To Goal or not to Goal. That is the Question!



I got into a discussion about the importance (or non-importance) of goal-making. It was inspired by an article I read at http://www.goalfree.com/?page_id=241 . Not inspired in the way you might think but inspired to have a provocative conversation about it.

I asked my partner what he thought about goals first. I was curious to hear what someone else had to say about it. His comment: if I lived my life committed to goals, then what happens to the journey of life. If I was so attached to creating and following a goal then what happens when “life happens”? Would I be so attached to my desired outcome that I would have blinders on about what was happening around me?

So I thought about that. For example what if I had a goal to be making a living, by the end of this year, through my coaching practice? If I had a crisis in my family would I put blinders on and adhere to what my goal was? If I was so focused on creating the business would I miss out on going for a walk when the sun happens to shine? Now this is a distinct possibility. When we have winter, it rains or is overcast for days on end. Then bang we get a sunny day. Would I want to be stuck indoors?

That was only one goal. What if I created goals around most of my life? What if I wanted to lose weight and I made a goal about that? Would I beat myself up if I enjoyed myself at a party? How about the difference between losing weight and actually creating a healthy lifestyle? Would it make more sense to just take each moment of my life and decide to make a healthy choice about what to do? Here comes that sunny day walk!

What my partner was saying was: I could get so attached to all my goals; I would miss out on what actually happens in my life. Okay I understand that. But on the other hand what about the benefits of goals? I mean I would completely lack direction and get nowhere without some type of direction. Do goals have some sort of use? So I asked my partner his take on this.

It dovetailed with what I was starting to think. Yes goals have their uses. It all depends on the importance of the outcome.

When it comes to creating a goal, really analyze why the goal is necessary. Losing weight can be of great importance if your doctor says your life is at risk. However it might be more useful to make a goal which includes creating a healthy lifestyle on a daily basis.

Paying off a debt can be important if it means the difference between declaring bankruptcy or not. But maybe a more useful goal would include: to become more money conscience.

I think, what these two goals have in common, is that they take place in the present. What I mean is that the goals cause me to live in the present moment.In both cases, decisions I make are daily and based on what the journey of my life happens to look like that day.

Am I faced with fixing my car? It may be an unexpected expense but if I can’t get to work then how will my finances look? To be more money conscious so that I have the extra money to deal with unexpected expenses….well that makes much more sense. I can make decisions, daily or moment to moment, on how I spend my money every time I open my wallet.

I really like the idea I came up with. I’ve been reading (yes another book) written by Tony Buzan: The Mind Map Book. Now that is MY idea of creating a really cool goal. Not only is it fun and intuitive, it uses your brain the way it was meant to be used. Like the coaching style I use, it creates inspiration which is a powerful concoction and leads to permanent change. I got my copy of his book at the local library and any of the on-line bookstores carries it.



So to have goals or not is not really the question at all. How we use goals and what kind of tools and skills we use to create the goals is a more flexible path to: permanent change.