I have often gone a little crazy with goals, especially as I approach a birthday or the New Year. Recently, I read The Practice by Seth Godin, who helped me see that a lot of the things we set as goals are actually out of our control. They are outcomes to practices and processes, but they are not things we can just say will happen without a doubt. Take weight loss, for example. This is a common goal for the new year. We can’t really control how much weight we will lose. We need to consider things like our body type, our eating habits, our age, etc. When we do a little research on what practices will more likely help us lose weight, given these factors, and then do those, we have a much better chance of reaching our goal. We have control of the practice, but not the outcome. So a better goal may be to 1) Exercise for 30 mins/day, 5 days a week and 2) Eat more vegetables. Or something like that. How about getting out of debt? That is also a noble goal. But there are many variables that can come along that can sabotage your efforts. Cars breaking down. Unexpected medical bills. Needing a new furnace, etc. Instead of saying, “I will finish paying off the car or the credit cards this year,” perhaps we can follow some practices that will help us work our way out of debt and put together a savings plan to avoid future debt. You may not be able to pay off all the debt, but being committed to a process will ensure that you move forward toward that goal. So perhaps you would put as your financial goals, the following: 1) Put $50 in savings every paycheck and 2) Pay $50 extra with every car payment to go toward the principal. Or something like that. As you think about what you want to accomplish next year, focus on the process needed to get there. I think you will find that it is much more attainable that way. It has certainly helped me this year.
A New Way of Looking at Goals
