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156 End Procrastination Now!

a task done is a goal; operating with efficiency and effectiveness to
promote productive outcomes is a mission.
In 1859, U.S. Senator Carl Schurz described idealized goals
when he said, “Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touch-
ing them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the des-
ert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them,
you will reach your destiny.”
Our goals represent what we want to achieve. Setting and ex-
ecuting goals is one of the most reliably advantageous approaches
to directing your efforts profitably. Concrete goals are generally
more productive than the ethereal variety, such as to feel happy.
Goals that are meaningful, measurable, and attainable are typically
more useful than the abstract variety, such as saving the world
from hunger. Here are four goal-development guidelines:

• Make your goals fit your mission. When your goals involve
experiencing what you desire, you’ll have a stronger passion
for achieving them.
• Set realistic goals, ones that you can meet or where you can
develop the ability to achieve the result that you seek. (Attain-
able goals are more likely to raise your motivation level than
goals that you believe are permanently out of your reach.)
• Mastery goals are proficiency goals where you want to de-
velop competence in an area of your interest. You can im-
prove your personal competencies through mastering new
challenges.
• Simultaneously use performance goals. These are results
that you seek that are more limited and measurable, such as
designing an efficient new manufacturing method to cap
perfume bottles. The achievement benchmarks are the mea-
sured results of your efforts. Making 10 extra sales calls each
week is an example of a performance goal. Performance
goals typically lead to higher levels of performance.