3 Reasons Why Your Goals SUCK!

Ok so this post just randomly came to my mind as I published Intentional Procrastination Can Boost Productivity a few seconds ago.  Normally I have scheduled writing times, but I’m breaking my normal pattern to bring you this brainstorm…

G O A L S     S U C K !

In the last paragraph of my previous post, I wrote “Just be sure it’s something YOU really want to do.” And I got to thinking about that and perhaps all of the “set your goals for 2010” posts I’ve been reading in my RSS reader are brewing in my subconscious and I just need to borrow Kelli’s soapbox so I can stand up and tell everyone exactly why their goals suck.

1.  Wrong Focus

Lots of gurus will tell you that you have to “make them measurable” and there is some element of truth to that, but I think it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers and lose sight of what you’re really after.  For example, web site traffic is easy to measure, but wouldn’t quality visitors that leave engaging comments on your site be more meaningful than a bajillion drive by hits on random keywords?  How do you measure that?  “Meaningful” is an entirely subjective term.  No one can “measure” that but you.  You’re going to have to track that differently than logging numbers into a chart or spreadsheet.

2.  Too Many Goals

It’s easy to look at the whole year ahead of you as a blank canvas.  For most of us, it’s not as empty as we think.  School, work and family usually take up a good chunk of our time.  Setting multiple goals, resolutions or whatever you want to call them never works well.  We like to think we can multi-task sometimes, but it’s usually a recipe for failure.  Keep things simple.

You are better off setting one goal at a time or a maximum of 3, if you must, and focusing on those fully.  Do not add any more goals until you have achieved one or more of the three.  If one of the goals is a long-term project, break it down into something small that you can mark as completed and use that smaller segment as one of your goals.  Focus on only 1-3 goals at a time all year long.  You will get a lot more done this way, I promise.

3.  They’re Not YOUR Goals

That’s right.  You don’t own them.  And that’s the biggest reason why they suck.  That’s why you aren’t motivated to follow through with them.  That’s why it’s a pain in the butt to set them and why you procrastinate on them (and not in a good way!)

Your goals need to be something you want to do and I mean REALLY want to do!  If it’s not benefitting you personally, it’s NOT YOUR GOAL!  If you are not 100% driven to get up and do it every day – it’s NOT YOUR GOAL!  If you don’t like working out, then going to the gym is NOT YOUR GOAL!  Your goal should not be to hit the gym 5 days a week, it should be finding activities that you enjoy that provide you with adequate exercise.

Make absolutely certain that you WANT to see that goal completed and when you are motivated to get to those goal-related activities every single day, then you’ve found your groove.

Oh and here’s a bonus… If the completed goal looks good on paper, but you lack the motivation or skills to do it.  Hire someone. Seriously – don’t try to remodel your kitchen if you lack coordination with power tools.  Put your efforts into picking out the furnishings and the paints, but leave the rest to professionals.  When you start looking at your list that way, you may find a lot of things you can delegate and when you do, you often find they get done faster than if you tried to do them yourself.  ;)

That’s it – that’s my random brainstorm on goals.  Now get to it…