There is a lot of information out there about how to set good goals. And for unknown reasons a lot of that information sets my teeth completely on edge. Yes, I know they should be 'Specific - Measurable - Attainable - Realistic - Timely' (aka SMART), but who wants to be smart when setting goals? Where is the fun in that?
For your major life goals, your method of selecting and setting them should be exciting and depict the life and death nature of it all. So I suggest leaving behind the business strategy, and follow the Indiana Jones method.
How does my little analogy work? Follow me!
(To follow this it is useful to have watched Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, but if you haven't, just go to YouTube and search for 'Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark Famous Scene'.)
To begin with you need to be able to see the glinting, glistening, golden idol in front of you. This is your goal, sitting on its stone pedestal. Can you see it? Asking you to reach for it, grab hold of it, claim it as your own? Good.
Now look at the bag of sand you have been carrying and work out if you have enough sand for the weight of your idol. Sand is the every day material that you will need to give up: time, resources, money, etc. How heavy is your idol? How much will you have to hand over in order to achieve it? Do you have enough?
Holding your breath you ease the goal off in exchange for the sand. It comes free and the cave has not come crashing down. Congratulations! You have just found a goal you can commit to.
But wait! That's not the end. You still need to escape from the cave together with your goal to achieve it. You're not safe and sound until you get it back home. And once you have decided on a goal, that's when life makes it hard to achieve it.
You begin running. For Indiana, the first obstacle was a pit with stakes. For you it might be difficulty meeting your mortgage payment, or a sudden change in circumstances.
Some kindly person yells to you that you should throw them your goal and they will give you the mundane life item to get you across this barrier. Maybe they say to give up the goal for a sensible job, just for a bit so you can pay the bills.
Do you throw them the idol? Well, if you do, you still have to get out of the cave alive, and you no longer achieve anything at the end!
If you are brave, you manage to get over the obstacle while still keeping your goal. However, next comes the giant rolling boulder. While things might push you to go faster than you feel comfortable doing, and you always seem to be one step ahead of disaster - as long as you are running towards the entrance, you're making it!
Of course, when you break out with your goal, there will be a thousand people pointing arrows and spears of criticism that want to cut you down to size, so it is always best to have an escape plan such as your own plane that you can fly off and enjoy your achievement.
That is the way I think goals should be handled. So much more exciting and adventurous than being SMART.
The final thing this model teaches us is that if your goal is not worth the sand you are trading it for, or you are not prepared to jump across pits of stakes for it, then it's not a very good goal. Stick with your sand and your day job.
For your major life goals, your method of selecting and setting them should be exciting and depict the life and death nature of it all. So I suggest leaving behind the business strategy, and follow the Indiana Jones method.
How does my little analogy work? Follow me!
(To follow this it is useful to have watched Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, but if you haven't, just go to YouTube and search for 'Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark Famous Scene'.)
To begin with you need to be able to see the glinting, glistening, golden idol in front of you. This is your goal, sitting on its stone pedestal. Can you see it? Asking you to reach for it, grab hold of it, claim it as your own? Good.
Now look at the bag of sand you have been carrying and work out if you have enough sand for the weight of your idol. Sand is the every day material that you will need to give up: time, resources, money, etc. How heavy is your idol? How much will you have to hand over in order to achieve it? Do you have enough?
Holding your breath you ease the goal off in exchange for the sand. It comes free and the cave has not come crashing down. Congratulations! You have just found a goal you can commit to.
But wait! That's not the end. You still need to escape from the cave together with your goal to achieve it. You're not safe and sound until you get it back home. And once you have decided on a goal, that's when life makes it hard to achieve it.
You begin running. For Indiana, the first obstacle was a pit with stakes. For you it might be difficulty meeting your mortgage payment, or a sudden change in circumstances.
Some kindly person yells to you that you should throw them your goal and they will give you the mundane life item to get you across this barrier. Maybe they say to give up the goal for a sensible job, just for a bit so you can pay the bills.
Do you throw them the idol? Well, if you do, you still have to get out of the cave alive, and you no longer achieve anything at the end!
If you are brave, you manage to get over the obstacle while still keeping your goal. However, next comes the giant rolling boulder. While things might push you to go faster than you feel comfortable doing, and you always seem to be one step ahead of disaster - as long as you are running towards the entrance, you're making it!
Of course, when you break out with your goal, there will be a thousand people pointing arrows and spears of criticism that want to cut you down to size, so it is always best to have an escape plan such as your own plane that you can fly off and enjoy your achievement.
That is the way I think goals should be handled. So much more exciting and adventurous than being SMART.
The final thing this model teaches us is that if your goal is not worth the sand you are trading it for, or you are not prepared to jump across pits of stakes for it, then it's not a very good goal. Stick with your sand and your day job.
About the Author:
Looking for more tips on how to become a prolific writer? See Buffy Greentree's new book The Five Day Writer's Retreat now on Amazon.
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