Difference Between Your Goals And Wish List

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Often people misinterpret goal setting as setting a target to achieve their wishes. There is a lot of difference between your goals and your desires.Goal setting plays an important role in defining the dreams and visions of an individual. It is the responsibility of each individual to align their goals with the goals and objectives of their company or organization.

Difference between these two terms:

A wish can consist of anything you can imagine it has no logical boundaries, it is a desire which may or may not be possible, it is something you would like to be true. You don’t put an end date for your wishes or dreams. You generally don’t plan formally to fulfill your wish list. But goals are something you want to be true, you put all your effort to make it come true. There is a plan in place along with your actionable and an end date before which you must achieve your goals.

Here are some examples which shows the differences between goals and wishes

  1. You might wish to become the CEO of your company.
  2. You might wish to visit the whole world.
  3. You might wish to be clicked with a famous cricketer or a movie star.
  4. You might wish to become a millionaire overnight.

You might wish to be on TV in a reality show someday

None of the above can be on your goals list.

  1. You don’t plan your life on any belief and you never know where destiny can take you in next 5 years.
  2. You need a lot of money to fulfil your world tour wish.
  3. You don’t actually try by taking part in various competition for this dream.
  4. Become a millionaire overnight is actually not possible.
  5. You don’t try really hard to take part in any reality show.

On the other hand-Goals are those things for which you are serious about, and so you plan them with realistic schedule. Goals are the key to your future.
You can define and set your goals:

  1. To be a certified PMP by the end of this year.
  2. To save enough money for a trip to Switzerland in 2 years.
  3. To lead 1-2 agile projects this year.
  4. To buy your own house in next 6 months.

Dreams can be small or big and may be realistic or unrealistic, but they are without any focused or specific goals. Some dreams can be fulfilled in a month, some can take years and some can even take your entire lifetime. Goals are the intermediate steps towards your final dreams. Or in other words goals represent your plan to get you to your ultimate destination. They actually complement each other.

The first step towards your dream is to set your goals.  Write down your wish list on a piece of paper and then your goals along with an end date. Map your goals with your wishes, this can be a one-to-one or many-to-one relationship. Some of your goals can fulfill more than 1 wishes. There can be long term and short term goals, all you need is to make a plan for these goals.

Review your list, check for the goal taking maximum time, and divide this into smaller intermediate goals. Then check what steps you need to take in order to reach them. After establishing these goals you can spend time in planning to achieve these in the time you have decided for yourself. There is no harm in wishing for big, but we know our bounds and capabilities, so don’t set unrealistic goals, for which you might regret later on. 

About Aditi Malhotra

Aditi Malhotra is the Content Marketing Manager at Whizlabs. Having a Master in Journalism and Mass Communication, she helps businesses stop playing around with Content Marketing and start seeing tangible ROI. A writer by day and a reader by night, she is a fine blend of both reality and fantasy. Apart from her professional commitments, she is also endearing to publish a book authored by her very soon.

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