Why you shouldn't set goals...yet!

 Never break another New Year’s resolution.

It’s that time of year again. The time when many people make resolutions for the upcoming year. We start with noble aspirations to make the new year better than the old. We are sincere and determined to lose 10 pounds or get out of debt. On the work front we’re resolved to double our sales or halve our costs. 

Yes, it's the time of year, that with vim and vigor, we set new goals, in all areas of our lives. But we all know how that usually ends. As we’ve all experienced, that seldom translates into success. More often than not it leads to failure and disappointment. Why is that?

It’s because we’re setting goals, and there’s a problem with that. Goals are often outcomes in disguise. Losing 10 pounds or doubling your sales is a number. But how do you achieve it. Setting a goal without identifying the underlying factors that will enable you, or empower you, to achieve it is just hope and maybe luck. That’s a poor strategy. 

You’d be better served to focus on something that will create change in your work, life and business, something that can translate into real action and plans. Rather than focusing on future accomplishments or achievements, instead identify your priorities for the upcoming year or season. Let me share an example. 

Last week I used the analogy of coaching a soccer team, let me draw out that analogy. Imagine that you could set a goal for your team and declare that every game you’ll score 5 goals. That would be a lofty achievement, aspirational and even inspirational but will the team accomplish this? I suspect not. That’s because there’s no substance to your dream, nothing has changed. The players will go about playing each game as they’ve always done. And you’ll always have what you’ve always had if you always do what you’ve always done. Period. 

Now imagine, you try something different. You determine three or four things that, if you focused on, would really change the way your team performed. What if you said “We need to improve the fitness level of our players, then we could focus on our general ball handling skills. Next we could improve our passing game and finally, we need to teach our players to be more aggressive in defending and taking away the ball from the opposing team”. Those priorities would lead to real outcomes. They would change not only your practice time, but once mastered, would change your results. That would lead to your team’s ability to score more goals which now is a logical and very likely outcome. 

So this year, focus on your priorities that will yield you better results. First figure out what’s important, what you really want to achieve. What would make 2022 better than 2021. What do you want to be different? This could be in your personal life, your business life, your team or your organization. Then map out a few priorities, things that absolutely must happen to yield a different and better result than you’ve ever had before. If you’re stuck, think about them as stepping stones. One thing leads to another. That’s what you’ll focus on for 2022. 

Lastly, If you want, you can set a goal related to each of these priorities, but hold it loosely, it may take more time and effort than you first thought or you may far exceed it and blow it out the water. Be prepared to be surprised. 

Now you can enter the new year or new season with optimism, confidence and a plan. Because hope and luck just aren’t good strategies, and certainly not good business. 

Think about it.