A recent realisation: Most of my disappointments come, not from my reality but from my goals. So I’ve made 3 changes to how I set goals… Ever since I can remember, Ambition was one of my core driving forces. Ambition not to achieve something specific but to constantly get better & have more impact. So, I am always planning for the future or reflecting on the past. No surprise that being in the present has been a constant struggle. But I don’t want to become less ambitious. It’s the source of many of my strengths & I don’t know how to reduce it without losing them.
However, I have realised that my ambition is not the problem. It’s the kinds of goals I set because of it. Based on how you use them, goals can be transformative or catastrophic. An example: Recently, I have started writing online. Earlier, I would have set an ambitious goal: “I will get 10,000 followers in 1 year” There are 2 things wrong with this goal. 1st, I don’t enough about ‘Online writing’ to make an outcome goal: → Is followers the right metric ? Is 10,000 followers the right goal ? I don’t know as I am just starting out → I am just picking 10,000 as it is far ahead of where I am starting from (<1000 followers) & it’s a big round number. 2nd, I have imposed an arbitrary deadline: → Let’s assume 10,000 is a good goal. Will it matter if I reach it in 12 months or 18 ? Not really. → Someday I might get to 10,000 followers. But instead of celebrating, I will be unhappy. Why ? Because, of my arbitrary 1 year deadline. Now, I do 3 things differently: 1️⃣ START WITH PROCESS GOALS: → I focus on learning the right actions & doing them regularly. → My ‘Online writing’ goals: Post twice/week, Engage with others for at-least 30 mins/day, Each month study 1 of my favourite writers → They help me improve as I focus on things I can control (my actions) and not on things I can’t (how others react to my posts) → Also I experience success daily (Success ≠ going viral. Success = I do my planned actions) 2️⃣ THEN SET OUTCOME GOALS BUT WITHOUT A DEADLINE: → I have a long term goal: ‘Have 10,000 people who find my content valuable & eagerly look forward to it’ → But I don’t have a deadline for it. It will happen when it needs to happen. → I just focus on doing, learning & experimenting. 3️⃣ ONLY PUT A DEADLINE WHEN I KNOW ENOUGH: → There are domains where I have conceptual depth + on ground experience + understanding of what’s ambitious VS feasible → Only for them & if needed, I set outcome goals with a deadline → For everything else I either only have process goals or outcome goals without a deadline For the first time, I feel like my Ambition & Happiness are not at odds with each other. My goals are bringing me joy & excitement instead of creating guilt & self-doubt. I’ll keep sharing as my thinking evolves on this. What’s your biggest realisation about goals? —————————————————
Another dilemma in Goal Setting is balancing Short Term & Long Term goals. I find the Portfolio Method of Goal Setting as a great way to solve for this: Portfolio method of Goal-Setting: How to focus on Immediate Deliverables AND Invest in the future