Every time we conduct our Strategic Planning for Results seminar, we notice the quality of attention changes in the room when we ask our participants to set goals. As those of you who have attended this seminar know, we go through a specific process to help people begin to define their goals. It's a lengthy process and needs considerable attention to set both realistic and challenging goals. 

We just recently were asked about pitfalls in setting goals. Actually, this is a question that we frequently hear. So, we decided this month to identify some pitfalls to avoid when setting goals. 

Goals can become performance ceilings. If you set your goal too low, you easily achieve it, and then never test your performance capacity. The way to avoid this pitfall is to give yourself permission to "up" the level of your goal if you achieve it before you expected. For example, consider something like weight loss. Perhaps you set a goal to lose ten pounds this year. If by the middle of the year you have already lost your ten pounds, there is no reason for you not to jump that goal to 20 pounds for the year. 

Goals can become dangerous risks. This is the opposite pitfall of the one listed above. I can set a goal to climb Mount Everest, and then not be willing to turn back when I am close to Mt. Everest's peak, but in a dangerous situation. Many mountain climbers have lost their lives in an attempt to achieve an unrealistic goal for that moment. Again, give yourself permission to modify your goal if it puts you in serious harm's way. 

Goals can increase your stress levels. It's possible to set so many goals, or to set such unrealistic goals that it becomes impossible to escape stress. Realism is the key here. If you have a goal to write a book, plan out realistically what you have on your schedule, add some more in for the unexpected things that will eat up your time, and then base your deadline on the revised time line. 

Goals can isolate you from other people. Goals can make you so focused on task achievement that you stop paying attention to family and friends, coworkers and just about anybody who plays a role in your life. Again, realism is the key here. Goals are stepping stones along life's way, to be sure, but they don't have to become mountains so tall that they prevent anyone else from making contact with us. Regular self-assessment will help. Ask for feedback if you feel you are getting too focused on your goals. We've seen marriages and relationships break up over goals the focus on which cuts out a spouse or partner. 

Please submit your questions to Time Manager Questions and Answers. If you have questions, undoubtedly someone else has the same question. By asking a question, you'll help a fellow Time Manager user become more effective.

Janelle M. Barlow, President  
TMI, USA  

Previous "Time Manager Q & A Corner" pages:  
     #1  
     #2  
     #3  
     #4  
     #5  
     #6  
     #7  
     #8  
     #9  
   #10  
   #11  
   #12  

 

Please submit your questions to Time Manager Questions and Answers by fax or e-mail . If you have questions, undoubtedly someone else has the same question. By asking a question, you'll help a fellow Time Manager user become more effective.

 
 
 

Go to Time Manager 

tel: 702 939-1800 
 
fax: 702 939-1804 
 
email:  

Website designed by  
©2005, TMI US