Imam Zijad’s Corner: IMPORTANCE OF SETTING GOALS IN LIFE
As we start new 2018 year, we would like to wish you all the best in it and ask Allah to bless us, our families, our community and our great nation. We also ask of Him to bring harmony and peace into the world and thus better life for all human brothers and sisters. We also ask of Him to help us in better planning in our lives and setting goals for our own benefits and the benefits of others. Studies have shown that the majority of people fail to set any type of goals in their life and hence drift through the oceans of life like a raft on an uncharted stormy sea. It seems that human beings take life as it comes…for granted and without serious planning. However, some of us, at some stage of our life, have set mini goals for ourselves; we call them new resolutions. We set a goal to be better servants of God and humble before him, more patient with family members (never to yell and embarrass ourselves, we set a goal to lose weight or earn more money or stop smoking, or volunteer 2 hours for SNMC weekly, pay $30 a month in 2018… However, we often find that soon after making these ‘promises‘ to ourselves, we either forget about these goals, or we find that we simply do not have the time to carry them out. Another year passes, and history repeats itself at the beginning of another year, and we once again set out to make a list of new/the same resolutions or goals that we would like to accomplish in the coming year. But how many of us really accomplish our goals? How many of us really take the time to plan our goals? How many of us really know which goals are important? How many of us follow up on the given promise? When we plan a long awaited overseas (back home) journey for a holiday or even a weekend trip (or a wedding), we usually go through much planning regarding every stage of the trip (e.g. fix date, take vocation on time, tickets, itinerary, baggage, clothes, gifts, return back, etc). However, even though we plan a holiday in such detail, it is ironic that we sometimes don’t take the time to plan our life…Let us check ourselves and we will notice that we know how to plan in some areas of our lives…not in all. Let us ask a few questions about a journey to the lands of origins – back-home from wherever it is: Do you know where you are going? Do you know when you are going? Do you know when you will be returning? Do you have the opportunity to say farewell to friends & family before you go? Do you know what currency to take? Do you know what provisions to take? Have you planned adequately for the journey? A life without a plan is a plan for failure. People who do not set goals, drift aimlessly in life, from one day to the next, not really knowing where they are going and not knowing if they have arrived to their destination. Setting goals is important since it gives direction, meaning and purpose to our life. Goals can be long term, medium term and short term. Ultimately, the short term and medium term goals must link up to the long-term goals so that there is harmony and direction in our daily activities. We will never know what we are capable of achieving if we do not set high enough goals for ourselves. The Messenger Muhammad (S) said: “The one whose two days are equal in accomplishment is in loss.” |
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