Last week, I received a message from a colleague:
“I may have over-reached and committed us all to do too much. I’m not sure we can each develop one article per month for Mind Conquerors. How about if we drop it back to one per quarter per person? One per month may be a little too ambitious.”
As a recovering goal-hater, I could so easily agree. Why not? It’s already January 9th, and none of the three of us have written or published a single article! Ironically, I’ve heard this statistic several times already this year: New Year’s resolutions are often dropped by the second Friday of January. That’s tomorrow, and here we are considering dropping our goal!
In the past, I avoided goals because corporate ones were always pushed onto me. Now, my goals are my own. No excuses. It’s taken time, but I’ve realized that goals can fuel my growth instead of judging my performance.
When deciding how to respond to my colleague’s message, I reflected on some questions that might also help others. As a coach, I love to inspire people to think about their thinking. Here are a few questions I’d ask:
- What part of this goal concerns you? Is it your personal commitment to one article per month, or the team’s commitment?
- The goal was set for the year. How long should we work on our commitments before giving up? Don’t we have the whole year to accomplish three articles per month? If we hit the target in January, what happens next?
- If we reduce the goal to one article per quarter and still can’t meet it, then what? Or, better yet, should we aim higher? Setting a goal of one article per week might make one per month more achievable!
It’s easy to think the only purpose of a goal is to achieve it. But what if the real purpose is to stretch us? What if this goal is an exercise in committing to and completing objectives? Additionally, it could help us hone our writing skills and better promote Mind Conquerors to others who need this work.
If you’re considering dropping your goals, don’t! Instead, ask yourself:
- Is the goal about maintaining a specific pace or reaching a total by year-end?
- What benefits could arise from continuing to pursue this goal, even when it feels daunting?
- How might your life change if you transformed your identity from someone who avoids goals to someone who thrives on committing to and achieving them?
Here’s to committing to and completing our goals for the month and the year ahead!
