Friday, 10 September 2010

Make your Goals Realistic

As regular readers of Getting to Excellent already know, I think setting goals is tremendously important. Goals improve performance by focusing the mind on a particular outcome, help to remove distractions, and provide motivation to achieve something. So as a tool to manage ourselves, and other people, they are kind of handy.

But they are not simple little beasts - far from it.

A goal that is too easy encourages complacency, and might even result in something not getting done at all, or taking too long to do.

A goal that is too difficult becomes demotivating because you don’t/can’t achieve it, and either blame yourself for poor performance, or whoever encouraged you to try for the goal. Either way you come away dispirited and sure that “setting goals doesn’t work”.

What’s wrong in both cases is that not enough thought and data went into setting the goal. After all, what you are aiming for is the best performance possible from yourself or someone else. Not a sorry wreck at the end of the exercise.

Figuring out current performance, comparing performance of others of similar ability, and figuring out what a realistic improvement could be, are all ingredients to a realistic goal. The answer you get might not be the nice round number you first thought of, but it is likely to produce better results. Yes, it will have taken a little longer to arrive at, but it will also encourage a higher level of commitment in whoever is doing the work.

I’m forever guilty of setting unrealistic goals with my running, whereas a little more thought might help motivate me, rather than demotivate me. The same goes for sales targets, marketing objectives, delivering projects, passing exams etc. etc. A touch more realism, and a touch less optimism, might produce much better results in all areas. True of all things in life really.

22 comments:

  1. "Davispestmanagement.com offers Pest Control, Exterminator, Bed Bug Removal, Inspections, Rodent, Pest Elimination, Commercial, Residential, Professional, Licensed Exterminator , Scorpion, Bee Hive, Hornet, Fire Ant Removal by Service Area, Las Vegas N

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Davispestmanagement.com offers Pest Control, Exterminator, Bed Bug Removal, Inspections, Rodent, Pest Elimination, Commercial, Residential, Professional, Licensed Exterminator , Scorpion, Bee Hive, Hornet, Fire Ant Removal by Service Area, Las Vegas N

    ReplyDelete
  3. geffnerkersch.com Divorce Attorney Nassau County NY, Prenuptial Agreements Nassau County NY. Call us now: (516) 268-9898

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nyallpurposepaving.com offers Paving Contractor, Parking Lot Repairs, sealing, striping, Oil and Stone Driveways at Riverhead NY, Quogue NY, Hamptons NY, Southampton NY, Sag Harbor NY, Green point NY, Wading River NY, East Moriches NY, Center Moriches NY, Mannorville NY, Miller Place NY , Mt. Sinai NY,Greenport NY

    ReplyDelete
  5. Atopcommercialpaving.com offers Commercial Paving, Asphalt Contractor, and Parking Lot Resurfacing at Queens NY, Nassau County, Bayside NY, Jamaica NY, Middle Village NY, Ozone Park NY, Howard Beach NY, Little Neck NY

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jettonsgrading.com offers Grading, Excavation and Paving Contractor, Land Clearing Services, Septic Systems, Retaining Walls and Driveways, Drainage Systems, Construction Site Clean-Up, Demolition Contractor at Walhalla SC, Seneca SC

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bedbugprocpc.com offers Bed Bug Exterminator, Bed Bug Inspections, Bed Bug Elimination, Bed Bug Inspection for Hotels and Residential and Commercial Bed Bug at Palo Alto CA, San Mateo CA, San Jose CA, Belmont CA, San francisco CA, Redwood City CA, Sunnyvale CA

    ReplyDelete
  8. Landscape , Outdoor, Landscape Lighting Installation, Lawn Sprinkler Design, Repairs, Installation, Lawn Irrigation Service, Sprinkler System Backflow Testing at Long Island, Nassau County, Suffolk County, Dix Hills NY, Huntington NY, Syosset NY, Smithtown NY and Happauge NY

    ReplyDelete
  9. reliablecommercialpaving.com offers Parking lot paving, walk way construction, Commercial paving, asphalt, Parking Lot Repairs, Parking Lot Striping, Commercial Blacktop, Parking Lot Repairs, Commercial Paving Contractor, Commercial Asphalt Contractor at New Jersey at Hanover NJ, East Orange NJ, Newark NJ, Morristown NJ, Summit NJ , Union NJ, Hackensack NJ, Patterson NJ

    ReplyDelete
  10. Complete-pest-control.com offers Pest Control, Exterminator, Rodent Control, Rodent Elimination, and Pest Elimination at Palo Alto CA, San Mateo CA, San Francisco CA, Redwood City CA, Sunnyvale CA, and Belmont CA

    ReplyDelete
  11. Davispestmanagement.com offers Pest Control, Exterminator, Bed Bug Removal, Inspections, Rodent, Pest Elimination, Commercial, Residential, Professional, Licensed Exterminator , Scorpion, Bee Hive, Hornet, Fire Ant Removal by Service Area, Las Vegas NV

    ReplyDelete
  12. Viceroy Investigations and Consulting LLC is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the Massapequa's offer security consulting, assessments and training to large and small businesses. Let us help you design and implement policies that aid in Safe hiring, Work Place security and Information Security. Call us: 516-694-0093

    ReplyDelete
  13. Viceroy Investigations and Consulting LLC is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the Massapequa's offer security consulting, assessments and training to large and small businesses. Let us help you design and implement policies that aid in Safe hiring, Work Place security and Information Security. Call us: 516-694-0093

    ReplyDelete
  14. Realestatebydavidschoelles.com offers David Schoelles Real Estate, Cash for Homes at Arizona, Scottsdale AZ, and Phoenix AZ

    ReplyDelete
  15. johnniescarwashonoak.com offer Best Car Wash on Long Island, Detailing Centre, Car Detailing, Brushless Car Wash, F ull-Service Car Wash, Car Detailing, SUV Detailing, Best Car Wash, Auto Detailing, SUV Detailing, Lease Return Detailing at Copiague NY, Lindenhurst NY, Amityville NY

    ReplyDelete
  16. Yankeeclippersbarbershop.com offers Barbershop, Men’s Haircuts, Straight razor cuts, Neck shave, Trendy haircuts, Barber, Straight Razor shaves at Augusta GA. Call us now: 706.496.3342

    ReplyDelete
  17. David Schoeless Plumbing, David Schoeless at AZ, Scottsdale AZ, Phoenix AZ

    ReplyDelete
  18. The Center for Body Wellness offers Massage and CBD Massage at Rochester NY. Call us now: 585-266-6730

    ReplyDelete
  19. HandRails | Security Cages | Steel Coating | Custom Ironwork | Welding at Tucson AZ

    ReplyDelete
  20. Carpet, upholstery cleaning, carpet stain, odor removal, carpet steam, ceramic tile, commercial carpet cleaning at mobile al

    ReplyDelete
  21. Kitchen cabinets and Kitchen cabinet supplier, remodeling, countertops, New Kitchen Cabinets, Wood Kitchen Cabinets

    ReplyDelete
  22. norwalkfloorsanding.com offers Wood Floor refinishing, Installation, Oak Floor Refinishing, Staining, Flooring Contractor, Wood Floor Sanding, Residential Wood Flooring in Norwalk CT

    ReplyDelete