Goals....we all have them, personal goals, private goals, work related goals. I'll be the first to admit that my world revolves around them, finishing the remodel of my house, getting good grades, and of course making the goals set forth by my employer. Sure, I have a hand in making those goals. They say you need to do ABC this month, and every day I send out a Daily Goals email, what am I going to do to make that days goal? How am I going to get there?
As such I spend a lot of time thinking about goals, and how they play a part in my overall happiness and have come to the conclusion that goals will destroy you, I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. I know I'm not, in fact I read on Forbes that "Researchers from four top business schools have collaborated to show that in many cases goals do more harm than good."
We set goals for ourselves, I'm going to sell 10 widgets today. Great goal, but what happens when you don't make it? For many of us when we fail to reach a goal, that's exactly what we feel...failure. Knowing that you've set that goal personally makes it even harder to overcome, one failure makes it harder to set the next goal, which makes it harder to succeed. It truly is a deadly circle that for some it can even be psychologically damaging. Not to mention the other harmful effects that have been noted such as “a narrow focus that neglects non-goal areas, a rise in unethical behavior, distorted risk preferences, corrosion of organizational culture, and reduced intrinsic motivation.” (Goals Gone Wild; Harvard Business School )
Not only is it sell defeating to create goals, and not be able to accomplish them, what about when you do reach that goal? For me I have a momentary feeling of WOO HOO success!!! I've made it, now what? hmm, well that was all well and good for the time being, it's like my friend who set a goal to lose 20 pounds by her birthday. She was on the right track right? SMART goal ( specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time bound). I'm so proud of her, she did it! But guess what? She nearly starved herself, and she's gained it all back. She put so much focus on the loss, that she didn't look farther ahead and ask how she was going to keep it off. What if instead she had said, I'm going to walk the dog for an hour a day, and stop drinking pop? Instead of setting a goal to lose weight, she's laid down a path on how to live healthier, and guess what??? YES, she would have lost the weight as well.
Now...here is the biggest thing for me. In my day to day job I am required to set goals for my business, but what seems to escape everyone else is that you aren't omnipotent, you can't say that you're going to serve 20 deserts with meals today, because you may only have 10 clients come in for meals. I can't force people to come into my business. I can spread the word about great deals, I can make stellar connections with my clientele, I can stay in contact with each and everyone of my past clients. But guess what, I can't control the weather, I have no way of determining who is or isn't in town. I have a list of local events, but there are many that don't show, such as local sporting events, school concerts and programs etc.
So, I've decided that I'm going to go through the motions because it's part of my job. But I'm not going to sweat the goals, I'm going to focus instead on the process, and let the numbers come to me.
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