Over time, as I’ve delved into the awesome texts of productivity and achievement, I’ve seen conflicting views on goal-setting.
The dilemma is: should you even set them?
On one hand, setting goals lets you hone in on what you want to get done, and creates a reward mechanism that lets you feel great after you accomplish your goals. It allows you to focus on what truly needs to get done, and provides a structure by which you can make your dreams come true. I’ll call this the Chris Guillebeau school of goal-setting, since he has a fairly structured model for goal-setting via his annual review.
On the other hand, setting goals comes with a cost – the damaged feeling of self-esteem whenever you do not complete them. Also, if you become obsessed with goal-setting and achieving your goals, you’ll do nothing except chase your goals. You’ll become one-dimensional and lose that valuable time where you can ‘do nothing’, time that frequently results in us generating our best ideas and basking in our gratitude for life. In this way, our goals end up owning us. This is what I call the Jonathan Mead school of goal-setting, since he is a big proponent of the idea that our goals end up owning us.
My question for you, readers, is this – which school of thought do you believe in? I’ll break down the pros and cons of each approach in the rest of the post.
The Chris Guillebeau School
Big idea: big, long-term goals, meticulously tracked, are essential for success.
Pros:
- More direct focus. You have distinct goals that you set, which means that you can pour your focus on your goals because they’re clearly defined. That allows you to focus on your goals completely and block everything out.
- The awesome feeling when you complete your goals. Everyone knows what this is like. If you write down your goal, and achieve it, you feel freakin’ awesome. It’s a glorious experience to have.
- Long-term tracking. If you have an awesome, organized system for setting goals and tracking them like Chris does, then you get to observe your progress over time, which can be helpful to motivate you to reach other goals. It keeps you in a growth mindset, in a way – it helps you realize that you’re constantly improving, because you can see it happen on your goal sheet.
- Better planning. When you know exactly what all your goals are, you can allocate your time and energy in the most effective and efficient way to reach them.
Cons:
- If you don’t succeed, you feel bad. For a lot of people, if you fall short, you feel bad. You feel like you failed to achieve something because, well, you did. Feeling bad for some arbitrary reason – like a mere goal that you set – is not good.
- Only works on measurable things. You can only set real, tangible goals on things that are quantifiable and measurable. Unfortunately, a lot of the best things in life cannot be measured – especially feelings of self-satisfaction and abundance. This also makes you do more of things that may be redundant or necessary. For example, if you’re trying to be more creative, are you really less creative if you read 3 books and write 2 short stories in a month, as opposed to your goal of reading 5 books and writing 4 short stories? Not really. On that same note…
- Your goals are totally arbitrary. As in, the numbers that you set for them are, more or less, completely random – or are based on averages and projections. For example, in order to make a goal, you have to create a number that you have to reach for that goal. Say I want to set a goal for the number of books I want to read in a year. “Well,” I say to myself, “I can read one book per week so if I average that for an entire year I’ll read 52 books. There’s my goal.”
Unfortunately, that goal is based on an average that may not be doable for the entire year. What if work or family commitments prevent you from reading your book for the week? What if one of the books you choose is a 900 page monster and takes you 3 weeks to finish? The arbitrary number that you set doesn’t care about that.
The Jonathan Mead School
Big idea: Goals end up enslaving us and basing our self-esteem on their accomplishment, not a life well-lived, which is unhealthy. Instead, we should follow what our hearts truly desire and ditch an ego-based goal-striving mindset.
Pros:
- Peace of mind. Unlike when you’re in the Chris Guillebeau school, you won’t base your self-worth on your accomplishments. Instead, your self-esteem will be much more consistent and will not fluctuate depending on how productive you are.
- Focus on passions. Even if you aren’t formally writing down your goals, you’ll still have them – only, they’ll exist in your mind. These goals will be motivated by your passion, because you actually want to do that thing, instead of wanting to do it because you wrote it down on your big annual review sheet. If you truly care about something, you won’t have to declare it as a goal in order to accomplish it. You’ll remember it on its own.
- Allows you to have downtime. With the Chris Guillebeau system of writing down my goals, I end up letting my goals consume my entire life. If I wasn’t working on my goals, I felt bad, so I always was “working” on them, even if I set goals to do more of the things I enjoyed! The thing is, as soon as I made them goals, I stopped enjoying them and looked at them as work. Not good. When you don’t have any goals, you prevent that switch from ever occurring.
Cons:
- Less focus. You will be much more haphazard in accomplishing your goals. Or, rather, you won’t be completing your “goals” at the same level as you would as if you followed Chris Guillebeau’s school. You can still feel focused within the moment, but you won’t have that laser-level of precision you can get when using a formal goal-setting system.
- No feeling of greatness when you complete your goals. When you check items off of a long-term goal list, you feel awesome. You kind of lose that here.
- You can’t see your growth happen over time. You lose the ability to see yourself improve and grow better habits. There’s something to be said about looking at a spreadsheet, detailing every move you made, and saying, “Wow, whatever I was doing in September was awesome because I was really achieving at a high rate back then.” Of course, Jonathan would say that that kind of growth is actually fake growth, not real growth.
Somewhere In-Between
Of course, between the two extremes lies a more moderate approach, which combines elements of both. This is the approach that I take, and I think it works well for me.
Here are my tenets:
- Use to-do lists liberally. I set my MITs (most important things) to do for a day the night before. However, if I do not complete any of those MITs (usually between 4 and 6 of them), I save the to-do list and those things become my first MITs for the next day. That way, the things that I set goals for get done, no matter what, and I don’t feel like a failure if I don’t complete them because there’s always tomorrow. If things start piling up, I just don’t set any goals for a day and just play catch-up.
- Use the Action Method. I use paper versions of the Action Method to keep track of my projects. The sheer fact that I start a project is a sign that I want to do it, and using the Action Method gives me the steps I need to follow in order to complete it. Using the Action Method eliminates arbitrary goals while keeping my “to-dos” actionable every step of the way. I highly recommend it. For more on the Action Method, and some other great ideas, check out the book Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky or check out some of the articles at The 99%.
- Set aside some time for fun. Admittedly, I don’t do this that well, but I’m getting much better at it. In theory, you should set aside at least 30% of your day for fun, hobbies, and activities. This way, you separate time spent working on projects and time having fun. If you want to have a truly enjoyable life, you need to have both.
Where Do You Stand?
So, readers, what’s your perspective on setting goals?
Do you like the disciplined, rock-solid, planned style of the Chris Guillebau School?
Do you like the free-flowing, easy-going, more fun* style of the Jonathan Mead School?
Or are you, like me, somewhere in-between, focusing more on projects than arbitrary goals?
Let me know in the comments!
Hey Brett,
This is an interesting comparison, I like how you’ve outlined the pros and cons here of each approach. I personally go back and forth from being really structured and tracking-oriented to very relaxed and flowing.
Some things I’ve realized are really useful to set goals with, like:
> Finances
> Fitness goals
> Sales targets
With these types of goals I track my daily revenue and expenses, my daily workouts, and what marketing actions I’m taking to reach my business growth goals.
But there are other areas where goals to me are just plain silly… like:
> Relationship building
> Marriage
> Community building
> Personal growth
With areas like this my approach is much more relaxed and flowing. It’s taken me a while to learn that goal setting is a *useful tool* in some areas, and just isn’t the right approach in others.
Thanks for this thought provoking post Brett. I appreciate you continuing the conversation here.
Hey Jonathan,
I didn’t mean to imply that you and Chris exclusively used these methods – but when I was trying to find a way to label the post, you and Chris’s approaches immediately popped up in my head!
I’m in total agreement about setting goals for things that naturally lend themselves to be measurable, like the ones you gave, but, at the same time, I like focusing on the essentials and avoid taking metrics of things that just plain don’t matter.
For example, there’s no way to accurately measure relationship building, unless you count time spent just sitting and talking with people in person and on Skype. At the same time, I don’t really need a metric to know when I’ve reached growth in an area; I can just “tell” when I’ve hit a new peak (and plateau, unfortunately) because my spidey senses work pretty well.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, my friend.
Thanks for the reference and the comparison of systems. As Jonathan mentioned, I also go back and forth between structure and flow. I think context is the missing element; for some pursuits, a more focused manner of goal-setting is absolutely necessary. For others, it may not even be desirable.
All the best to you both, and to all of your readers.
Hey there Chris,
I absolutely agree with you on context being important, but, as I said to Jonathan, I attached your name to that method for ease of explanation (and memory!) for my readers.
Sometimes conscious, deliberately tracked goals are good, and sometimes they’re not. All I know is that my hybrid approach of focusing on projects usually keeps me setting goals for things that benefit from goal-setting, and keeps me from setting goals for things that don’t need it.
Thanks so much for the well wishes and I wish all the best for your readers as well!
I focus on projects. I like them because they’re measureable and quantifiable and usually matter more than simply focusing on arbitrary goals.
Joel! Knew I’d see you around here eventually
I’m glad that there’s someone else out there who appreciates the project-based system. It’s so flexible and adaptable… Man, I think I’m in productivity-love with it!
Why do you list twice all your projects? online and offline. so you take the actions from the big project book and put it on your small daily to do book. or vice versa?
Ck,
I list them online so I can freely sketch and edit action steps (small actions needed to complete the project) before I transcribe it onto paper.
To put it more simply – when I’m brainstorming ideas for a project, I put it online first, and finalize all the action steps. After I get all the final action steps, I put it in my notebook.
I use a notebook because I like physical, tangible things and because I like getting off the internet when I’m doing projects. When things are in my notebook, I can reference the action steps at any time, whether I’m on the internet or not. I know, it doesn’t take long to open a new Internet window, but I like staying clean and focused that way.
As far as my small daily book, oftentimes, 70% of the things that I put in it aren’t even action steps for ANY of my projects. Sometimes I have other things that aren’t project-related that I’d like to get done on a particular day (school work, for instance), and they eat up all of my time.
Thanks for asking the questions!
The Chris Guillebeau School. That’s my school.
Thanks for letting me know, David! What kind of goal-setting system in particular do you use? Totally long-term, or more short-term goals?
great summary of the two approaches:)
Thanks for that, Marius
Hey Brett,
What a very thought out post, it’s obvious you’ve put much thought into this..
I’m on the same boat as you. A bit of the middle… I set goals while at the same time, don’t let my goals take over my daily life.
Good stuff,
cheers!
Hey Parker Lee,
Again, another person who’s firmly in the middle
Awesome to hear!
Thanks for commenting, as per usual!
Nice comeback! will comment more later.
JAsper
I’m looking forward to it
I’m quite adept at lurking
Well, stop lurking, haha
I want to see what you can add to the conversation here!
I don’t have goals. I have visions + habits.
A man of principles, eh? I dig that.
I liken my “goals” to visions as well. That’s why I don’t really write my goals down, unless it’s the completion of a project. If I care about it enough, I will keep that vision in my head and work my hardest to achieve it.
Thanks for commenting, Lach!
As a member of the GTD church, I’m fully favorable to the formal definition of goals. And I don’t link the failure to fulfill a goal with a feeling of defeat: many times, you set a goal just to see how it goes; once you’ve failed, you can set a more realistic goal, so the previous one can be seen as a R&D project.
Hey Nacho,
Reframing your goals as an R&D project = brilliant. That’s such an awesome take on it. I might have to steal it and… You know what? Start setting formal goals again. I’m not above a tweak in my methods.
How do you find those gorgeous photos for every of your post? Do you pay for it or gratis?
Hey Brang,
I go here for the pictures for every post. They’re free
Brett,
Goals to me have enormous place in life but need reframing. Otherwise you get so fixated about making it to A or B that you miss the wonderful opportunities from X and Y you just flew by but didn’t notice. And who’s to say the chosen goal was correct in the first place?
I prefer to get ‘in’-volved. I use intuition, intention and interest to point the way. First something piques my interest that sits well with me and so I intuitively go with it and have some order of intention of what I’d like to gain or learn from it without a fixed end (goal). I’m always free to intuitively change direction and while I’ve had a few doozies I am normally not far off track. It’s all an ‘in’side job.
Great post turning over to the readers and what their experiences are. Be lucky!
Hey there John!
Mmm… Your approach sounds great as well! I think goal-setting, whether formal or not, all depends on if the system fits the person who’s using it. Fit is so key.
Thanks for your awesome comment!
i agree
long term goals are the key to success
Sure. Some others have mentioned GTD. I use that as well for all the routine, day-to-day tasks and projects. But I don’t really consider things like pouring my cornflakes or answering emails to be ‘goals’. Those things are just tasks or actions. I think a ‘goal’ is something much bigger than that. Something that’s big enough and audacious enough that in the beginning you don’t know how you’re going to be able to do it. So why plan? To realise something like that you need a certain amount of faith and flexibility. I keep nurturing the idea. I figure out the habits which are going to bring it closer and realise that it’s always going to be evolving; but don’t get hung up on particular plans or deadlines or metrics. Feel your way.
Excellent comment, Lach. As I’m beginning to set longer-term goals for myself – I call it a “vision” – I’m starting to realize the importance of good habits and consistent data tracking to find out what works!
Thanks for commenting, man.
Really liking the videos Brett.
I do goals on a spreadsheet. But they do not “rule” my life or “own” me. Half of them are fun stuff. I’m glad I have them. For instance, I would have never biked 1,250 miles this year if it weren’t a goal (my 2010 goal actually 1,700 which I probably won’t hit, but I’m still happy with what I’ve done)
I disagree with the school of thought that “if you have to write it down to remember it, it’s not important”. Writing it down cements that it’s important in your mind. Life in 2010 is so full of distractions and outside forces battling for your attention it is very easy to get caught up in all of the noise. It’s a way of keeping yourself on course, especially when focus and energy are finite.
Hey there Ben,
It’s good that you keep goals fun, man. I know that for me, as soon as I make something into a “goal”, I end up sucking all the fun out of it because I treat it like work. And, eventually, I end up doing that thing because I want to get the goal completed, not because I want to actually do that thing. That’s what’s happened to me with the goals.
And the “if you have to write it down to remember it, it’s not important” mindset is for the goals that are particularly arbitrary. I still write down my projects/actions/”goals”, but I would remember all of them even if I didn’t. I write them down to track them, though. I guess a better way to phrase it would be “If you absolutely HAVE to write down a goal because you wouldn’t have a chance of remembering it otherwise, it’s probably not that important to you.” The logic being, of course, if you cared about the goal, you would remember it without having to check your goal spreadsheet.
I think we should be passionate about the things we do in the long-term. If we’re setting arbitrary, more or less meaningless goals for the long-term, we’re not doing ourselves any favors because those things will suck away our time.
In my case, I’m usually more of a ‘visionary’ than a ‘doer’, so I have to constantly refocus by applying the SMART pattern to everything I do (for what is worth… but I guess it also makes me too obsessive sometimes…)
Here’s my four step plan. Works for me. Follow these four steps and watch your life unfold like never before. Here’s a little more detail for you. Don’t delay. The time to take action is today.
1. Establish a goal and write it down.
I look at it this way. A blank cheque won’t purchase you anything. It’s only after you’ve written on it and signed it that a cheque gains its power to purchase. The same with a goal. It is a written commitment to you. It is a personal declaration of your intention. That is why I write my goals and carry them around with me in my wallet. From time to time I can refer to them and be reminded of the path that I have laid out before me. Goal setting works!
2. Write down your daily plan of action.
The trouble with most people who do not believe in goal setting, or who have tried goal setting and failed, is that they have thought that by simply writing a goal down, that it will automatically come to pass. WRONG! A goal without a plan of action, followed by consistent action, is as useful as never having written a goal at all. Goals are powerful tools that cement within your sub-conscious the path you will take. It is the road-map you hold as you pursue and reach your destination.
3. Share your goal with someone who will keep you accountable.
Support is of vital importance. Tell your ‘supportive’ family and friends about your goal. Get them to make you accountable. For there is nothing like someone who is close to you to remind you of what you’ve decided to change. Without it you’ll find the going tough. Find someone who will share in your victories with joy and in your failures with encouragement. They’ll lift you up when you’re down and keep you level headed when you’re soaring.
4. Act on that plan now.
Act Now! Take action without delay. Don’t forget to encourage your support group to keep you on your toes. No mercy! Begin immediately and be committed to your goal. When I decide to write a book I don’t wait for a whole chapter to appear in my head. I grab one word by the throat and thrust it onto the page. My book has begun. Now all I have to do is capture thousands more words and the job is completed, word-by-word. Got the plan? Act!
Gee! Everyone here from Brett to all those who made comments are like super. I’m dealing with “goal setting” overload right now. Healthy, insightful, generous commenting such as this is truly super, right? Congratulations, Brett. U’ve got as all with wider horizons, kid. Thanks!
I believe goal setting is crucial in the long and short term. You have to know what the end result will be or you will wonder aimlessly throughout life. Goals don’t have to be super elaborate either. I set short obtainable goals to fit unique situations that I want to accomplish. For example, one of my goals right now is to sell a domain name that I believe is valuable and use the money to pay off debt. Short and simple. Just own your goals, don’t let them own you.