The Laws of Goal Setting

If there is one thing that I loved and obsessed since the beginning of my career, it was to organise, plan and set goals for myself. I read every possible book, article published, heard over and over what influencers were talking about how they set their goals and achieve them one after the other. So much so that all the knowledge
I gained over the years helped me a great deal when I became an entrepreneur. Most of us have set goals at some point or the other. You’re already aware how important goals are to progress in our lives.
What I figured over these years is that there were several ancillary aspects of goal setting that influence what you think, do and the results you create. These could be the secret ingredients to turning your thoughts into reality by literally mastering your mind.
Law of Attraction
The basic premise of this law is – ‘what we think about predominantly, is what we attract into our lives.’ The key word here is to understand what you truly want in your goals. If you don’t know what you truly want or express in form of clear goals, you’re unlikely to achieve them.  One way to achieve your goals is to deliberately think on purpose.
You need to adjust your mindset accordingly. Adapting a positive growth mindset, will not just create love for learning and improving but also help you prepare to encounter failures if any. 
Law of Alchemy
Alchemy is the science of understanding the structure of matter, breaking it down, then reconstructing as something more polished and of more value. The first law of alchemy talks of Equivalent Exchange – you cannot gain anything unless you first give. When you apply this to goal setting, it allows you to first take your goals out of your head and to put it out into the universe ie, write them down – specific and detailed. Then you assess the thoughts associated with the goal and make a clear concise plan in which you can include something to give back to the universe in order to
get the goal achieved. More on this in later blogs.

Law of Emotion
Our brain perceives risk in two ways – Fear & Hope. Fear helps to create conditions that help us prevent loss. Hope creates conditions for the pursuit of gain. However, our brains’ default mode is fear. You need to watch the emotion every goal creates within you so that you can manage these emotions in a better way.

Law of Control
Epictetus, a Greek philosopher said on control – “Some things are up to us, and some things are not up to us.” This is often referred to as the dichotomy of control. This means that once we become aware of the things that are not in our control (for example rain) we can prepare and manage things that are in our control (running in a
marathon, as a goal).
Over the years though, trichotomy of control emerged which talks about –
1. Things we have complete control over
2. Things we have no control over
3. Things we have ‘some’ control over (partial)
Setting goals within the realm of these classifications will help you
master the philosophy of winning your goals.

Law of Action
We’re all aware of Newton’s law of action-reaction. Everything that happens or will happen is a direct result of some action. So if you aspire to a reaction (results) you will need to set clear and concise action so you can influence the result.
If you’re able to master the system of creating a decisive action plan, then winning a goal is very easy. For example, if your goal is to get 10 clients this month, every moment you spend, every action you take is supposed to take you closer to that goal. Understanding the system and setting the process will take you closer to winning.

Law of Abundance
The spiritual law of abundance tells you to look at your achievements so your goals can be met without any anxiety or any other negative emotion. With every achievement, your momentum of winning will be strong. Not just achieving the goal but also what you become in the process. Almost every influencer will vouch for this.
So the next time you create a goal, make sure you design it in such a way that you’re not just getting closer to your goal but also gaining skills, experiences and connections along the way.
I hope I have given you enough food for your thought. Over the next few blogs, I will delve deeper into each law and provide applicability towards goal setting and life in general.