I am not big into goal setting in the business and economical sense. Over in the personal areas, I think identifying where you want to go and what you want to be is a good thing and probably necessary in certain cases.

I think goal setting can also get out of control, and it can be the catalyst to making wrong decisions. Goal setting comes from our inherent desire to know what the future holds and then try to make it come true, but unfortunately we can’t see what even next week holds, much less the future.

Years ago, I used to set goals in business and work toward this or that as the goal. In 1995, I decided I would not go through the goal setting process of trying to identify and then possibly limit that year to what I thought was possible. It was the last year I ever set a business goal because that year I just decided to let God put me in the places I was supposed to be. It was a very good year for selling hotels.

Don’t get me wrong, everyone is different, and what drives me is different from what drives you. I believe everyone has to pick a path that works for them.

I do believe in goal setting for things like weight loss, cycling, running etc. When you start on a diet, it is obviously very important to know what the goal is you are trying to achieve. I think there are four very important characteristics of a successful goal.

(1)    It must be realistic

(2)    It must be achievable

(3)    It must be definable

(4)    It must be measurable

So just saying I want to be happy, wealthy, and wise is not setting a goal because it is impossible to measure that kind of a broad statement.

Twenty something years ago, I read a book by Zig Ziglar called “See you at the Top.” In the book, he stated how far he ran, his physical condition, and how much he weighed. Well, he was actually none of those things and in fact was out of shape and very overweight. So, he calculated the days and weeks until his book would be published and then calculated a measurable plan on how to weigh what his book said he weighed. Basically, it came down to him loosing 3 ounces (I think) a day and just a little over 1 pound a week. One pound is obviously 16 ounces and his goal was to lose 3 ounces a day.

As you can expect from Zig Ziglar, the day the book published he did in fact weigh what his book said he weighed, and he was in fact in the best physical shape of his career. Now, writing a book that will be published for the world to see is maybe a little too extreme way of setting a goal. Ha.

So in summary, if goal setting is helping you, then by all means it’s a good thing and keep doing it. If it is not working for you, then find a different way to stay motivated. It’s all good either way. KT