So, here we are, in that part of the year where lots of people are setting goals for what they want to accomplish in the new year.

Of course, it goes without saying that most of us know what it means to "set goals," but that doesn't necessarily mean that we know what we're doing!"

Confused yet?

Well, here's the thing, we know how to "set goals," but more often than not we don't pause to actually think through what we're doing. As a result, we see a lot of goals become more of a source of frustration than inspiration.

Part of the "problem" — and I put that in quotes deliberately — is that we often have rather "abstract" goals, and they are a bit disconnected from reality.

You might say something like "I want to have $50,000 in investments by year end!"

That's nice... but what is the underlying purpose of this goal? What are you actually trying to accomplish, and how does this goal fit into that? Is this part of your retirement plan? Are you buying a house? Or a new car?

What's my point here?

Well, lots of people set goals akin to that old joke about climbers: "I climbed the mountain BECAUSE IT IS THERE." But whereas that might make for "a fun experience," it's hardly a worthwhile objective in most aspects of life.

The Purpose of Goals

Many years back, I came to understand — and keep in mind this is just from my perspective — the the highest purpose of goals is to inspire; to encourage ourselves to do our best.

In order for that to be successful, we first have to understand what we are truly aspiring to. Which is why nebulous goal statements like "I want to be rich" are little better than having no goal at all!

Of course, there are different kinds of goals, as well.

For example, the statement "I want to have $50,000 in investments by year end!" may simply represent a logical point on a curve towards a greater objective... like a retirement plan. Or the down payment on a house.

It's important that we have a clear picture of what that $50,000 goal actually represents, when we set it.

The Importance of Realistic Goals

This may seem painfully obvious, and yet it is often the cause of most failed goals: Be Realistic!

No, I'm not kidding!

We often set ourselves lofty targets while completely overlooking the fact that the rest of life still happens even though we have set this amazing goal for ourselves.

It's one of the reasons so many New Year's gym memberships fail to yield results.

Notwithstanding the fact that we authentically want and need to "lose weight and get in shape," when we barely have enough time to make our lives work — as is — committing to getting up early, driving 15 minutes to the gym, working out for an hour, driving 15 minutes home and then going to work means that 90 minutes a day have to "come from somewhere!"

And so, we might get about 10 days into a year-long program... and it already feels more like a "death march" than something inspirational!

One of the most overlooked aspects of goal setting is that (in MOST cases) we have to be willing to give something else up in order to reach our goal.

I have become much more careful with my goal setting since truly understanding that most goals are "instead of" scenarios, rather than "in addition to" scenarios. Very few of us actually have "slack space" available in our lives to make our goals in addition to what we already are doing.

The Psychological Measure of a Goal

Setting viable goals is often more of an art than a science.

You have to be realistic, in the sense that you have to find that fine line between "too much" and "not enough."

From a psychological perspective, it's actually healthier to err on the side of caution. This is because you want your goals to inspire.

If you choose to set a really impressive (and backbreaking!) goal, chances are you'll very soon "be behind," and then you'll slowly start to hate your goal and either drop it, or doggedly continue and gradually hate your entire life. And that's not the point of goal setting!

The value of setting attainable goals is that we humans get a little dopamine hit (that's the feel-good neurotransmitter) whenever we succeed at something, much like we do when we get 1000 likes on a social media post or 1000 views on our most recent YouTube upload... or whatever constitutes "good news," in our perspective.

The point being, that if our goals serve us dopamine rather than depression, we're far more likely to continue pursuing them, because we feel good about what we're doing!

Of course, making things too easy on ourselves doesn't work, either... ideally, a goal is challenging enough to stretch our abilities a bit; something that feels like "a walk in the park" isn't really helpful.

It's one of the reasons why my own goal setting for a new year takes quite a bit of time and preparation... particularly if I am adding something new to my schedule.

Benchmarking and Regular Check-ins

Whereas it is OK to constantly check our progress, I've also learned that there is such a thing a worrying and fussing too much over how we're doing... which can lead to us spending more time studying and analyzing our goals/progress than actually working towards them!

It's a bit like being a chronic "clock watcher," except with your goals.

This is particularly true in the arena of Investment Goals. We all know that financial markets can swing wildly from day to day, and losing sleep over daily up/down movements in your portfolio value — which is related to a year long goal — likely serves very little purpose aside from giving yourself an ulcer!

I used to check my goals weekly, but a few years ago decided that monthly was sufficient. I tend towards analyzing a lot, and creating an "analytical report" for myself once a month has turned out to be plenty! However, the appropriate frequency is very much up to the individual.

I am not sharing all this to discourage anyone from setting goals... just to encourage a little more mindfulness in doing so! And goal-setting season is upon us...

=^..^=

Curator Cat 26 December, 2023