You Don’t Need Aggressive Goals to Get the Results You Always Wanted

You won’t like number 2 — but it works

You need goals! With the right goals, everything is possible! You can become anything you ever wanted!

Those are part of the general narrative you see in so many self-help articles and books. It’s all up to you to become happy and successful.

Whether that is true, I won’t discuss. But I think it poses a lot of challenges. Failure becomes personal. Not achieving your goals becomes your fault. That is not always the case. Circumstances play a big part in any success. And hunting for happiness and success through goals and goal-setting exercises is not the only way to getting to the results you want.

Here are 3 strategies you can deploy to reach the results you want

Strategy 1 — Motivation through goals

Yeah, I just said not to use goals, but they are sometimes a necessity and they do work for some things. This is probably the most used strategy to reach results and there is a reason for it. It is simple. Straight forward. And it gives results. The problem is, they are not always sustainable and for some of us, not bring much happiness either.

There is obviously a difference between personal results and what you need to do at work. Sometimes a goal comes from senior management or your boss, and motivation can come from being part of moving your organization forward. Motivation can also come from bonuses, promotions, or other tangible benefits from completing your goals.

On a personal level, it can motivate to feel better after losing weight or to complete that 5K run that you set your mind to.

But the problem is when a goal is complete. Then what? Set a new goal and for that to be motivating, it often has to surpass the previous. Then it’s a 10K run. Then a half marathon and so forth.

Using goals and motivation through goals is a powerful tool, especially for one-off goals. If you want sustainable results or lasting happiness, look at something else.

“A goal is a dream with a deadline.” Napoleon Hill

Strategy 2 — Will power to succeed

Using discipline and willpower to reach the results you want is a completely different strategy. You stop thinking in terms of motivation. You don’t set yourself a goal that is motivational and believes that motivation itself will bring you there.

Instead, you decide where you want to be. What kind of person do you want to be? Do you want to be a healthy person who runs?

Then, instead of setting a goal of running that 5K, you decide. Maybe you can even call it a vow if you want to go all out. You decide you want to run Tuesday and Thursday at five PM. (Or whatever suits your schedule) and that you will run for 20 minutes (or 30 or whatever you want.).

Then you don’t rely on motivation. You have made a vow. So you do it! Like brushing your teeth in the morning. It’s not really something you think about the goal of not getting rotten teeth. You do it because you have trained yourself to take that action every morning.

“Don’t think about it. Don’t rationalize anything. No snooze button, no ‘Just five more minutes’. Just get up when your alarm clock goes off.” Jocko Willink

Strategy 3 — Joy in doing

I have always wanted to spend more time on fitness and sports, but I have never hung on to any sport for more than a couple of years. Most of them, to be honest, not more than a couple of months. I have tried everything from basketball, soccer, karate to running, fitness, and yoga. All with the same result.

I tried strategy number 1, setting my goals. “If I can run a 10K, it will be so cool. Or half a marathon,” or “if I just get a brown belt in Karate, that would be a cool achievement.”

But it really didn’t motivate me that much. It didn’t really take me anywhere near the result I truly want, and that is to exercise regularly to be strong and healthy.

In comes strategy #3. It may sound hippy-like, but it really isn’t. Instead of setting goals, make the process enjoyable. Enjoy the doing instead of thinking about what you want to achieve with it.

So my exercise regime. What am I doing now? I found that exercising with people I enjoy spending time with is the best motivation I can get. We have made an exercise group in our little neighborhood where we meet every Saturday and Sunday to exercise together. And after that, we drink coffee and chat.

You can do it at work as well. I often choose to focus on the learning aspect of a project instead of the goal of the project. Just by making that mental shift, the project becomes much more joyful for me.

“Life’s a journey, not a destination.” Aerosmith

Summary

All three strategies have their time and place, and you probably have your favorite one. The question is:

Is your favorite always working for you?

If not, then maybe you should try a different strategy once in a while