Here is a real life story about goal setting
Quite some time ago after moving to another continent and establishing a new life there, I purchased an antique desk. An old late 1800s typical New England style writing desk. The old wood was just comfortable and inspired to be productive. And at some point I started to write out a list of goals. Nothing fancy, just a handwritten piece of paper from a regular notepad. There was no format to the list, no organization, no prioritization. Even more chaotic than my usual organized way of writing out lists. It was a spur of the moment download of what grand dreams and ideas were floating around in my brain at the time. What was untypical of me was that the informal piece of paper ended up in a drawer of the desk and was forgotten.
Years and three moves later in a different city the desk was cleaned and organized. Guess what, the old list was buried under many things and odd items that were put into the drawer to be out of sight. After unfolding the list, remembering it, smoothing out the piece of paper, I started to look through it. And I was extremely surprised. Not only were the items on the list very thoughtful and spot on of what I had really wanted in my life. But also many items on the list, especially big ticket items, could actually be checked off. I saw my accomplishments of the past six years. I had purchased a house, moved to a more interesting city, acquired a sailboat, and had made good career advances.
And all this because I had written these things on a sheet of paper and unconsciously worked on them! Maybe it is not quite that simple. I think I was lucky!
Here is a brief overview to get clarity about your goals, engage in productive goal planning, and make sure you pursue quality goals.
1 Get Clarity
Often when we think of goals we either have big accomplishments in mind or we think of the actual outcome of a dream. It is important to differentiate from dreams, ideas, bucket list items, and actual goals.
What are the differences? Dreams are simply best case scenario outcomes or big ideas but lack enough detail and specificity to act upon. Bucket list items are things that you want to have done eventually in your life.
Goals are specific things that you want to complete within a defined timeframe and with a defined outcome. It means that you know exactly when you are done.
Habits are neither dreams nor goals. But they are important to consider. The more positive habits you accumulate, the easier it will be for you to accomplish your goals. At the same time, negative habits will distract you or prevent you from reaching your goals.
Let’s look at a few examples: Assume you dream of living in a large, well designed house on a hill making a lot of money. This clearly is a pleasant dream, or a nice outcome. But it lacks details and clarity to act on. Where is the house? How many rooms? Which direction does the terrace face? How much money does it cost? When are you living there? How much money do you earn? How are you earning it? What are you doing with the money (apart from having a big house)?
You see, there is actually nothing defined in this dream that you can act on. However, what is important about this dream is that it might represent a desire, a motivation that you are excited about. That is worthwhile to capture and understand.
On the other hand at some point in your life you might want to visit Yellowstone National Park, or travel to Paris. Or you want to help with the grape harvest at a vineyard. Or swim in the Pacific Ocean. Those are bucket list items. You know you want to do it, you can do it, but it is not that important when or even if it happens. If you end up traveling to Rome instead of Paris you will be as happy.
The important thing here is to acknowledge your dreams and ideas and sort them into what they mean to you. Are they actual big goals, maybe even life goals, are they bucket list items, or are they simply dreams that help you understand your wants and desires.
2 Productive Goal Planning
Now that you have an idea of how to identify your goals, it is important to better understand the goal planning process.
For starters, you need to understand and define more details about your goal. Is it a short, medium, or long term goal? How complex is it? Can you accomplish it this week, this month, this year, next year, or sometime in your lifetime?
Being honest here is important. You need skills and time to accomplish a goal. For example, if you want to sail around the world, you will probably not leave next week. You need skills, you need a boat, you need a plan for a route, you need financial resources, you need people to join you. That means, sailing around the world might be a life goal. Something you really have to work towards.
On the other end of the spectrum is maybe the goal to write an updated CV this week so you can start looking for a new job next week. Most likely you have the skills and the time (maybe you need to set a few hours away for it) to accomplish this goal.
And in between the short term goal that you can accomplish within a day or a week, and the life goal that will take you years to accomplish are a whole spectrum of goals that take a few weeks, a few months, or even a few years to accomplish.
Now you understand that you can define your goals more clearly. You can give them a title and a description that tells you but also other people what they really are. You can define a duration of how much time it will take. You can define a start date (when will you begin to work on it) and an end date (when are you finished). And even more important you understand and define when the goal is completed. That means you make it measurable.
Here is another aspect that is very often overlooked in goal planning. Any goal that is a little longer in duration and a little more complex than a one time work session, will need to be structured into multiple goals to become actionable.
For example, consider a goal of going back to university to pursue a law degree within the next four years, starting next September. Clearly this is a well defined goal. You know when to start, you know how long it takes, and you know when you have it accomplished (degree in hand). But there are too many things involved to just go and work on it. You need to structure this goal into multiple sub goals, such as
Put your current career on hold or negotiate a part time work situation with your employer
Find a university that you can enroll in or where you can apply
Organize housing that is close to your chosen university
Secure the financing to support yourself while studying
And so on …
You see, having defined a large goal is great, but you need to understand fully what’s involved to accomplish it and then structure your goal to move it towards completion.
3 Pursue Quality Goals
Lastly, you want to make sure to pursue quality goals. What do we mean by that?
Quality goals are goals that you really want to accomplish, that really make a difference in your life and that will increase your self worth and happiness.
Many times we run after goals for the wrong reasons. We do what other people expect us to do. We get excited by other people's ideas. We pursue goals for material reasons.
Quality goals, or meaningful goals, are goals that you truly want to accomplish for yourself. It takes understanding yourself to look for goals or to define goals that are really worthwhile for you. When you find them, your motivational level will go through the roof. And that’s what you need to accomplish big goals.
More info
If you are interested in this topic, take a look at our mini course called Turn Dreams into Reality. It discussed the following topics
Goals versus Dreams
Goals, Habits, and Bucket Lists
Goal Planning
Meaningful Goals
Well Defined Goals
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