I don’t set goals anymore. I found that I rarely hit them and it was discouraging. My goals were big and exciting, but not always believable. And clearly not achievable.
I lowered my goals to a level I believed was attainable. But they weren’t exciting. “Why bother?”
So I gave up on setting goals. And I’m much happier.
Instead of goals, I focus on a general direction, e.g., the growth of my business, but without a specific target, such as income or profit.
Writer Srinivas Rao says:
“When you set your sights on a target, you limit yourself to one possible future. You’re trying to control and predict something that is out of your control and unpredictable. Choosing a Direction Instead of a Destination opens you up to more than one future. And the future you end up with could be better than what you set your sights on. A direction expands what’s possible in your life. A destination limits it.”
But that’s not the end of the story.
While I no longer set “results-oriented” goals—dollars, outcomes, etc.—I do set “activity goals”. Things I will do to help me move in the direction I want to go.
What do those look like?
How many calls or emails I will send, how many words or pages I will write, how many dollars I will invest, how much time I will spend on a project.
Because these are completely within my control. And can help me achieve results even better than my expectations.
