Know Who You are and aren’t

Setting goals and making plans can be tricky.  Meaningful goals are those that play to your strengths.  I’ve known many people who try very hard to achieve something that only ends up in frustration.  Most often these achievements – that don’t get accomplished – are tapping into the person’s weaknesses.  While the goals may be good in theory, practically speaking they are an uphill battle, that doesn’t get won.  Here are some thoughts that may help you before setting off to accomplish something.

Thought 1:  Strengths = what you’re good at.  Whatever you’re good at is a strength of yours.  Make a list of all the things you’re good at, that you really enjoy doing.  When setting your goals make sure there is an element of what you’re good at involved with obtaining the goal.  For example, if your goal is to become a CEO make sure you enjoy public speaking, leading others, setting direction, taking risks and taking charge.  If you don’t enjoy the elements of leadership, you won’t be an effective leader.

Thought 2:  Weaknesses = what you’re not good at.  When you really hate doing something, you’re probably not very good at it.  Be realistic when setting your goals.  Some goals demand a lot of practice or preparation.  You’ve got to enjoy the process of getting to the goal.  If you don’t have the patience to put in the time you won’t achieve what you’ve set out to do.  Perhaps you want to be an MBA but you don’t enjoy the study, classes and reading it takes to get one.  This may not be the goal for you.

Thought 3:  Opportunities = excitement.  Does the goal excite you?  Take some time to think about how you’ll feel when the goal is achieved.  Does it put a smile on your face?  Do you have a fluttering feeling of joy that you’ve accomplished the goal?  When a goal carries an element of excitement and opportunity, you’ll be more likely to reach it.  Ho-hum goals rarely get accomplished.

Thought 4:  Threats = barrier or challenge.  Setting your goal may come with barriers or challenges.  Thinking about threats as barriers will stop you in your tracks.  Framing the threats as challenges allows you to come up with solutions to the challenges.  Stay on the side of challenges with solutions and you will stay on course.

Now that you’ve done your SWOT analysis on your goals I offer one more thought.

Thought 5:  Interested or committed?  Always remember the difference between the two.  If you’re interested in something, you’ll do it if it is convenient.  If you’re committed to something, you’ll do it no matter what.  Interesting goals fall by the wayside, commitment to your goals leads to achievement.

What’s been your experience in setting goals?  Any tips that you have to share?  Leave your comments below.

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