10 Differences Between Someone Who Set Goals and Who Doesn’t

Do you set goals? Do you know the differences between someone who sets goals and someone who doesn’t? Well, you’re going to find out in this article.

Goal setting is one of the most underrated tools that is freely available for anyone to use to help them achieve great success in life.

I’m a strong advocate for setting goals. I believe that no matter what kind of amazing success you want to achieve in life, you can get it as long as you set it as the right goal and diligently pursue it without giving up.

In fact, we all know the importance of having goals. I bet you have heard about why it is important to set goals and the benefits of having goals. But, are you doing it?

Rather than leaving things up to chances, when you have a goal, you become clear with what you need to do and how to get there. Goals give you clarity.

Besides, having the right goals tend to motivate you in life. You see, without knowing what you want, you’re living life like a lost sheep, going wherever the crowd goes.

However, when you are crystal clear with what you want, you know what you need to do. You are driven by a meaningful purpose rather than being influence by the general masses.

I hope you know why you want to set goals by now. If you don’t, check out these 10 differences between someone who did and someone who doesn’t. After that, you can choose if goal setting is right for you…

1. Proactive VS Reactive

Having a goal makes you proactive. You take action, make progress, and make things happen rather than waiting for things to happen.

Imagine if you have no plan for the weekend, what do you think will happen? Well, you’re going to become reactive. You react to whatever comes to you. You wake up late, waste time on Facebook, watch YouTube, and binge Netflix.

But when you have a goal, you know what you need to do. You have a plan for the day. And hence, you become proactive and get things done.

Do you see why having a goal is important right now?

2. Clear Direction VS Feeling Loss

Have you ever felt lost like you have no idea what you want out of your life? You feel lazy to wake up or go to work because you find life has no meaning and that it is repeating itself every day?

That’s the problem when you have not set goals. When you don’t have a goal, you will live a directionless life. Not sure what to expect and finding life to be purposeless.

On the contrary, when you have a clear, specific, and exciting goal, you will wake up every morning with excitement. You have something to look forward to achieving and you will find that life is meaningful.

That’s the difference between someone who has a goal and someone who doesn’t. You become happy and fulfilled because you have expectations for yourself and your life. And you’re looking forward to living your dream life.

Related: How To Be Extraordinary: Top 12 Traits of Successful People

3. With Plans VS No Plans

A plan may not work, but having a plan is much better than having no plan at all. You see, when you have a plan, you know what to expect. Even if your plan fails, it becomes a learning experience for you and to do better the next time.

But when you have no goals and no plans, you will end up becoming a part of someone else’s plan. As what Jim Rohn famously said:

“If you don’t have a plan for what you want, then you will probably find yourself buying into someone else’s plan and later find out that was not the direction you wanted to go. You’ve got to be the architect of your life.”

JIM ROHN

Thus, stop living someone else’s life. Find out what you want and set then set it as a goal. After that, make plans and take action to materialize your goal.

Read: 10 Self-Growth Questions You Should Ask Yourself Every Day

4. Growth VS Stagnation

Someone with a goal tends to focus more on improvement than someone who doesn’t have a goal.

For instance, if your goal is to become the best chef in town, what do you think you’d do to reach your goal? Well, you’d learn how to cook. You will find out what’s the best ingredients and who’s the best chef you can learn from. You will read recipe books and watch videos on how to cook.

That’s what makes you improve. Your goals push you to become a better version of yourself.

On the other than, having no goals make you stagnate in life. You don’t know what you want, and you have no idea what to do. And so, you waste time everywhere. You don’t focus your effort and you go in every direction. You don’t learn because you have no idea what to learn about.

Never let this happen to you. Your goals will motivate you to do better.

5. Focused VS Distracted

Are you constantly jumping from one project to another? That’s because you lack a focused goal.

I have seen people started websites after websites. They are looking for the quickest way to generate wealth online. But the problem is that they lack a focused goal.

When you are not focused, you will give up the moment you get distracted. Imagine trying to build an internet business. While doing so, you discover many other opportunities that seem to be tempting. What will you do?

Are you going to jump from one opportunity to the next? Or are you going to focus on your goal and keep working on one project until you succeed?

Having a clear goal is important. It allows you to focus and get rid of all distractions. When you don’t have a specific goal, you will be distracted by everything around you.

6. Commitment VS Blame

Someone who has a goal will be more committed than someone who does not. When you have a goal, you will do your best to achieve it. You become more committed to what you want, and you will take responsibility when things don’t go your way.

However, most people choose to play the blame game when things don’t work out according to their plan. This is because they don’t have a clear objective. They fail to see the big picture that the moment they take responsibility, they are allowing themselves to make progress and move closer toward their goals.

When you blame and make lousy excuses, you know you will never reach your goals. This is why people with a goal are usually more committed and less blame.

7. Driven VS No Motivation

This is common sense. Why do you wake up each morning and why do you go to work? Well, when you have a supportive goal, you become driven by it. You will be motivated by your goals.

But when you have no goals, you lack motivation. When your alarm goes off, you will hit the snooze button and continue to lie on your bed. You will think, “Why do I have to go to work? I just hate it.”

Actually, it is not that you don’t have the motivation. Rather, it is because you lack a clear goal and you have no nothing to look forward to.

When you have a goal and a plan, you will feel excited the moment you think about it. Just like if you know if you’re going to take a flight and travel to your dream destination tomorrow, you feel so pumped up that you can’t even sleep for the night. You’ll be so looking forward to it.

That’s the power of having the right goals. Setting the right goal will motivate you to live to your fullest.

Read: 20+ Fight Club Quotes That’ll Change Your Outlook Of Life

8. Satisfied VS Unfulfilled

Albert Einstein once said, “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” And he was right.

You see, when you work on things that you desire, at the end of the day, regardless of whether you succeed or fail, you will feel extremely fulfilled. You feel satisfied because you made progress and are happy with it.

Imagine your goal is to build a successful internet business. You spend the entire day working on your website. You make some progress. And by the end of the day, you’re tired, but you’re fulfilled and happy.

But if don’t have a goal, you waste your entire day watching movies and playing games. At the end of the day, you feel exhausted and you feel guilty because you have done nothing productive.

So, set your goals and work toward the things that you want from today on. Fulfillment and joy can come from making progress. But you must first have a goal.

9. Meaningful VS Meaningless

Do you want to live a meaningful or meaningless life? The answer is obvious. When you know what you exactly want, you are living a meaningful life. You are pursuing your calling and you are working toward your mission.

Conversely, when you have no idea what you want out of life, you will live a meaningless life. That’s because you’re feeling lost.

Having a goal makes your life meaningful. And when you are living a more meaningful life, you become happier, more fulfilled, and are more passionate.

Related: The Johari Window: How To Build Self-Awareness and Achieve Success

10. Success VS Mediocre

Do I even need to explain this? People who have goals tend to be more successful. Why? With all the reasons you read from above.

I believe that success is engineered, not through accidents. Therefore, if you want to be successful, you need to understand what it is that you want. Some people call it a vision, some call it a purpose, and some call it a goal.

Once you have set goals, you can then work out a plan. With a plan, you can make progress and take action every day.

And when you take action, you will create results. Whether the result is a success or a failure, it doesn’t matter as long as you keep at your goal and keep on improving. Eventually, you will produce the result you want and achieve your goal.

Think about Thomas Edison. He was considered one of the most successful inventors. And his most famous invention is none other than the light bulb. He has a goal – to illuminate the world.
And so, he worked on his goal day and night. When his experiment failed, he kept trying. He even tested a beard hair to see if it works.

Eventually, he successfully invented the lightbulb that we all get to enjoy today by passing electricity through a thin platinum filament in the glass vacuum bulb.

And that, my friend, is the power of having a clear goal and working toward it relentlessly.

If you are serious about achieving your goals, living a successful life, and making your dreams come true, I suggest you take my masterclass, Goal Setting Formula.

Written by: Shawn Lim
Originally appeared on: Stunning Motivation
Republished with permission.