Use targets instead of setting goals

I no longer create goals, I set targets.

In the past I would set goals, make plans. Then I would attempt to work the plans. Sometimes I hit the goals and other times I missed the mark. Most of the time I felt a great deal of angst about the process.

One day I was talking to a friend and realized that I had reached one of my goals. I had accomplished what I set out to do, but hadn’t realized it. I hadn’t realized it because I hadn’t written a good goal, and I had failed to establish key indicators.

When I had pictured the goal in my mind it looked completely different. I failed to realize that I would reach the goal in a smaller form long before I would hit the mark that I envisioned. What I had envisioned was a higher degree on a the scale.

So I decided to start using targets in place of goals. They are easier to create and you can create a range to success. The way I see it, it’s like an archery target or a dart board. There are rings from the outside moving towards the bullseye. The first target might be to hit the target as a whole and then move inward.

What I have found is that in setting / defining targets, I have changed the language so it stays in a more positive format. There is the added benefit of measuring progress.