As we are still in January with many of you still working on New Years resolutions and new goals, I thought I’d describe the difference between good goals and bad goals.
There is a difference between a general direction in life and a goal. Often goals are stepping stones to deeper objectives. We do this to make progress and to break down the big task into smaller chunks that are easier to accomplish. In this post, I’m going to focus primarily on the goals, and not so much on the overarching objectives.
We can inadvertently set bad goals that are nearly impossible to achieve. We definitely want to avoid these. So what makes a goal a good one? Good goals have the following characteristics:
1. The Goal is Specific and Clear
We often set goals like, “I want to lose weight.” This isn’t specific. It’s not clear when we’ve accomplished the goal. Do we achieve the goal when we lose .1 lbs? If we lose 5 lbs, is that enough? A better example is, “I want to lose 20lbs,” or “I want to weigh 180lbs.”
2. The Goal has a Time Frame
If we expand the previous example of a wight loss goal, it would be much better to have a time frame for the goal. “I want to weigh 180lbs or less,” doesn’t give a time frame. Is this in 5 years, by the end of next week, or are we aiming for the end of March? So really a better example would be, “I want to weigh 180lbs by the end of next week.”
3. The Goal is Achievable
Continuing with our example, “I want to weigh 180lbs by the end of next week,” is not a good goal if we currently weigh 250lbs. This isn’t achievable. If the goal isn’t achievable, our subconscious will dismiss the goal and we’ll not likely work on it at all. If we weigh 250lbs right now, a better goal would be, “I want to weigh 249.5lbs by the end of next week.”
4. The Goal is Stretchy
We want to avoid making empty goals as these really don’t move us forward. So not only should the goal be achievable, it should also be a stretch for us. So if we weigh 250lbs, a better weight loss goal would be, “I want to weigh 230lbs by the end of March.” – stretchy, but achievable.
5. The Goal Speaks Power
This is the trickiest characteristic to include, and has a lot to do with the language we use to describe our goal. The phrase, “I want..” is a weak phrase. When our subconscious looks into the future it sees us still wanting the thing. Instead we want to use language like “I am…” or “I have…”. So a better weight loss goal would be “I am 230lbs by the end of March.” This is more powerful as it is a declaration rather than a wish.
Let’s hear from you guys. What are your goals or new years resolutions?
