Forget About Goal Setting, Focus On This Instead
At the beginning of the new year, most people think it’s time to make New Years’ resolutions and set some big goals for the year. For some reason, every year at the beginning of the year, there is this buzz for ‘setting goals’. What seems to happen in people's minds is “It’s January it’s time to set some big goals for the year.”
You’ve just completed the previous year, you had some wins and some losses, but this year, you tell yourself it’s going to be different. You’re fueled with a strong optimism to make it your best year.
You’ve watched a few ‘Goal Setting’ webinars on social media from your favourite people, you got a few tips on how to properly set your goals – the SMART way – and you jotted down some bullet points as a plan to reach those goals. You’re pumped, you can see it happening, you’re ready…
This year you’re going to lose weight, tone up and eat clean and healthy.
But will you really?
The easiest way to see this goal-setting frenzies is at the gym. If you’ve been a regular member of a gym club, you would have noticed that in January, a lot of new faces pop up around the place. They come to group fitness classes or get started on their gym workout. They are super enthusiastic.
As you move into February and you keep turning up at the gym (as usual because that's who you are), the number of new faces has already sharply declined, and by March… Well… Most of the people left are the regulars. Those that were there last year and the year before.
Somehow those people have managed to transform their goal into a habit.
Now, I’m not against goal setting! It’s important to set goals (not too many) to get clear on the direction you want to go, but I’m much more interested in the execution – the little details that are going to get you to achieve your goal/outcome.
James Clear author of Atomic Habits said “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
Strangely, people focus most on the outcome they want to reach (the reward), and very little on how (the process) to get there.
Maybe I’m missing something: It’s the law of attraction.
People think that once you’ve set the goal correctly, somehow it’s going to magically happen… You just need to do a few extra things and you’ll get there.
For sure you will need to do extra things, otherwise, you would already be there.
You will need to make some changes in your behaviour and habits if you’re really serious about achieving your goals. And that is where most people fall out.
They have the goal, they have a rough idea of how to get there (or not), but the one thing they have completely ignored is who they are. They haven’t considered that we humans are creatures of habit. We keep repeating what we’ve been doing in the past unless we consciously choose to change “who” we want to become.
When you set a new goal, what you are actually really doing is saying “I’m going to be a different person.”
Most people don’t consider identity change when they set a goal to achieve.
You are what you repeatedly do and if you want to achieve something different from what you’ve been achieving in the past, you must somehow change something about who you are.
Thus, the first question is not about the “what” or “how” can I achieve this goal but rather “who” I want to be/become.
Instead of simply setting a goal and determining the actions you should take to achieve the goal, it’s important to consider the beliefs that drive your actions. You may have a new goal, maybe a new plan, but you haven’t changed who you believe are.
What you do is an indication of the type of person you believe you are – either consciously or unconsciously.
Behind every system of action (or inaction) is a system of beliefs. Old beliefs and assumptions shape an identity that shapes a system of actions (or inaction). It’s hard to change your habits (to reach a new goal) if you never change the underlying beliefs that led to your past behaviour.
There is an internal pressure to maintain your self-image and behaviour in a way that is consistent with your beliefs. You find whatever way you can to avoid contradicting yourself.
Thus, the biggest barrier to change, achieving goals, or doing things differently is identity conflict – a conflict between who you currently believe you are and who you need to become.
So, as part of your goal-setting process, I have a few suggestions for you to go through:
- Do a Year Completion to review the year that has passed and extract the lessons you’ve learned to first appreciate the past year and second to get clear on what you need to focus on this year.
- Write down your goal(s) for the year.
- Write down 10 reasons ‘why’ achieving this goal this year is important to you. (Write down 10 reasons for each of you you set).
- Reflect on ‘who’ you will need to become and ‘what activity' you will have to do consistently to become that person and achieve the goal.
- Map out your execution plan to make sure you best allocate your limited resources and stay focused on track and on target.
I hope these little distinctions will make a difference for you this year in helping reach your goals.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.
In a Nutshell:
When you set a new goal, what you are actually really doing is saying “I’m going to be a different person.”
Most people don’t consider identity change when they set a goal to achieve.
The biggest barrier to changing, achieving goals, or doing things differently is identity conflict – a conflict between who you currently believe you are and who you need to become.
Instead of simply setting a goal and determining the actions you should take to achieve the goal, it’s important to consider the beliefs that drive your actions. It’s hard to change your habits (to reach a new goal) if you never change the underlying beliefs that led to your past behaviour.
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