There is a lot of information out there about how to set good goals. And for unknown reasons a lot of that information sets my teeth completely on edge. Yes, I know they should be 'Specific - Measurable - Attainable - Realistic - Timely' (aka SMART), but who wants to be smart when setting goals? Where is the fun in that?
For your major life goals, your method of selecting and setting them should be exciting and depict the life and death nature of it all. So I suggest leaving behind the business strategy, and follow the Indiana Jones method.
How does my little analogy work? Follow me!
(It helps a lot if you have seen Raiders of the Lost Ark. If you haven't, just search on YouTube 'Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark Famous Scene'.)
Your goal is like the golden idol in the cave. The scene starts with you first beholding the idol on its pedestal and trying to work out how to bring it back home. Can you see it? Gleaming on its little pedestal asking to be reached? Awesome.
Now look at the bag of sand you have been carrying and work out if you have enough sand for the weight of your idol. Sand is the every day material that you will need to give up: time, resources, money, etc. How heavy is your idol? How much will you have to hand over in order to achieve it? Do you have enough?
You hold your breath as you test out your theory - is there really enough sand there to take the weight of the idol? When you schedule in all the time you will need to spend on your goal, is there enough there? You celebrate when you pull it free - you have just agreed to a goal you believe you can reach.
But wait, that's only the beginning! You still need to escape from the cave together with your goal to realize it. You can only claim the idol if you get it back home, or else you become another skeleton in the cave. And everyone knows it's once you have decided on a goal that everything in your life tries to prevent you from reaching it.
So, you start well but you soon run into trouble. For Indiana it was a pit full of stakes that he needed to swing across. For you, it could be a gap in your finances that you need some help getting through to the next month, or a sudden time suck that leaves you with not enough hours in the day.
Someone will suggest throwing them the idol and they will give you the help you need to cross the pit. Maybe it is in exchange for a sensible job, just for a little bit so you can pay the bills.
What do you do? Indiana threw them the idol, only to find they then ran off leaving him. For you, it is more likely that you will get the help you need, but at the cost of having to start all over again back in the cave with your goal. Only now you are a bit older and wearier.
If you are brave, you manage to get over the obstacle while still keeping your goal. However, next comes the giant rolling boulder. While things might push you to go faster than you feel comfortable doing, and you always seem to be one step ahead of disaster - as long as you are running towards the entrance, you're making it!
Obviously, when you break free of the cave with your goal, there will always be people who want to cut you down and criticize you. Therefore, think like Indie, have an escape plan set up to enjoy the results of having fully achieved your goal.
That's the way I think goals must be handled. A lot more exciting and adventurous than being SMART about goal setting.
The final thing this model teaches us is that if your goal is not worth the sand you are trading it for, or you are not prepared to jump across pits of stakes for it, then it's not a very good goal. Stick with your sand and your day job.
For your major life goals, your method of selecting and setting them should be exciting and depict the life and death nature of it all. So I suggest leaving behind the business strategy, and follow the Indiana Jones method.
How does my little analogy work? Follow me!
(It helps a lot if you have seen Raiders of the Lost Ark. If you haven't, just search on YouTube 'Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark Famous Scene'.)
Your goal is like the golden idol in the cave. The scene starts with you first beholding the idol on its pedestal and trying to work out how to bring it back home. Can you see it? Gleaming on its little pedestal asking to be reached? Awesome.
Now look at the bag of sand you have been carrying and work out if you have enough sand for the weight of your idol. Sand is the every day material that you will need to give up: time, resources, money, etc. How heavy is your idol? How much will you have to hand over in order to achieve it? Do you have enough?
You hold your breath as you test out your theory - is there really enough sand there to take the weight of the idol? When you schedule in all the time you will need to spend on your goal, is there enough there? You celebrate when you pull it free - you have just agreed to a goal you believe you can reach.
But wait, that's only the beginning! You still need to escape from the cave together with your goal to realize it. You can only claim the idol if you get it back home, or else you become another skeleton in the cave. And everyone knows it's once you have decided on a goal that everything in your life tries to prevent you from reaching it.
So, you start well but you soon run into trouble. For Indiana it was a pit full of stakes that he needed to swing across. For you, it could be a gap in your finances that you need some help getting through to the next month, or a sudden time suck that leaves you with not enough hours in the day.
Someone will suggest throwing them the idol and they will give you the help you need to cross the pit. Maybe it is in exchange for a sensible job, just for a little bit so you can pay the bills.
What do you do? Indiana threw them the idol, only to find they then ran off leaving him. For you, it is more likely that you will get the help you need, but at the cost of having to start all over again back in the cave with your goal. Only now you are a bit older and wearier.
If you are brave, you manage to get over the obstacle while still keeping your goal. However, next comes the giant rolling boulder. While things might push you to go faster than you feel comfortable doing, and you always seem to be one step ahead of disaster - as long as you are running towards the entrance, you're making it!
Obviously, when you break free of the cave with your goal, there will always be people who want to cut you down and criticize you. Therefore, think like Indie, have an escape plan set up to enjoy the results of having fully achieved your goal.
That's the way I think goals must be handled. A lot more exciting and adventurous than being SMART about goal setting.
The final thing this model teaches us is that if your goal is not worth the sand you are trading it for, or you are not prepared to jump across pits of stakes for it, then it's not a very good goal. Stick with your sand and your day job.
About the Author:
Looking for more tips on how to become a prolific writer? See Buffy Greentree's new book The Five Day Writer's Retreat now on Amazon.
No comments:
Post a Comment