Tag: results

How to think about goals…

For any goal you have, you need to think of four things. They are as follows:

1. What is the main goal you have in mind? (What is the end result you are looking to achieve?) Start off thinking big, then we can break this down into more manageable goals later.

2. What obstacle is in the way – what is preventing you from achieving that goal? (Hint: There is always a barrier to something you want, otherwise you/others would already have it. If you don’t know what it is yet, guess…can you anticipate what may get in your way?)

3. What is your plan to overcome the obstacle? What do you need – time, money, experience, help from someone else, etc.? How do you go about getting those things? What actions do you need to take to set you up for immediate success vs long-term success?

4. What will the result be by you taking/not taking specific action? Will you reach your goals or fall short? If you fall short, that’s ok. Just realize that you either didn’t take the right actions (you need to change your strategy) OR you didn’t take enough action (try doubling your efforts if you believe you were on the right track).

Equality of opportunity, not outcome

We need to be careful not to confuse equality of opportunity with equality of outcome. What I mean by this is that everyone should be able to “play the game” if they want to, but not everyone should “win” an award just for playing.

Systems that give everyone a reward so their feelings don’t get hurt is not helpful in the long run. Sure, it saves people from temporary heartache, but it also makes us less resilient and, ultimately, less capable of overcoming obstacles. Not only that, but it can diminish a true sense of accomplishment. For example: If you come in 8th place in a race, or if your team loses a competition, you know in your heart that you didn’t earn a trophy. So if a trophy is given to you, the trophy is devalued to yourself and to those who finished in front of you.

Make sure to work to build your resilience everyday. Do something difficult. Lose occasionally – not on purpose, but because you’re challenging a worthy opponent. Realize that failure is inevitable, but it doesn’t mean that it is final. Fight for equality of opportunity, but don’t accept equality of outcome (even if you are the beneficiary).

The telescope and the microscope

When trying to achieve your goals, you need to look at both the big picture (i.e., what relationships to you need to work on to build long-term success) and your day-to-day actions (i.e., what do you need to do to make some money/pay the bills TODAY).

You need to be able to toggle your focus on both sets of requirements to get to where you want to go. If you’re always thinking big picture, building connections and focusing on slow-developing results, you may never get there because you haven’t done what you need to do to keep the lights on today. For example, if you own/manage a theme park, it doesn’t matter if you’re designing a new ride if you don’t get ticket sales today to keep the park open. Your day-to-day operations need to be functioning well in order to move towards your future goals. But, if you’re not careful, you can become stuck always focusing on doing just enough to survive for the next day and never make progress towards your dreams. Toggle your focus between short and long-term results, ideally with your short term actions leading directly towards your long-term goals.

Jon Gordon makes the analogy that you need to use a metaphorical telescope and microscope. If you only have the telescope, you are always looking far away. You’re looking at the big picture in the distant future. That’s great to have a North Star to guide you along your journey, but you also need to be able to look at the daily tasks to get you there. This is where the microscope comes in handy…having attention to detail on short-term events and taking those next “most important action steps” to get you to where you want to be. Don’t get trapped into only using one instrument, as using a telescope won’t let you focus on the small details right in front of you, just as a microscope won’t let you observe the night sky.