Demons of Effective Goal Setting
Ever try to get something started ... only to not?! Ever start with the best intentions ... and then nothing?! Effective goal-setting is a tricky wicket ... especially when the demons start looking you in the eye.Five such demons consistently like to do that:
- The Demon of Procrastination -- Too frequently "Later" morphs into "Whenever" which morphs into "Never".
- The Demon of Limited Accountability to Oneself -- It's amazing how so many people are so capable at helping others, but when it comes to helping themselves, fugetaboutit!
- The Demon of Poor Prioritization -- The classic mistake: Over-Prioritizing the Urgent, and Under-Prioritization the Important.
- The Demon of Trying to Take Too Big of a Next Step -- Doing so either makes the task impossible, or distasteful.
- The Demon of Inadequate Support Systems -- It's not always a straight line between wherever you are and whatever you want, so it's essential that you have the proper support in place, from both the people around you and the processes you're engaging.
These demons have an incredible power to derail. And they're just a few of the demons that are out there.
What demons do you see when goal-setting? What sorts of things do you do to avoid their fiery stare?
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Fiery Eye courtesy of: dusktg.deviantart.com/art/Fiery-Eye-11084727.
posted by Barry Zweibel at 8:10 AM
9 Comments:
Someone once told me that he would rather have 1% of a hundred people's efforts and a 100% of his own...but being dependent on others in goal setting is one of the demons in the process that I have experienced. I look back and see that all the times that my goals have been sidetracked, and it is because those moments, getting started meant having others see and help execute an idea. Since then, I have kept my goal setting (although I do differentiate that from actually getting started) a personal thing. I am less disappointed that way. NOTE: Now that I looked at your blog, I see that it was number 5 on your list (support)! We are in agreement.
Great blog entry! Note that our software product covers all five... :-) The limited edition is free via www.single-step.com/le Good luck with your goals!
Demons are one place to look and another is to go back to the start and ask "Why is this important to me, my role, life, etc?" What is the cost of my inability to self manage through these goals and begin to have awareness of what is happening internally when the demons appear...Which goals am I able to complete and what am I doing differently to fulfill.... The place to look is the "for sake of what" one sets the goal in the first place. Is it linked to a ,larger commitment or something one deeply cares about?"
This is great!! The people that succeed in life are those that just start, even if they don't have a clear vision of how to get there. This blog also touches on setting too large of goals... its important to chunk down these large goals into actionable items. The things that people could accomplish if they could overcome that inertia called status quo!!
This entry is quite appropriate for the times. For many this has become of a period of re-evaluating goals and discovering what is truly vital to their ability to not only success, but succeed at surviving. As there are many ways to approach effective goal setting, one of the most beneficial processes to me was that laid out by Stephen Covey.
Periodically referencing that material has helped to keep me grounded, particularly since the approach (although a number of years old) is rooted in the understanding that goal setting includes evolution. Is there room for change on the path that you have set to achieving your goals?"
One lesson I picked up from Sports Psychology - and these folks know about goal setting - is that it can be helpful to think about 3 types of goals.
Outcome Goals - What are you ultimately trying to achieve? What is your Gold Medal if you like. These are the goals that should inspire you and get you out of bed in the morning - they should answer the 'Why is this important?' question.
Performance Goals - These sit a level below and are the more traditional SMART type goals that break the outcome down into what it will take to achieve your ulitmate outcome. They should focus on the 'What?' you will need to achieve
Process Goals - These are many and varied in nature and drop out of the Performance Goals. They focus on the 'How?'
It seems to be helpful to be able to reference Why? as well as How? when maintaining motivation around achieving your perfromance goals.
Valuable points. In this period good sense is always good to remember.
If you want to learn how to swim you have to jump into the water. I agree, you need take care of yourself, don't jump in to the deep end too soon and make sure you have adequate support. If you do that - then it's easier to understand what steps to take and how to recover from minor mistakes.
All excellent points. One of the key tenets of goal setting is also to establish the end result very clearly and identify needs to achieve the end results.
Another important piece is to avoid validating the reasons behind the current process, performance and outcomes related to the goal. One would get caught in the whirlpool of what is rather than what can be and needs to be.
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