Are You Setting Goals or Daydreaming

A common mistake is to mistake dreaming for goal setting.

We all have dreams. We all carry movies in our minds about how life could be for us in a better world. Sally dreams of a big house with a built-in pool. Harry dreams of an eight-car garage filled with vintage Porsches. Jill fantasizes about painting pictures at the seashore. Jack wants that corner office with the view.

Failing to live your dreams is not necessarily a bad thing. Lots of people are perfectly happy dreaming of one life but living another. The problem arises when the gap between fantasy and reality results in unhappiness or even depression. When this happens, it's time to master plan a new life. And the first step is to establish goals.

Goals are different from dreams in four ways. They are specific, actionable, time-oriented, and realistic.

Specific : Being rich is a dream. Developing a $4 million net worth is a goal.

Actionable : Winning the lottery is a dream. Winning a foot race is a goal.

Time-Oriented : Developing a $4 million net worth is a goal. But developing a $4 million net worth in five years is a better goal.

Realistic : Developing a $4 million net worth in five years is probably reasonable. Developing a $4 million net worth in four months is not.


Seven-Year Goal : Develop a $4 million net worth in five years.

First-Year Goal : Eliminate $36,000 worth of debt.

Monthly Objective : Land a part-time job netting $36,000 annually by year-end.

People who should listen to this show are entrepreneurs