The Power of Clarity

In a television interview, H.L. Hunt—a man who rose from a bankrupt farmer in the 1930s to a multibillionaire by the time of his death in 1974—was once asked what advice he would give to people who want to be financially successful. He replied that only two things are necessary. First, you must decide exactly what you want to achieve. Most people never do this in their entire lives. Second, you must determine what price you’ll have to pay to get what you want, and then decide to pay that price.

Clear Goals Are Essential

Clear goals and objectives are vital for success in any endeavor, especially when it comes to building your own career. If you don’t spend enough time clarifying what you truly want to achieve, you’re doomed to spend your life working toward someone else’s goals. Without a clear direction, you’ll either drift aimlessly in routine or build a career you never really wanted. Sure, you might earn some money and do interesting work, but the end result won’t be what you consciously set out to create. Eventually, you’ll be left with the nagging feeling that you took a wrong turn somewhere along the way. Have you ever looked at what you’re doing and wondered, “How did I end up here?”

If goal setting is so important, why do so few people take the time to clearly define where they want to go? Part of the answer is a lack of knowledge about how to set clear goals. You spend years in school but rarely learn how to set goals properly. There’s also a widespread reluctance to recognize just how crucial clear goals are. But those who truly know what they want often outperform everyone else.

One of the most common obstacles to setting goals is the fear of making a mistake. Teddy Roosevelt once said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” Setting any goal is better than drifting aimlessly without direction. The surest path to failure is avoiding clear decisions you can fully commit to. If you don’t know where you’re going, every day is wasted. Most of your time may be spent achieving someone else’s goals. This suits fast-food owners, TV advertisers, and companies whose products you consume just fine. If you don’t decide what you want, you hand control of your future over to others. That’s a mistake. By deciding for yourself and keeping control, you gain a sense of empowerment that most people never experience.

Direction Is Not a Goal

Many people assume that having a general sense of direction means they have goals. But that’s not the case. This only creates the illusion of progress. “Earn more money” or “build a business” are not goals. A goal must be specific, clearly defined, and measurable. The difference between direction and a goal can be illustrated like this: What’s the difference between a compass pointing northeast and the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris? The first is just a direction; the second is a specific destination.

Goals Must Be Binary

Another key aspect of goal setting is that goals must be binary. In other words, at any given moment, you should be able to answer with a clear “yes” or “no” as to whether you’ve achieved your goal—“maybe” is not an option. You can never say with certainty that you’ve achieved the goal of “earning more money,” but you can always answer whether you’re standing on top of the Eiffel Tower. Here’s an example of a clear business goal: “My total income for April this year is $5,000 or more.” You can calculate this and know for sure at the end of the month whether you achieved it. This level of clarity is necessary for your brain to accept the goal and start looking for ways to achieve it.

Make Your Goals Specific

When setting goals, make them as detailed as possible. Use specific amounts and dates. Make sure every goal is measurable so you can always answer whether you’ve achieved it. Write your goals as if you know exactly how things should turn out. As the saying goes, the best way to predict the future is to create it.

Write Down Your Goals

Your goals must be written down. They should be stated in the present tense and from the first person. An unwritten goal is just a fantasy. When setting goals, focus on what you want, not what you don’t want. Your subconscious can only process clearly stated, affirmative goals. If you focus on what you want to avoid, you’re likely to get exactly that. Write your goals as if they’re already achieved. Instead of “I will earn $30,000 this year,” write “I earn $30,000 this year.” If you phrase your goal in the future tense, you’re telling your subconscious to always keep it in the future, which never arrives. Avoid vague words like “maybe,” “would be nice,” “I’ll try,” or “I’ll attempt.” These words create doubt about whether you can achieve anything at all. Finally, make your goals about yourself. You can’t decide for others. For example, instead of “The software company will launch my product by the end of the year,” write “This year, I sign a contract with a well-known software company that brings me at least $50,000 by year’s end.”

Make Abstract Goals Concrete

What if you need to set a goal that can’t be measured, like improving self-discipline? How do you make such a goal binary? Use a scale from 1 to 10. For example, ask yourself, “On a scale of 1 to 10, where is my self-discipline right now?” Then set a goal to reach a specific number by a certain date. This lets you track your progress and confidently answer whether you’ve achieved your goal.

Goal Setting Is a Conscious Activity

Setting clear goals is not a passive process. It requires conscious, ongoing effort. There are no small details or insignificant steps. You’re either moving toward your goals or away from them—there’s no middle ground. If you do nothing or act without clarity, you’re likely suffering from “aimlessness.” In other words, you’re diligently working toward someone else’s goals without even realizing it. You’re filling the pockets of your landlord, business owners, advertisers, and so on. Every day spent without clarity about where you’re going is a step backward. If you don’t tend your garden, weeds will grow automatically. Weeds don’t need watering or fertilizer—they just grow unless a careful gardener removes them. Similarly, without conscious, purposeful action, your life and work fill up with the unnecessary and the trivial. You don’t have to do anything for this to happen. So, when you decide to seriously look at where you are and where you want to go, start by eliminating the unnecessary and the empty.

Reading this article won’t do you any good unless you take action. Even the most brilliant ideas are worthless without action. In real life, you don’t get paid for your thoughts. You might have the world’s greatest idea, but it’s worthless unless you act on it. Results come not from the idea itself, but from the steps you take to bring it to life. That means voicing it, shaping it, and making sure it gets done.

Clarity Is a Choice

If you’re still building your career without focus, just going with the flow, it’s crucial to take time to decide and write down exactly what you want to achieve. How long will you keep climbing the ladder of success, only to realize too late that it was leaning against the wrong building? Choose a specific time frame in the future—six months or five years from now. Take a few hours to write a detailed description of where you want to be at that point. I know many people who avoid writing down their goals and plans because they “don’t want to lose their freedom of choice.” What do you think the result of that attitude is? If you always keep your options open and never make a final decision, you’ll never move up the career ladder, start your own business, get married, start a family, or move to a new home. And if you do, it will only be because someone else made the decision for you.

A friend of mine lived this way. His life was controlled by others, and he didn’t even realize it. Because he was afraid of making the wrong choice, he never took the time to clarify his own vision. Other people set his goals for him, and he accepted it as normal. Ask yourself: Are you doing the same? For example, do you have a friend who really wants you to change something in your life—your career, your living situation—just because they think it’s best for you? Will you let them talk you into it just because it’s their idea of what’s right? Or does your business partner accept someone’s proposal that radically changes your plans for the week, and you don’t even stop to consider whether it fits your goals? People suffer from these problems because they refuse to set their own clear goals. There’s a huge difference between recognizing an opportunity, using it, and following the wrong path without ever making a conscious effort to correct it.

It’s naive to expect inspiration to come from outside and hope that the perfect result will magically find you. Making clear decisions doesn’t happen by itself. You have to put in the time and effort. If you don’t have clear goals simply because you don’t know what you want, sit down, think, and figure it out. Understanding your desires doesn’t come as a divine revelation. Clarity is a conscious choice, not an accident or a gift from above. It won’t come to you—you have to move toward it. If you don’t set goals, you’re no different from someone who has decided to serve the whims of others.

Clear Goals Make Decision-Making Easier

Reality doesn’t always match our vision exactly. But that’s not the point. The point is that having a vision lets you make informed decisions that move you toward your goal. When a plane flies a charter route from one city to another, it spends 90% of the time off course. But it’s heading in the right direction and constantly checks and corrects its course. Goal setting works the same way. Keep your list of clear goals in front of you—not because everything must happen exactly as you wrote it, but because it gives you amazing clarity when making decisions about what to do next. Now, when someone suddenly offers you a “unique opportunity,” you’ll be able to tell whether it’s really worth your time or just another distraction. Clear strategic vision leads to better tactical decisions.

On the way to your goals, you’ll learn new things and adjust your plans. You might even completely change your views after realizing what you really want. It’s much better to set a goal imperfectly than not to set one at all.

Someone once suggested that I end each day by crossing it off the calendar and saying, “There goes another day of my life. It will never come again.” Try this technique. You’ll immediately notice your focus sharpening. When you end the day knowing you’d live it the same way even if you could change it, you gain a sense of gratitude that helps you focus on what really matters. If you end the day with regret or a sense of loss, you know you need to take a different approach tomorrow.

From the very first day you set clear and inspiring goals, you’ll notice significant changes in your life—even if your first steps toward them aren’t perfect. You’ll be able to make decisions much faster, knowing whether they move you closer to your goal or further away. Shortly before Walt Disney’s death, a reporter snuck into his bedroom. Walt shared his vision of what Disney World would look like, even though construction was still six years from completion. When Disney World finally opened, a journalist remarked that it was a shame Walt never got to see it. Walt’s brother Roy replied, “Walt saw Disney World first. That’s why we can see it now.”

Clear goals are the first part of H.L. Hunt’s formula for success. By deciding exactly what you want, writing your goals down, and reviewing them daily, you allow your vision to become reality through the power of focus.