If you don't know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, supposedly said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” However, this quote doesn’t exactly appear in his children’s classic “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

Regardless, the premise is still true. If we don’t know where we are going, how will we know when we get there.

If we are planning a journey, there are two very important things we must know. First, we must know where we are, and we have to know exactly where we wish to go. Once we know these two things, the rest becomes simple. We make a plan, which might be a map or a strategy, and we execute our plan. Let’s put this in perspective of goal setting.

Going through life without setting clear goals is a little like starting out on a trip with no idea where we intend to go. We might wind up having a very pleasant time, but the odds are against it. Somewhere along the line, we will have to make some important choices. Now would it be prudent to decide where to go based on the things we happen to have with us, or would it be better to pack things that are appropriate for the destination?

Having clear goals helps to avoid time-consuming side trips down roads that lead nowhere. Clear goals act like the rudder on a ship. They steer us in the direction we have chosen. They help us avoid the dangerous currents and boulders that might otherwise run us aground or take us to the last place we would want to go.

Lastly, goals give us a sense of accomplishment and reason to celebrate, because we know when we have arrived at our destination. It is important to know where we want to go in our life. If that’s not clear, it will be worthwhile to spend some time to find out. Start goal-setting today. Whatever or wherever it is, the goal is in sight. All that’s left is the planning and execution phases that will help us achieve our vision!

Think about it…