Goals Are Important But... - TFAB #21
A Few Thoughts On Goals
Date: Thursday, January 4th.
Time: 1:16 PM
Ready, Set, GO!!!!
When January 1st rolls around, it’s common for people to feel like they’re in some sort of sprint race. Sprinkle hurdles in there too.
Like a race, there’s a desired outcome. A goal.
In sprint hurdles, there are obstacles the athletes must overcome to achieve the goal.
The same can be said for any individual.
In sprint hurdling, athletes sometimes fall at the first hurdle. Their race comes to an end.
Others clip the hurdles but maintain composure to finish out the race.
Crossing the line in a hurdle race is not a straightforward endeavour, nor is achieving personal or professional goals.
There is a mountain of content circulating your newsfeeds about “2024 goals and resolutions”.
Consuming it without a filter can create a sense of unrealistic urgency and pressure.
The following thoughts are ones that I regularly remind myself of.
1. Don’t get lost in the sauce
Focus. Committment. Resilience.
Those are all qualities, behaviours and mindsets essential to achieving goals.
While I advocate for adopting them, I also believe flexibility is required.
Previous experience has taught me that attachment to a plan can set you up for failure.
Something outside of your control can change and as a result your plans too.
If you are overly fixed on a singular goal or way of achieving your desired outcome, you may miss out on something greater.
Rigidly sticking to a singular thought process can make you brittle.
Live with intent but allow plans to evolve.
A flower sways with the wind.
2. Focus on what matters to you
When it comes to New Year’s resolutions and goals, people often fall at the first hurdle.
Perhaps, the jump from their starting point is too big.
Maybe, their process to scale the hurdle is inefficient.
Both are possibilities but I believe there’s a third factor at play here that lies under the surface.
— The goal or change wasn’t important to them in the first place.
Our individual values (needs) are driving forces behind our behaviours.
If a goal or behaviour change is misaligned with what we deem important our desire to follow through deminishes.
Newsfeeds are full of New Year’s resolutions and 2024 goals.
It’s easy to be influenced by what others are doing.
Do you want to live someone else’s life or do you want to live yours?
Align your goals with your unique values if you want to achieve sustainable progress.
Everyone’s ideas of success are different — define yours.
3. Have Fun
Andrew Glaze, an ultra-running athlete sums it up perfectly with his tagline.
Smile or you’re doing it wrong.
Having goals and working towards being a better human are worthwhile endeavours. They can result in happiness for sure.
That said, the greatest amount of joy I’ve experienced, is in the joy of being and that can be accessed in every moment.
There will be times when the process of changing your behaviour or achieving your goals will be hard. That is normal.
However, if what you’re doing brings you little to no sense of joy, well-being or fulfillment, why are you doing it in the first place?
Hard work and having fun can co-exist at the same time.
Live Free,
Niall
Readers Reflection
What principles matter to you when setting your goals?
Has to be for my greatest good. Like you said, smile or you're doing it wrong- my goals have to incite joy and enjoyment. White knuckles are red flags.