Setting and Achieving Goals - The Cornerstone of Strategic Living

Strategic living can be described as living according to a plan. You may argue that you already have a life plan, and you may. The difference is strategies are like plans on steroids.

A Simple Plan Versus a Strategic Plan

A common life plan is to graduate from college, get a job, and then work that job or a series of jobs until a person retires between 65 and 75. There's nothing wrong with that plan. You can live a great life following that guidance. 

You may also find yourself in your senior years wondering what happened to all the dreams you had when you were younger. Why didn't you achieve everything important to you?

Life often turns out differently than we expect because we fail to plan how to overcome setbacks. Life moves quickly. It never asks for your permission and does what it wants. You need a strategy for what you will do when challenges present themselves.

A strategic plan for goal achievement means taking everything into account. Instead of planning on graduating from college, you have a specific degree in mind. You explore your deep values and belief systems. What are you good at? What do you stink at? Consider all these factors and decide whether a degree will allow you to excel at a particular profession and enjoy the experience.

When job hunting, you strategize backup plans if you don't land the job of your dreams. You have contingency plans that seek to prepare you for the inevitable challenges you know life will present. 

Whenever change rocks your world, you don't get impatient. Sit down and revisit your values and goals. Then, devise a detailed strategy for achieving your goals that considers possible challenges and your important values.

Reassess Your Goals

Pull out your big goals and dust them off. Take a good look. Do they reflect your values? Are they detailed and specific? Do you have strategies that will allow you to continue toward your goals when things don't go according to plan? Is your strategy sustainable long-term?

Strategic living means being specific if you want to achieve your goals. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Objectively take everything into account. Consult your values so you are always working on goals that mean something. Go through this process at least a couple of times a year. A clear and detailed strategy can achieve more goals than a vague one.