Goals. You just can’t escape them, can you?

I mean, even deciding not to have a goal for 2020 results in a goal!

If you take me seriously and decide you won’t set goals this year, then that itself will become a goal and your successfully achieving it will depend on all the factors that go to making goal achievement possible – motivation, SMART Goals, progression milestones and the works.

The truth is, we set goals because otherwise we wouldn’t be able to plan a route to achieving what would make a big difference for us or achieve what we want.

You need to set up goals to achieve your cherished desires and dreams.

The problem that usually arises is having too many goals and that results in running after your tail the way a dog does.

The difference between the dog and us is the dog is doing it for amusement or some agenda known only to itself while the human ends up achieving nothing but frustration.

Why not select the best goal as a starting point?

If you find yourself being indecisive about goals, here are 3 keys to mobilize you into action.

In the days when I was doing free coaching sessions for my certification practice, I found the person availing this precious session had more than 1 goal.

It was a challenge to get them to focus on the 1 thing that would make the biggest difference to them or provide the biggest transformation.

I’m grateful for the experience as it has trained me to ask specific questions and help my clients boil down their goals to The Goal.

Of course we work on the others too but The Goal is the one that creates the momentum for all the others too.

Does your head hurt from having too many goals?

As you can see, we all have lots of goals – some big and some small. Some that are essential to achieve our desires while others that fulfill a personal need.

It’s like one student client of mine whose father had hired me to get her to go back to University and complete her Masters in Information Technology.

Somewhere along the way, his daughter had lost her drive and it was important to get her to complete the remaining 6 months and get her degree.

At our first meeting, her most important goal was to become a Size Zero like her favorite Bollywood heroine (who has since gone back to a normal healthy size following the rage of young girls going anorexic).

The second best goal was to work in media. I didn’t see any signs of a goal for completion of her education.

Honestly, I didn’t know how to handle this. The challenge was not only to bring the horse to water BUT make it drink that water!

I had to find what would motivate her and tie it into her big picture goal.

Fortune favored me as I found a loophole that required her to go back to the University and mark her attendance. This place had a Radio Station and she could participate as a Radio Jockey.

I pointed out that it would help her build her resume for a RJ position later. Our focus shifted to her exploring the media and mass communication areas for a career but in the meantime she was back at University and she completed her education.

3 actions you can take if you’re overwhelmed with goals to find the best one

Look for overlaps in your goals

Sometimes there is a natural and logical relationship between goals.

Just like my student client, there was an overlap in goals – even if one of them was that of her father’s. In your case, it could be you want to have more leisure time and learn a new hobby.

You could take up candle making or art classes to pursue a new hobby while making the most of your leisure time and accomplish both goals.

Sometimes two goals seem to be in direct opposition to each other, like wanting to travel and having more time at home.

In this case, write out both goals and next to each of them write out why you want to do each of them. You might find that what you want is to be away from work.

Maybe your real goal might be to change careers. Or, you might discover that you can satisfy your desire for travel with a short vacation or a long drive with the family.

Get to the essence of the goal, and they’ll work themselves out.

Need more help? This worksheet will provide clarity.

Make the time for your goal

Your time belongs to you and you control how you spend this precious resource.

It’s easy to hide behind excuses like there are “only so many hours in a day,” and that we’re “too busy” to take on anything else right now. Wouldn’t a positive reframe throw a new light on your time?

Instead of saying “I don’t have time to learn a language,” try saying, “I’m not making time to learn a new language.” We find the time for the things that matter.

Be flexible in your goal achievement approach

It’s a good thing to put a timeline together and have definite dates and time-sensitive goals. But remember that life happens, and often it even gets in the way.

There is an ancient Greek saying that goes: “If you want to make the gods laugh, tell them your plans.” Having milestones and plotting points along the timeline is good, but don’t hold yourself to it so rigidly that you cannot adapt to the occasional curve ball.

Focusing on what’s really important will help you find the best goal.

This presentation provides guidance to determine and implement the one goal that can benefit you most if you achieve it.

Parting thoughts on having a multitude of goals

If it feels to you like you have too many goals or if the ones you do have are fighting each other, then find the essence of each one.

That will help you determine what’s most important to you right now. Then work on one goal at a time. By concentrating on which one means the most to you right now, you’ll put those goals into perspective, until they don’t seem like so much anymore.

How do you find and implement your breakthrough goal?

There’s a reason I’m asking whether the goals you are setting are really fulfilling a need. It’s an important reason when it comes to successful goal achievement.

Picture this in your mind.

You have a goal.  You have read all about SMART goals.

You tweak your goal to be SMART and set off to achieve it.

Somewhere along the way, you realize that you are not getting the results that you want. Other more important matters keep taking precedence. You start to lose your motivation.

End result, you give up your goal, SMART or not. SMART Goals are great. But when the goal does not take into account the person’s or teams needs, capabilities and strengths, then it becomes a not so SMART goal.

Think about relay races. To the outsider, it may appear that four people are running a particular distance in quick time and handing over the baton at each lap. The team with the fastest time who doesn’t drop the baton wins. Right?

Wrong!!!

The coach and the relay team would have spent hours assessing the importance of placement of each team member in the relay. Who can give the fastest lead, who can sustain the middle laps and who has the ability to sprint the team to glory?  Each member’s strengths and weaknesses would have been scrutinized with nothing being left to chance. No wonder sportsmen are gracious whether they win or lose and say that the better team, NOT the best team won.

Without a shadow of a doubt, all teams and their coaches would have gone through their own SWOT analysis but there is one more factor that creates the difference. That factor is called level of Motivation.

My point is, before setting off to make Goals it is more important to understand oneself and what makes one tick. Once you know what motivates you, half the journey is done and then it is simply going through the motions to success.

Veteran goal setters know that motivation is a key factor to goal achievement. If your heart isn’t in it, then you lose even before the race to goal achievement starts. For example, you want to shed a few kilos and make it a goal. You might go on a diet and lose a kilo or two and then gain it back.

However, if you have a motivating factor, like a health reason or looking good for a particular occasion and you know how much to lose with a specific timeline, you improve the chances of goal achievement.

In the process, you set up a SMART goal.

SMART Goal & SWOT Analysis, you need this X Factor for Success

Abraham Maslow’s pyramid called the Hierarchy of Needs Motivational Model (see diagram) states that unsatisfied needs motivate people. There is a hierarchy of these needs and until the lower needs are met, the person does not advance to the higher needs.

Maslow’s model was based on 5 needs. The base of the pyramid comprises the lower-end needs that must be fulfilled before the higher end needs start to influence your motivation.

The four levels (lower-order needs) are considered physiological needs, while the top level is considered growth needs. Maslow’s hierarchy implies that the lower level needs need to be satisfied before higher-order needs can influence behavior.

In other words, if you are suddenly made redundant and need to find a job to avoid foreclosure of your mortgage, you really would not be interested in pursuing self-actualization needs until you have secured your physiological and safety needs.

From a goal setting perspective, Maslow’s model can provide invaluable input in identifying target areas for your goal setting as well as the areas that can prove to be stumbling blocks while you try to achieve your goals.

Coming back to the weight loss example, if the ultimate goal motivation based on Esteem needs is not compromising your Biological needs of food or any of the other lower needs, you stand a better chance.

In other words, going on a diet does not mean going into starvation mode or spending hours at the gym, but ensuring that the approach does not affect any of the lower level needs resulting in self-created roadblocks thus allowing you to focus on a higher need with the right motivation.

Coming full circle to the question, what about you? Do your goals really meet your needs?

If you are a DIY fan, then this Kindle book has been written just for you. It also includes a gift of special goal setting and achieving forms because your success matters – to me. 

Last night the Northern Grid tripped and entire North India was without electricity for more than 8 hours. No guessing how much shut eye any of us got!

Humid weather with no signs of rain, having the air conditioner on is important unless you are a deep sleeper who will only discover the situation in the morning. If you are a light sleeper, then you would have been up the whole night. Miss Coco my furry pet child is one of them and I know it!

I was up all night trying to get her to sleep knowing full well that she wanted the air conditioner to be put on. I wasn’t able to explain the power outage to her though her message- verbal and non-verbal was getting through to me.

It always does because Miss Coco is an effective communicator.

So how does she do it and what did I learn?

Use KISS (Keep It Simple & Straightforward)

In other words, plan your communication. Know the message you are trying to convey and understand who you are trying to communicate with and how you will do it. Check for effectiveness and rework you strategy.

Coco did it with soft growls and looking at the air conditioner.

Create a Clear Consistent Message

If you don’t know what you want to say, how do you expect the other person to understand?

Think of your choice of words. Pay attention to your non-verbal messages, the words and tone you use. Make sure your words match your body language.

Different Messages Need Different Methods

The choice of communication channel is important.

Depending upon the sensitivity and nature of the communication, sometimes a verbal dialogue is better than sending a letter, email or text message. 

Look at your message from the receiver’s perspective and decide the best route. Dialogue during intimation of redundancy and working out exit strategies are known to make better business sense than pink slips with the pay check.

Check if Your Message Has Gone Through As Intended

This one is important and involves feedback which again can be verbal or non-verbal.

Look out for body language signs. Listen to the other person and consider whether you are both on the same wavelength.

Is the receiver of the communication showing signs of engagement or disinterest and confusion?

Canine Communications

Communicating effectively is a skill and takes time to polish up. With practice comes success.

To see it in practice, watch the Presidential elections or other debates. Note how the words, tone of voice and body language are in sync and sending out a definitive message.

Effective communication is a key skill for good leaders and this little dog is a leader in her own right (says an indulgent pet parent 🙂 ).

Karmic Ally Coaching’s Level Up Your Leadership will show you how to become a better leader to influence, inspire and impact others. 

Update on Miss Coco