i.e. why you don’t achieve what you set out to achieve.
New year is approaching and the more eager of us are already crafting new year’s resolutions. Organisations do this as well and depending on their business cycle may do this in the beginning of the new year, at the end of the previous one or some other time during the year. The mistakes listed below are common to both individuals and organisations.
Read on to see if you have fallen to any of these traps, and how to avoid these mistakes. You may even want to review your already set goals to adjust timely if necessary.
1. No retrospective of past goals and progress
If you start by setting a new goal without revisiting the previous accomplishments, you neglect the leverage of your past. Identify your past successes to take advantage of what has worked well before. Also identify your mishits to avoid past mistakes. Wisdom lies in learning from both your mistakes and successes.
2. Wrong why
There is a great quote from Thomas Merton that goes as follows.
“People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.”
Thomas Merton
Aiming for a certain outcome without reflecting on why you desire this outcome is a rather sure path to loss of motivation and interest on the way, and as a result missing the goal.
3. Wrong scope
When you aim too high, a sense of hopelessness will kill your drive. Aiming too low will allow you to delay action, and feel too overwhelmed to even begin later, when the deadline is approaching.
4. Wrong timing
In contrary to previous point, no goal is too big, you only need to adjust the deadline. If you set the deadline too close, even attainable goals will seem too big. If you set the deadline too far, you delay action or lose interest again.
5. Wrong measures
If you only define the desired outcome, but miss to define lead measure, you will not know what moves the needle. Neither will you know your progress, if you don’t define milestones.
6. No coherence
Taking a dog and wanting to travel the world may not always play well together. If you don’t review your goals in a bundle, you may miss that some of them are contradictory. As a result, you will feel overwhelmed and frustrated trying to play on both sides of the field.
How to fix them?
As easy as it is to make these mistakes, it is also to correct (or avoid) them. But these solutions only work, like anything else, if you actually apply them.
1. Review the past
Take a deep look at what you set out for last year or any of the previous years. Do more of what worked and helped you move towards your goal, and do less of what proved unhelpful. All you need is gain a slight edge over the hindrances. Even small actions compound. Make sure they compound to your advantage.
2. Start with the end in mind
We often get caught up in setting means goals with no clear understanding why we even want this promotion, this car, this house, this trip to the tropical island. In the end it is about how we want to feel about ourselves, our actions, our achievements, our contributions, our relationships. Connect that desired mean to the desired end. It will fuel your actions and keep you going.
3. Calibrate well
A well-set goal requires you to stretch, but feels doable. If you feel stressed out immediately, set the bar a bit lower. It is important that you feel confident pursuing the goal. If you don’t feel like you have to stretch at all, set the bar a bit higher. It is important to feel motivated pursuing the goal.
4. Wise timing
People tend to overestimate, what they can achieve in a year and underestimate, what they can achieve in ten years. Everything is possible, if you time it right. Be sure to break grander goals into meaningful chunks. Even though Olympic games take place every four years, athletes set goals for each individual championship that leads up to the Olympics.
5. Smart measures
In addition to lag measures, i.e. the outcomes, also set lead measures, i.e. the activities. What kind of projects will you need to put your hand up for to become a senior project manager? How many investors will you need to approach to raise the needed amount? How many hours of meaningful practice will it take to become a great coach to your team?
6. From coherence to leverage
Review your goals in a bundle. Allow your goals to compound for your end in mind. Achievements in one field will fuel efforts in another. The more coherence you have between your goals the more they will leverage each other. If some goals conflict, find alternatives that serve your end in mind. Allow yourself to explore and think outside the box.
If you would like to have a quick chat about your goals and make sure you will achieve them, book a FREE call. I will be happy to be of service and help you review your goals against these common mistakes.
#goalsetting #newyearsresolutions #goalsettingmistakes