Set clear goals under pressure

People climb Mount Everest, circumnavigate the globe in a boat, cover the whole world on a bicycle. Even pull a train or an airplane by their teeth! Who are these superhumans?

Are they super humans in the first place? No, they are mere mortals like you and me.

However, they had one thing which is generally missed out by most of us - having a crystal clear goal!

As individuals we need to decide what we want to achieve. It could mean as an individual goal we need to lose weight to become fit or in the current financial crises we need be debt free.

Yes, these are goals!

Once the goal is identified, do not change it.

Start the preparation on how to achieve it.

However, before planning the path, see if you can get some advice. This may be from people who are experts in a certain field.

Having a mentor helps to simplify the process, so do not learn the hard way from making mistakes. Go to a dietician or a trainer to get guidance on losing weight.

For becoming debt free, a financial planner could help. Or a friend who has done it successfully in the past. In today's age, the internet provides ample articles and online help, too.

Start the planning. Step by step. How will you achieve the goal? Break your overall goal into manageable small steps.

A large task when broken into smaller steps, will show you that it is not that difficult to achieve it.

Neither can you lose 10 kilos nor become debt free in a week! However, when the task has been broken down, the above may be achievable in 10 weeks. Tracking your progress on a weekly basis, will also motivate you to keep on going and not give up mid-way.

Then comes how will you do it - the operational steps. In the case of weight loss, you need to identify the exercises that need to be done and the diet to be followed.

To become debt free, you need to start saving - eat out less, restrict going to movies, defer buying the new car. Each drop of water is required to build up the ocean.

This brings us to the next point of perseverance. Believe in yourself, since beliefs drive results. There will be unforeseen difficulties that you may encounter. When climbing the Mount Everest, the mountaineers never know what conditions they will encounter. However, they believe in themselves which keeps them going.

Partner

All that they know is to reach the top.

Hence, have clarity of the goal, even when under pressure. This will help to clear your mind and come up with innovative solutions. Having a partner helps. If there are two of you trying to achieve similar goals, you can keep going better than going on alone. Hence, teams play an important role in achievement of goals. However, selection of the right team members or partners is an important aspect.

Once the goal is achieved, do not lie on your laurels. Identify another challenge, another goal. Do not get into the success trap. Complacency will set in and the downward spiral starts. Put your learnings' from the previous experience to use, to achieve something better. And help others achieve their goals. There are plenty of summits to be conquered.

Sanjiv Anand is Managing Director and Manish Kotwala is Director of Cedar Management Consulting International LLC.