Recently, I wrote an entry on the 3 C’s of Control, Commitment, and Challenge. Three factors that are fundamentally important to achieve goals. I just came across an article on the same topic and found that the authors had a couple of useful pointers to ensure that you stay on track pursuing your goals. While the article was geared towards organizational goals, not individual goals I found several of their points quite transferable to individual goal setting.
As you are setting your goals ask yourself:
1. Are your goals too specific?
When you are focusing on your goal don’t make it too narrow. As the authors put it: “goals can focus attention so narrowly that people overlook other important features of a task”. Unintentional blindness may be caused by a goal-setter who narrows in on only a portion of the picture. The risk is that potential important information are overlooked. Here is an awareness test to illuminate this point:
2. Do you have too many goals?
Are you pursing so many goals at the same time that you you are overwhelmed by trying to pursue them? People who set out to achieve too many goals at the same time often end up focusing on only one or just a few select goals instead of pursing all goals simultaneously. When quantity versus quality becomes an issue people often chose quantity. Trying to meet as many goals as possible often results in a loss of quality of the individual goal achievements.
3. Are your goals too challenging?
Setting goals that offer a challenge is an important factor for staying motivated. However, it is important to keep a balance between a challenging goal and an achievable goal. The authors of previously mentioned article warn that setting the bar too high can result in “shifting risk attitudes, promoting unethical behavior, and triggering the psychological costs of goal failure.”
4. Who sets your goals?
How did you commit to the goals you have? Who is responsible for setting goals? If you don’t have true buy-in and your goals do not have personal (and professional) value and meaning it will be difficult to pursue them effectively and with motivation, passion, or creativity. It is especially difficult to keep up a positive attitude when you are facing long-term goals that require long-term commitment when you don’t truly own them.
5. Is your time horizon appropriate?
Two points to consider here:
1. Make sure you set your timeline appropriately. Having a timeline that is too ambitious might overly challenge you and lead to failure. Having a timeline that is too easy might do the exact same thing.
2. There is a difference between short-term and long-term goals. When you set your long-term goals you commit to a general path. Along that path you will encounter many short term goals. It is easy to get wrapped up in the sense of urgency to pursue these short-term goals. The authors of the “Goals Gone Wild” article urge to ensure “that short-term efforts to reach a goal do not harm investment in long-term outcomes”. I would add that it is important to ensure that short-term goals benefit long-term goals.
Choose your goals with care: How many goals can you commit to at one time? What sequence makes sense? Is the way you are focusing on your goals effective? Do your short-term goals and long-term goals align? Do you believe in the value and purpose of your goals? The more passionate you feel about them the more likely it is that you will achieve what you set out to achieve.
Most importantly:
Keep re-evaluating your goals along the way. Demands and needs change, interest areas change, and at times it might change what you feel passionate about.
Staying conscious about the goals you set out to achieve helps you owning your goals; instead of them owning you.
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