What do we actually need goals for? Is every goal meaningful? How do I know if I have defined a real goal and when I am on the right track? How do I motivate myself to reach my goal well, healthy and successfully?

Goals play a decisive role – whether at work, in sports or in everyday life. They give us a direction and help us to orientate ourselves. Be it to be a few minutes faster on our jogging round or to start a further education to give us a new professional direction. to orientation.

As a proverb says: A goal without a plan remains only a wish. This is also true for us as pilots. We never fly without a destination and flight plan.

Without a plan I accept failure. Without a plan I cannot navigate and this applies not only to us pilots but also to our professional and private lives.

We all know the one or other goal setting approach. The goal should be specifically formulated, measurable, accepted, realistic and terminable and should not contain any negations.
But how do I draw the line on my personal or professional road map? Do I take the direct route or do I have to take a detour? And how do I translate my goals into action?

First of all, I need to be sure that my goal is a real goal and not one that I have taken over from someone else. The definition of a real goal is crucial on the road to success. It gives us orientation and serves us like a compass. A real goal makes it easier for us to get moving and it is the spark that ignites the fire within us. We automatically become more efficient, more powerful and increase our stamina. “We burn for our goal”.

But first of all we should become aware of the goal we are striving for. Is it a result goal or a process goal? Result targets should be clear and measurable. Process goals hide the result and focus on the way to the goal.
For both types of targets, the following applies: they must be realistic, otherwise there is a risk of loss of motivation. Unrealistically high goals put us under unnecessary stress and fuel fear of failure. Concretely formulated, written down or drawn and visualized (mental experience of the goal) they unfold their full power and the probability of successfully reaching the goal increases.

However, the goal is not always about getting better, higher, faster or further. The goal can also be to maintain a situation or to go through life with more awareness or mindfulness.

In aviation we always define a destination, but we still have a plan B or C in our pocket, which we can pull out at any time, should something unexpected (bad weather, technical problems or a passenger getting sick, etc.) occur on our way. We should keep it that way with our professional and private goals. By planning for unexpected events, we reduce the risk of falling into a hole and avoid lethargy.

And because we as pilots love checklists, we have also created a checklist for successful goal achievement:

1. Is the goal really MY goal or the goal of others?
2. What do I want to achieve with this goal? What is my need?
3. Which feelings / thoughts do I experience when I think about the achievement of the goal? How does it feel?
4. On which ways can I reach my goal?
5. Are there any milestones?
6. What is the long-term goal? What happens when I have reached my goal?
7. Which obstacles / surprises could arise on the way to the goal?
8. Who is affected by my goal? (family, friends, professional environment, etc.)
9. Could someone have something against my goal? Could conflicts arise from this?
10. What influence does my goal have on my environment?
11. Does my goal influence other goals? If so, how (negative / positive)?
12. What do I do if I do not reach my goal? Do I have a plan B or C?

May we support you in landing your professional or private goals safely and successfully? Contact us via: info@clearedtoland.ch or via our contact form on our website www.clearedtoland.ch.