So many people are effectively ‘stuck’ due to their fear of failure. ‘What happens if I don’t achieve my goals’? ‘What happens if it isn’t perfect’?
The reality is this. It does not matter as much as you think.
Set out your goals. But be brave, bold and ambitious in your vision for the future and replace the ‘realistic’ in your SMART goals with ‘risky’.
Realistic goals are… lets be honest, often uninspiring and will never invoke innovation, creativity or the passion for genuine and meaningful progression.
Rather, your goals should excite you, scare you and yes, be a little ‘risky’. They should stretch, challenge and perhaps even intimidate you a little.
But so too, never ever obsess about achieving those goals perfectly.
In fact, the real beauty with the pursuit of goals that actually stretch you, is in their imperfection. Their messiness. The surprising outcomes that perhaps you hadn’t altogether anticipated or planned for and the unexpected growth that was achieved.
For it is here that the real learning, innovation and progression is achieved.
You see, there is a fundamental difference between the ‘gap’ and the ‘gain’.
The ‘gap’ is the distance between where you are now and where you want to be. Your goal.
The ‘gain’ is the progress that you will actually make in attempting to achieve that goal.
The outcome or result in striving for the goal even where it is imperfect and messy is often not the point.
The real and meaningful value that you achieve will be in the ‘gain’ that you have made in striving for that goal.
So, ditch your need for perfection and replace ‘realistic’ with ‘risky’ when it comes to setting your goals. You might be surprised with the results that you achieve.
create10 supports individuals, teams and organisations in improving goal attainment, creativity and innovation. This is carried out through one to one professional coaching, interactive workshops that make a real impact as well as flexible online courses. See www.create10.ie for further information.