I know that goal setting is recommended by many, but increasingly I have a problem with it. Firstly the often quoted Harvard study about goal setters being way more successful than others apparently never happened. More importantly, on a personal level, I find that setting a goal immediately makes me feel like I’m underachieving and when I do reach it there is often a sense of “was that it” and a need to set another goal so the cycle begins again.
I have recently come across a few observers who recommend putting systems in place rather than goal setting. So for example, instead of focusing on climbing a mountain you would focus on putting one foot in front of the other. It’s like the old joke “How do you eat the elephant” ; Answer: “one bite at a time”.
This way every step of the way feels like a success, it’s more motivating and if I fall short of my ultimate goal I will still feel happy with what I have achieved rather than feeling like a failure for coming up short. It also makes me more aware of the present which is also more relaxing and gives more chances to spot opportunities that come by.
Finally some goals are hard to define in the first place. How do I know how good I can become at playing the piano for example. What I do know though is that practice every day will improve my playing and that’s something that I can develop through my lifetime.
Scott Adams book “How to fail at almost anything…” is a good read on the subject (although confirmation bias kicks in here).