I had my monthly call with one of my coaches today and realized something rather disturbing… I’ve completely mucked up the goal setting process for my entire life.
Well to be fair I’ve done well on the goal setting part… but I kind of forget to plan the bits in between that would achieve the goal. So for the last 2 months I’ve been working towards this current goal without any real concrete plan of getting it done. Which makes the goal slightly difficult to achieve.
The goal setting myth
You may be aware that most people don’t set goals… and that the 2% or so of people that do are much happier, healthier and wealthier etc on average than the 98%. I’ve been a regular goal setter for about 9 years now and I must say this has propelled me forward an amazing amount. However I can’t say I’ve been really setting goals properly.
Because I’ve suddenly realized a very important distinction - not only do we need to set goals - but we need to work out the steps we need to take to achieve them. This may sound obvious but how many of us really do it?
I would take a guess that most goal setters are similar to me in the respect they set goals and then when the time comes they wonder why they didn’t reach it… or they did reach it but they’re not sure quite how. We operate under a fuzzy Law of Attraction / The Secret type approach where it just comes true by magic. But the reality is we still have to do the work in the middle.
Effective goal reaching
I must say I’ve heard this a few times from different sources but never really used it properly. If you want to reach a goal you first must set it… and then work backwards from the goal to fill in what you must do to reach it. Basically you fill in the steps in between.
So instead of a goal to make $1 million just sitting out there in thin air we build in goals around with where we need to make $750,000… and before that $500,000… $250,000… $100,000… $50,000… $25,000… $10,000… $5,000… $1,000… $500… $100… $50… $1.
Because in order to make $1 million we must start by making $1 and move up from there. It seems obvious but it’s something I’ve misunderstood for a very long time. I thought I was following the instructions when people said to dream big but I forgot about the small steps required to reach the big goals.
Less frustration
I’d also run into the problem where I’d start towards my goal and make good progress… but because I didn’t get that $1 million (or even the $10,000) in the first attempt I’d get frustrated. It wouldn’t matter than I just made $1,000 out of thin air. All I could see was my failed goal and how far I had to go.
Setting milestone goals on the way to the big goals is a great way of removing that frustration. Because we must learn to celebrate our victories no matter how small. In fact it’s probably more important to get excited about making that first $1 as that will keep you working on the path to your goals.
Have a strong reason why
I experience this first hand with my money goals. I have big figures to aim for but I don’t connect them with good reason whys. My reason why is vague and so it doesn’t really keep me motivated to achieve my goals.
For instance the $1 million would be great as I could travel the world but that’s a very vague reason why. But if I need to make $4,683 for a trip to Fiji then that’s a goal I can really get behind. I’ve now learned that if I attach a much clearer reason why I want the money it’s a lot easier to get.
What you do next
Do you have similar goal setting problems to me? Then feel free to share them in the comments. I also suggest you take a long hard look at your goals and see whether they’re set up so you can win.
And if you don’t have any goals now is the time to start. Because if you’re not in control of where your life is heading… someone else is. Or as my favorite quote from Alice in Wonderland shows:
Alice: Oh, no, no. I was just wondering if you could help me find my way.
Cheshire Cat: Well that depends on where you want to get to.
Alice: Oh, it really doesn’t matter, as long as…
Cheshire Cat: Then it really doesn’t matter which way you go.
