Word of Caution...Be Careful Setting Goals!!

What are you talking about Jeff? I've been told time and time again that in order to achieve success that I must be setting goals!

People have been taught and are continuously taught to set clear and concise goals, be as detailed as possible, picture yourself on July 7, 2010 driving in your 2005 red Ferrari with tan leather and pulling into your $1 Million home in the suburbs of Toronto with 4 garages and so on. These visions are great and many people may actually reach these goals just as they had imagined. The question is what happens when things aren't going right along the way?

Life is not linear with curve balls unexpectedly getting thrown at us all the time. The same holds true with our goals. If we set such rigid goals and timelines and certain curve balls are thrown at us (i.e. getting laid off, a medical crisis, company cutbacks, etc.) then we tend to get discouraged and unmotivated as a result.

When thinking about planning for your future think about setting clear objectives instead of rigid goals. An example occured recently with a friend of mine who is studying for his Masters in Business. He had initially set out to achieve a specific GPA and was becoming very stressed and discouraged as his marks were not where he wanted them to be. The problem was that he had placed so much pressure on himself to reach his goal that he had lost site of what his true objective was...to get the best education possible so that he could acquire the necessary skills to achieve his own dream. He came to realize that he was exerting too much energy in competing against his peers and was allowing the stress of underperforming to interfere with his ability to actually perform. His vision has changed now so as to not "to earn" but now "to earn".

In having a clear focus and a sound vision he will achieve his objective and so can you!