Read through any self help book. Talk to any personality development expert. Speak with any psychologist. Talk to any successful business woman. What is one thing that they have in common? All of them will believe that it is vital to set goals in your life. Let’s find out why you should be setting goals in life if you want to succeed.

1. Setting Goals: It’s like drawing a map

What would be the first thing that you’d do if you were to go on a trekking or a camping trip in the forest? Look for directions? Or maybe a map? Yes, a map is the first thing that comes to mind because it will give you direction. Setting goals in real life is no different, ladies. A prime example is my sister and her boyfriend, both nearly 30. They’ve been high school sweethearts and have always wanted to get married – from day one. But neither of them have stepped up to decide on a timeline towards the event. This hinders them from planning or saving for the big day. They need direction.

2. Setting Goals: You need a purpose in life

This is a question that stumps many women. So you want to lose weight but can never seem to stick to a routine of regular exercise and diet. What’s stopping you? Have you decided on how many pounds you want to knock off? Have you set a target? Or maybe even a fixed date by when you want to accomplish your results? No? If you haven’t, believe me, the drive and passion will never come. That’s because any event or work in life has a purpose which makes it happen. Without it, you end up going around in circles.

3. Setting Goals: Your navigator when you get lost

If you feel that you are the only one in the world who often feels that life is heading nowhere, you are not alone. In fact, most of us feel that way on a regular basis. Why am I telling you this? It’s because if you have set a goal or a target, you always have a guiding light when you feel dazed and confused in life. A friend of mine was recently doing two jobs, and taking care of her newborn. Many times she used to slump on the couch and shout, ‘What’s this leading to?’ But she had a goal. A goal to buy her own house in 2 years and guess what, She did it!

4. Setting Goals: You are in control of your future

When you set goals in life, whether it is in regards to work, relationship, health, family or love, you decide a path for yourself. What does that mean? It means that you are charting out your future and not letting anyone else or circumstances govern what happens to you. For example, if you set a goal, ‘Let’s have kids in the next year or two’ then that way, you know what’s coming and can plan toward pregnancy, expenditure, care and much more. This puts you in the driver’s seat and gives you control of the events to follow. How good is that?

5. Setting Goals: Failure and dissatisfaction

What happens when you can’t reach where you wanted to? It happened to me when I decided that I wanted to graduate by 22 but it never happened. What happens when failure sets upon us ladies? We feel disappointed and dejected, don’t we? But there is a bright side. There is no greater motivator in the world than this feeling of disappointment and failure. Such negative consequences will push you to go harder, stronger and faster the next time you go out to get something done.

6. Setting goals: You become time bound

Similar to how your boss nags you about deadlines at work, the goals you’ve set in life will nag you in your thoughts. It’s one thing to decide, ‘I will lose 10 pounds’ and another to decide, ‘I will lose 10 pounds in 3 months.’ See the difference? When you are bound by time, it puts that extra bit of healthy pressure which is an excellent motivator in life.

7. Setting goals: Encompasses all areas of your life

‘Setting a goal’ does sound like something picked up straight from a management textbook but believe me, it is anything but that. Health, beauty, love, relationship or life in general – all the areas of our lives need a vision and direction. Setting goals is not just about your career or how much money you earn. ‘Success’ is a personal term and differs from person to person. No matter what your benchmark for success is, you need to set goals.

Think of a sports team. Any team. Let’s pick baseball. Why do baseball teams need to spend millions of dollars after a coach? Aren’t the players talented themselves? The answer is that the players are probably more talented than the coach, but they lack vision. A coach sets goals and makes sure that the team achieves them. So why not learn from this and be your own coach? Set goals in your life and succeed beyond expectation.