We live in a society driven by goals, whether in sports, school or business; but I
had my perspective on goals changed a few years ago by my uncle. He told me not to use the word GOAL because goals, by their nature, can be self-limiting. If you’re trying to achieve the goal, you may deprive yourself of achieving more. In other words, if we just do our best, every time, we’ll achieve exactly what we’re capable of. On the surface that sounds plausible, but does it work in the real world?
When are goals good?
When you’re driving down the road you need to know the speed limit, as that’s the maximum allowable speed for that particular road. Did you know that many roads also have a minimum allowable speed? If you drive 20 mph on the interstate (when there’s no traffic slowing you down) you can get a ticket for driving too slow. Your car is capable of much more that any legal speed limit, but you have to hold it back to the target speed (or something close to it ;-).
Minimum goals, or targets, have their place as well. Besides not driving too slow to be a danger to others, it’s OK to have a minimum target when it comes to your sales and/or income. We all have to cover our expenses, put a roof over our heads, feed our families, etc. Many theme park rides have signs “you must be this tall to go on this ride”, and that’s for your safety. So, there are times when a minimum is good.
Goals don’t all have to be monetary Read More