Spoiler alert: there is no magic, sure fire way to set goals!
Goals come in all shapes and sizes and they are pervasive in our careers and in our personal lives. The can be set by society, by others, and by ourselves. They can create an entire range of emotions: success/failure, accomplishment/defeat, motivation/disincentive, among others.
Unlike so many books, posts, memes, and consultants, I am not here to give you the answer on how to set the perfect goal(s). The reality is that you have to understand your situation and build goals that fit. All I endeavor to do is to help you consider some of the important factors when setting goals so you can best match the goal to the context of the challenge (which is the paradigm Ill use for this post even though all goals don’t require a “challenge” as a basis).
First, let’s understand the time horizons you can set for goals: transactional/immediate, short term, long term, and lifetime (reallyyyyyyyyyyy long term). The two key questions I tend to ask around time: when does this reasonably need to be done to meet the challenge? when can I reasonably get it done? The key word in both questions: reasonably. Creating artificial expectations can impact your ability and motivation to pursue the goals. Oh by the way, the two answers are often not aligned – when we perceive we “need” something and when we can “meet” it likely aren’t the same. It requires a thoughtful review of the two competing timelines to set a goal that will work for you.
If you are looking to lose 20 pounds to improve your health. Clearly you want the weight off now but it will take time. You can think about setting goals in a few of the horizons: What is my immediate goal for today/this week? Short term, how much weight can I lose? Longer term, how do I get to a sustainable weight and maintain it, since I love McDonald’s and Dairy Queen? Is this a lifetime goal? The key is to consider which of those will benefit me the most in my current situation and psychology, which Ill talk about more at the end of this post.
Second, understand the overall goals you are pursuing. There are two distinct actions here – first, you want to ensure that none of your goals are in conflict. For example, in my weight loss example there would clear conflict if I was also trying to improve my upper body strength (which would require me to add muscle). At a minimum it would impact my timelines…and at a maximum, pursuing both at once could doom me from accomplishing either goal. The other factor is to understand how you are prioritizing all the goals that you are pursuing. What is really the most important thing? In what time horizon? (Maybe Ill work to lose the weight first, and then once the fat is gone Ill focus on building muscle!) The key takeaway here should be that you are in control of the number and urgency of the goals you pursue. There is no magic number – too few or too many – of goals. Align your goals with the lifestyle that suits you.
Third, understand the level of effort required to accomplish your goals (relative to the time to accomplish). There is one school of thinking that every goal needs to be a “moon shot” or a “big hairy audacious” goal with a huge level of effort and an equivalent accomplishment. As the cliché goes, if you shoot for the moon, you’ll still reach the stars. (By the way, the is couldn’t be more astronomically incorrect…if you shoot for the moon and come up short you will just be floating in orbit of the Earth or just outside it…and if you overshoot the moon, about the best you can do is get to another planet…there is an infinitesimal chance you make it to a star – the sun or otherwise.) The other line of thinking is the “one foot in front of the other” or “one day at a time” approach, with a much lower level of effort and easier to accomplish. The cliché for that one, the longest journey starts with one step. The good news about these two disparate approaches: neither is wrong…and neither is right. They are just two different philosophies on how to accomplish the things that are important to you. Beyond the extremes, you can have an approach that is in the middle of the two – don’t aim to take one step or go to the moon, maybe just leave the country or orbit, if you like the astronomy angle.
Ultimately, your individual psychology will also be large factor in they types of goals that you set (or don’t set), if you consider how you’ll best achieve them. Your goals can be broad and long term or specific and immediate. There isn’t a wrong answer. Your goals should reflect the life you want to live, the situation you are in, and the types/structure of goals that gives you the best chance to succeed. For me, I typically have long term personal and career goals (not lifetime goals as I still don’t know where my life will lead and I prefer to be open to the journey instead of powering towards a destination) with some short term goals that move me in those directions of my choosing (that I want to pursue). I don’t need the immediate goals for motivation. Conversely, when I need to clean the house each Saturday, I make a list of things to do that I can cross off in a matter of minutes…why? House cleaning is a very short term goal I must accomplish but that I don’t want to, so I give myself the illusion of progress and motivation to just get it done. I understand my psychology and use it to aid my ability to accomplish goals instead of creating goals that I won’t achieve that will just frustrate me.
If anything, here is your magic formula that no book, post, meme, TED talk, or consultant can provide: look inside yourself to understand how to best set goals considering the above parameters that you can reasonably accomplish and will leave you satisfied with the life you must lead to accomplish them. With that, your goals are working in service to you leading a life enjoyed while accomplishing what you value.
View from the Middle 