Her strong, determined
attitude catapulted her to stardom. The entire world is bewitched by her
beauty.
Just to digress a bit, the goal of retiring at 60 or 65 is an
anachronism of a bygone era. Many celebrities are proving this point. They

6. have not passed the “sell-by” date in their profession and are still compos
mentis, which is always a good thing.
Importance of written goals
At Yale University, the graduating class of 1953 was surveyed, and one of
the topics they were asked about was whether they had a set of specific,
written goals. Only 3% of them responded that they had written down their
goals. When they were interviewed 20 years later, the 3% who had engaged
in goal-setting activity and had clearly written goals were more successful,
and were worth more in terms of wealth than the other 97% put together.
The same 3% also tended to have better health and relationships than the
other 97%. Written goals acted as catalysts in their success.
If you do not have written goals, your life can be likened to a ship
without a rudder. You might move here and there with plenty of enthusiasm,
but where is your last stop? If you ask a captain of any boat where his end
point is, he will never say “Ah, some seaport on the Ivory Coast.” The
captain knows precisely the location of the seaport, and moreover knows
specifically the distance the ship must sail, the arrival time of the ship, and
the quantity of fuel required.
Successful people plan their lives by having
(i ) One-month goals (short range):
1.
2.
3.
4.
(i i ) One-year goals (medium range):
1.

7. 2.
3.
4.
(iii) Lifetime goals (long range):
1.
2.
3.
4.
Goals chart
Kind of Why to Possible Steps Advantages Dates Goals
goals s et obstacles taken in achieving to accomplished
these to these goals achieve
goals? achieve these
these goals:
goals:
(1 )
Academic
goals
(2 )
Personal
goals
(3 )
Financial
goals
(4) Career
goals
………

8. Dreams and goals
Goals are dreams with deadlines. This is an overly simplistic view. A
goal with deadlines means there is a fixed time to achieve your dreams. For
example, you have a dream of learning to play the piano, and you give
yourself a 10-month deadline for this. When the 11th month comes, you are
no longer an amateur and do not plonk away on the piano. The mastery over
your craft helps you to give a competent performance. It has now become
your “home ground.”
There is a wise saying, “A man without dreams is like a bird without
wings.” Just as wings are essential for a bird to fly and consequently, for a
bird to live, dreams are essential for a person.
Note: It is of utmost importance to continue freshening up the dream,
connecting to it, to make sure it does not wither into the background and
fade into oblivion. Dreams need to be closely monitored all the time and
given some energy.
Ignacio spoke to one of the Sherpa guides from Nepal who help
climbers reach the top of Mount Everest.
“Why do you do it?” Ignacio asked.
“To help others do something they cannot do on their own,”
answered the guide.
“But, it is a bone-crushing experience. Correct me if I am
wrong,” said Ignacio. “Why do you insist on taking people to the top of the
mountain?”
The guide smiled and said, “Well, you have never been to the
top, and so you do not know how it feels.”
The main thrust of this discussion is: Going to the top takes a dream
and a strong commitment. The greater the journey, the more committed you
have to be to take it.
Life is too short to not follow your dreams. Someday your life will
near its end, and all you will be able to do is look backwards. You can
reflect with fondness or repentance. Those who dream, act on their goals and
live a life of their choice. They have plenty of reasons to celebrate. Their

9. hearts swell with pride. Surely, they have left a rich legacy for succeeding
generations.
Set your own goals
Completely convince yourself that what you are thinking are actually
the goals you want to achieve (I like to think of these as guiltless goals).
Many times we are externally driven and set the goals according to the
expectations of parents, a spouse, or friends. This is a wrong approach, as
you’ll not get the true satisfaction of having achieved your own goals.
For the purpose of improving their financial standards a great deal,
many people invest their hard-earned money in market shares. There is
absolutely nothing wrong with aspiring for bigger and better things, but the
way these people go about it is “dopey.” Sadly, most investors assume that
making money from stocks is simply a case of buying them. Hence, they
listen to other people, who are considered to be more expert and more
experienced than them. They take advice from brokers, authors of market
newsletters, financial journalists, economic forecasters, etc. (Can they
predict market gyrations?) Well, taking the financial advice of others rarely
works. Many a time, a person buys the stocks, and the result ends up as a
loss (it is impossible to undo the damage caused by a tailspin in stock
prices). This results in a fit of frustration. Hit yourself over the head and be
on your guard so as to not ask yourself this question, “Why do these
disasters always happen to me?”
Financial tips
(1) Do not be penny wise and pound foolish.
(2) Search out information about different investment strategies such as
mutual funds, stocks, IRA’s, and many other personal investments.
(3) Create savings by placing 10% or 15% of your paycheck in a savings
account. This way, you can parlay some small investments into a large
fortune.
(4) Cut your coat according to your cloth. Never get into wildcat ventures.

10. (5) Watch CNBC—a channel that runs stock tickers across the bottom and
top of the screen, and also gives more detailed stock information along one
side of the screen.
Unrealistic goals
Before setting any goal, ask yourself this fundamental question: “Will I
be able to achieve the goal I have set for myself?” You should set your
goal within your reach. It should not be unrealistic or obscure. Consider
this example: Arturo went to see his psychiatrist friend, Nora, because he
was feeling dissatisfied with his life. “How are things?” she asked. “I’m
not having a good time,” he replied. She responded, “What do you
consider to be a good time?” He explained, “A good time is when I build
architectural icons similar to digitally designed structures like Herzog
and de Meuron’s Olympic Stadium and Rem Koolhaas’s China Central
Television headquarters in Beijing, when I win five Grammy awards for
my first music album, own a plot of ground on the moon, when my books
become as successful as the Harry Potter series, and when I visit
Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Elizabeth.” Indeed, such outlandish
goals had pulled Arturo down. He had set impracticable objectives for
himself, and when he did not reach these unfeasible objectives, he felt
chagrined. His ignorance about how to establish the proper level of a goal
took my breath away.
Setting yourself unrealistic goals is the equivalent of picking a fist fight
with a professional boxer twice your size. There is only going to be one
outcome. What’s uncertain is just how badly you’ll be hurt.
Performance goals vs. outcome goals
On this topic, a metaphorical ocean exists between my betrothed (a
clotheshorse) and me. She vouches for “outcome goals,” and I believe
“performance goals” are the best. Let’s see who is right and why…
A marquee athlete has set an outcome goal to secure a gold medal for
his country. In a photo finish he comes in second. The situation becomes
galling to him. He even refuses to accept the fact that he has to contend with
a silver medal. Conversely, if an athlete sets a performance goal of achieving

11. a particular time (say, to run 100 m in 12.10 seconds), then his chances of
achieving the goal soar, resulting in a concomitant increase in self-
confidence. The athlete has even greater control over accomplishing his goal
if he focuses on running using the correct form, driving his knees through
the entire race. This performance goal eventually gives the athlete more
control over his performance.
When you establish a goal and fail to achieve it, it completely
demoralizes you, strangles your thinking, and results in a feeling of failure.
The causes of failure are beyond your control. The verdict is clear now—set
performance, not outcome goals. I proved to be right.
How goals and values go hand in hand
Because I consider myself to be a good raconteur, let me tell Edberg’s
story. Edberg was a database administrator. He had a tangible career goal in
mind. To fulfill his goal, he used to work long hours, thereby disrupting his
biological clock. Saturdays and Sundays were no different. Although he was
moving confidently in the direction of his goals, he was not thrilled to bits.
Why? His dissatisfaction had nothing to do with his job, but his family life
was what caused him the most worry. You see, he put great value on being
with his family. He missed the time he used to spend with his wife and
sharing memorable experiences with his two pudgy daughters. He was away
from home too long. After retracing past events in his mind, he brought his
goals and values into alignment. He no longer stays at the office after the
official closing time, and comes straight home. He also does not work on
Sundays, but reads a multilingual bible, with the text in English, Latin, and
Greek. Once a fortnight he visits Salisbury Cathedral. At last, better sense
has prevailed.
When your goals and values are not in line, you feel that something
strange is happening in your life, as in the “X Files,” starring David
Duchovny. You feel as if you are pulled in two different directions. Yet if
your goals and values are in alignment with each other, it results in a spring
in your stride. This simplifies and clarifies things, at the very least.
Last word: My late designer aunt, schooled in the skills of haute
couture (who died of cranial bleeding as a result of a horrific car accident)
used to give a slightly verbose explanation on the topic of goals: As you

12. achieve some of your goals, take the time to rejoice. You really deserve
praise for this. Keep building on your successes, always staying aware of the
fact that your aim is not to accomplish all your goals (it is not humanly
possible to achieve all your goals in one lifetime), but to make continuous
headway. You are trying to fulfill your purpose, move toward your potential,
and help others—not arrive at a destination.