Do Goals work?

According to John Maxwell, the answer is NO.

“Goals only work if you do.”

                           – John C. Maxwell

A more accurate thought has not been spoken. Making goals, having goals, writing them down, knowing what your goals are, and reaching for goals all sound great, but none of them will ensure you accomplish your goals. Doing the necessary things to achieve your daily goals consistently would be best. Whether they work or not is entirely up to you and your willingness to work towards them.

So, let’s ask some questions about Goals.

Why are goals important?

Goals are essential because they give direction. They give us a target to aim at. It’s easy to be distracted and lose focus when you don’t have a clear vision of what you’re reaching for in your future. Goals have a way of pulling you to them. However, don’t forget Goals have no power to motivate you. Motivation comes from action. Let’s never think that getting fired up about goals equates to that goal being accomplished. If that were the case, gyms would packed to overflowing every month of the year, not just the first three. Goals do help, but not by themselves.

What are reasonable goals?

Reasonable goals are three things.

1.  Clear and concise:

   • Clarity is essential. As Stephan Covey says, “One of the greatest tragedies would be to climb to the top of the ladder and realize your ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.”  When we are not clear about our goal, we can not accomplish it, and our world will be filled with significant ambiguity.

   • This is why it must be concise. Make it short, not long, because you have to THINK to do that. Think through what you want and what you are trying to achieve. You have to be straightforward to bring it down to a few words.

2. Attainable with a significant stretch

   • I have been notorious for this in the past. My mom has always told me, “David, your eyes are bigger than your stomach.” When eating, I would always get way more than I needed. I have a gift for thinking big, but a weakness inside that gift is to overestimate where I am and underestimate what it will take to get where I want to go. This is a perfect recipe for making completely unachievable goals, at least in the timeframe I want to do it.

   • I trained for a marathon at one point in my life, and health-wise if allowed, I will do it again. One of the reasons I failed at that was a health issue brought on by the fact that I bit off more than I could chew when I started my training. I wasn’t in shape to get in marathon shape. I just thought I’d do it at the same time. I talked to a marathoner later, who said you must take a year to get in good shape and then start training for a big run. IMPATIENCE IS MY DOWNFALL.

   • So, when you set goals, ensure they are realistic while forcing you to stretch simultaneously. If they don’t make you stretch, they will lose your attention because if you’re like me, you need a challenge. However, if they are so enormous that there is no way you could get it done in the time frame you set, you’re not being a risk taker; you’re merely being impatient. You will quit if it’s so far out there or so big you can’t ever get there in that time frame.

3. Accompanied by smaller following-step goals for wins along the way

   • This is a must if you are to stick with goals of any kind. When you set your long-range goal, even if it is just a year, you must walk the next step, smaller goals, back from the final destination.

   • It’s essential to have wins along the way. It’s all about the famous question, “How do you eat an elephant?”  One bite at a time. It’s the same with a goal. More minor achievements must be made along the way for you to reach the ultimate destination. They are like landmarks. They let you know you’re getting closer.

   • This keeps frustration and discouragement at bay and invites encouragement and enthusiasm into your journey.

What are the wrong goals?

1.  Goals that don’t exist are wrong. No matter how you use goals or the best method for you. Having goals, a sense of direction, a landing pad at the finish line, whatever you want to call it, is good to have goals.

2. Goals that aren’t yours. Make goals that fit with what you are trying to achieve, not the wishes of others for you. You can’t let others live vicariously through you.

3. Goals that are too grandiose or too insignificant are wrong.

4. Meaningless goals. Goals for goal’s sake. I see many people who are so patterned to set goals that before they even set them, they know in their subconscious mind that they haven’t finished so often that they don’t trust themselves this time either. They know it’s just a routine and will mean nothing in a matter of weeks. This means the goals aren’t personal enough.

What are the problems with goals?

1. The problem I see with Goals is how we have come to view them. Goal setting has become such a habit and almost a second-nature exercise that we have forgotten what it means and what it is supposed to do. At every end, we look at the past year, then toward the next, and make a glorified list of things to do and call it our goals.

2. Goals can not and do not achieve themselves, but in a sense, we make these goals at the beginning of our year as if it is Jack’s magic beans, and if we plant them, they will spring up into a giant beanstalk and take us where the treasure is. It just doesn’t work that way.

3. Goals are statements of future expectations based on a desired achievement and are achieved by consistent, daily activity that steps us towards that achievement in a compounding way. In other words,

“Goals don’t work unless you do”

                                                                           – John C Maxwell

What does it take to achieve or exceed your goals?

1.  WORK

   • I’ve said enough about this already, but suffice it to say, this is the foundation. There is no magic formula, and no one else can do it for you. Drop the idea of goals altogether if you are not inclined to work for them.

2. Consistency

   • I have truly learned this in the last few years of my life. It is hard to understand for people who have a type of personality or are talented or can pull things off nicely. In my younger years, I was masterful at procrastination. Put it off then, use all the resources to pull it together and make something I thought was excellent. However, I didn’t have the age or experience to realize It cost more, it took more out of me, and it was not nearly as good as it could have been or than I thought it was.

   • I have learned that daily, consistent movement toward a goal helps you achieve and exceed it in the most effective and impactful way possible.

   • Also, I have learned that just like money grows over time, so does action. This is why personal growth is so significant, and a growth plan is necessary.

3. Focus

   • One of the most significant challenges of the 21st century, if anything like me, is distraction. It is so easy to be distracted in our world today that it doesn’t take much to throw us completely off course.

   • Learn the art of saying no to the unimportant (the unimportant are the things that do not take you toward your goals) and saying yes to the important. Say no to others, say no to yourself, but decide that the goal is more important than the distraction. Until that decision is made, the goal will go unmet.

So here are some things to remember.

• Goals are not just a glorified list of things to do.

• Goals are not just busy work.

• Goals will not motivate you.

• Goals don’t work unless you do

• Goals are powerful points of direction that draw you to them

• Goals are achieved best through daily consistency, growth, and development.

• You will achieve and exceed your goals if you do anything you are gifted at and move toward your desired destination daily.