We live in a time of accelerating and unpredictable change – 10 short years ago hardly any of us had heard of Google and yet now we can’t live without it. The only certain thing in life is change and yet most of us don’t like it.

The best way for us as individuals to cope with change is to draw up a clear plan for the future – and to establish goals so that our lives move predominantly in the direction in which we want them to go.  In this way we get a fair degree of control over the important elements of our lives, and achieve a far greater sense of personal power and well-being.

Having dreams and setting goals will give you a clear sense of direction. People without goals tend to get bumped around by circumstances and they ‘react’ to these circumstances whereas people who have goals view their circumstances and make ‘proactive’ decisions to move them closer to where they want to be.

What are your goals?

Here is a simple exercise to help you cope with change.

Exercise

Take a moment to think about some areas of life that are important to you –
Your career, your family, your finances, your health and fitness, your personal development.

Take a blank sheet of paper and make each area a heading in each of these areas write down one goal.  This can be a big goal or a small goal.  Just write it down.  Stick the piece of paper next to your desk and every morning read each of your goals out loud.  When practised consistently you will be amazed at the shifts that begin to occur in your life.

At Harvard Business School they did a study and found that people who had clearly written goals were the people who achieved financial success and were able to retire wealthy.  Says something for writing down your goals, doesn’t it!

My new book The Fairy Godmother’s Guide to Getting What you Want will give you an in-depth guide to turning your dreams and goals into reality – it is available in all major bookstores around South Africa.