Are Your Goals Helping or Hurting You?
I have had some great conversations with people about their goals recently, specifically about the effect that goals were having on them mentally. I talked to a few whose goals were creating a healthy focus, motivation and energy. But I also talked with quite a few whose goals were causing more stress and anxiety than fun and positivity. What I noticed is that those whose goals were working for them had two things that the others did not. The two things were:
1. “Influenceability”
2. A short time frame
Here’s what I mean. On three separate occasions, I had conversations with people who were struggling. When I asked them about their focus, in all cases the answer was a yearly income goal. I said “what are you focusing on during the day” and the answer was “making $100,000 this year” (the number was different in each case, but not by much).
If your focus is on a yearly income goal, you have created a situation where you cannot win. No matter how brilliant or masterful the performance, a year does not happen all at once. There is no sale that will earn all of your yearly income in one fell swoop. No-win situations are never helpful for one’s self esteem.
When I asked people who were living on the correct side of the butt-whooping about their goals, the answers were much more about influenceable activities, and the time frame was never longer than 90 days.
This flips the no-win situation on its head, becoming something where a win may not be guaranteed, but it is possible, likely, and dependent on performance. This is how momentum builds. Little victories lead to big victories.
Have you ever noticed how many diets, fitness plans and training programs are about 90 days long? Ever wondered why Wall Street is so into quarterly performance? Ever considered why so many books are about “90 days to achieve this or that”? It’s because when it gets down to pushing ourselves hard enough to see growth, most human beings cannot do it for more than about 90 days without a finish line coming up.
Am I saying you should NEVER think longer term than 90 days? Of course not- yearly goals can be inspiring, and a 5-10 year Vision is incredibly helpful for keeping on track and giving your goals meaning or context.
I am just saying that if your all day every day focus is on something that is designed to take many days, you may be setting yourself up for frustration. Take those big dreams, take that inspiring big vision, and chunk it down into “what controllable (or at least influenceable) goals can I accomplish in the next 30 to 90 days that will move me closer?” Then put your all day, every day, focus on THAT. When you that first small victory, celebrate so you can get a clean start for the next round. Keep your focus sharp, influenceable and in the short term, and life becomes energizing.
Hope this helps, have a spectacular week, and please share with us your focus.
- Is it helping or hurting?
- If it is hurting, how can you break it down so it DOES help?
Be Free!
Roger Seip
Instructor
Great article Roger – made me think – what can I do RIGHT NOW that will move me closer to my goal
Comment by Katie Brandt — March 11, 2010 @ 7:08 am
perfect timing for me…thanks Roger
Comment by Gary Castellano — March 11, 2010 @ 7:22 am
Great article Roger. It’s helpful to focus on day-to-day and week-to-week activities and allign them with the bigger picture less frequently.
Comment by Ken — March 11, 2010 @ 7:45 am
I’m mainly focused on preparing to provide excellent training to our newest staff member and creating the best possible health insurance plan. I think my focus is helping.
Comment by Dave — March 11, 2010 @ 8:30 am
Roger, great post – and perfect timing – I just went the one year income goal way, and this is really the wrong approach, I start seeing that. It’s all about the milestones which should become more finish lines and should be recognized and celebrated to give you the push. Keep it up!
Comment by Christoph — March 11, 2010 @ 8:54 am
Very good post-
I would argue that just having your goals broken down into smaller managable parts does not necessarily gurantee that one will accomplish their goals. One must also develop the faith and belief either in themsleves or in God-that they will accomplish what they set out to do. If you can BELIEVE it-you can ACHIEVE it. Conversely, if you don’t believe you WILL-more likley than not you WON’T.
Best-
Wayne
Comment by Wayne — March 11, 2010 @ 10:03 am
Personally… anything that is more than 180 days out is no longer a goal for me. It’s a Vision or a Dream. Period. And i have some smoking hot Visions and Dreams! the rest are goals that WILL happen in the next 180 days ~ unless they don’t (:
Comment by Eric — March 11, 2010 @ 12:38 pm
Great observation – really helped! However, even when chunked and written down, I sometimes experience a will-power short circuit. Any observations on keeping the will power cranked up to “git er dun?” Thanks!
Comment by Kathy Kyriakou — March 13, 2010 @ 1:03 pm
I’m in a situation where I am mostly going just day to day and week to week. Right now a year might as well be Mars. Nevertheless, this is a good reminder that smaller goals also need to be tied to a larger goal. It would be useful to step back and figure out what I can accomplish in the next 90 days. I have a vague picture of this, but you remind me that 90 day challenges have been helpful in the past. Thanks for the good stuff.
Comment by Dave Denis — March 16, 2010 @ 5:44 am