Imposing Time Limits on Goals
What do you think?
I was recently talking with someone about my goal of visiting 40 countries by the time I’m 40. When I tell people this, usually their eyes get big and they say something like “good luck”. Now, full disclosure I am 35, so I only have 5 years to go. And so far, I have only been to 8 countries.
The other consideration is what counts as an adequate amount of time somewhere for me to say that I visited that country. I am counting Portugal, which I was only in for 20 hours, but I did leave the airport, stay in a hotel, visit the downtown area, and eat some delicious food.
Although I currently live in Norway, I am from the United States where I spent all of my life. I visited both Mexico and Canada for a few days each. But other than that, I haven’t had the chance to see much of the world.
But here’s the thing that I believe to be true about goals and myself. If I don’t put a time limit on it, I am less likely to take action. I might put something off for years and years, wasting all of this time I could have used.
I did this in my 20s when I decided to run a half marathon. I made this decision early in my 20s and said that I would do it by the time I turned 30. Each year went by and I didn’t take action until I was 29. I did do it, but I could have done it so much sooner!
So maybe the real lesson is that I need to make the time constraint even closer to my current reality. Because the procrastinator brain in me will use all of the available time. I wish I had the diligence and self-discipline to just make things happen because I wanted them to. But, that’s also related to the power of manifestation and another area of my life I am definitely working on.
But Really — Time Limits Can Be a Good Thing
One of my favorite authors and writers of productivity, habits, and goal-setting, James Clear, has an excellent post on the realities of setting goals. He says that the true challenge is the competing goals we have for ourselves. If we have too many at one time, it can be difficult to narrow in on one at a time. Therefore, it can be helpful to focus on the most important goal of the time.
Time limits help us focus and prioritize our goals. Another helpful tip is to place a limit on the number of goals and tasks that you are working toward at any one time.
What are your thoughts on putting time limits on your goals?
I just created an account with Substack to start a newsletter. Subscribe here if you’d like to join in the fun!