How to set goals that inspire - overcoming the reasons why not.
Let's face it - setting career goals can be tough. We get told all the time we need to set goals but how do we do it and where do we start?
As a professional career coach, the first thing I address is people's experience (both good and bad) in setting goals. By overcoming any negative experiences and focusing on what has worked in the past, the odds of setting goals that inspire increases exponentially.
Below are some of the four main reasons I have seen why people don't set goals. By tackling them head on, can clear the decks and move forward in setting goals that get done.
1/ Not knowing where to start – feeling overwhelmed.
Often we can feel overwhelmed with where to start as there are so many options. A great way to address this is to have a structure and steps to go through (see below). It is also important we know who were are, how we best operate and what has worked well in the past. This helps us be authentic in what we set rather than just putting works down on paper.
2/ Don’t have time.
I love the saying “if we were going to cut down a tree, spend the first 5 minutes sharpening the saw".
Spending a short time every checking in on our goals will make sure we keep on track. If we don't we can burn time working on activities that don't take us forward to what we really want in life.
3/ Fear of failure.
So many of us have set goals before and not achieved them - how many of us have made a goal around losing weight? Vague or unrealistic goals sap our energy, as they never were able to be achieved in the first place or were not defined enough to be able to be broken down into actionable steps. Fear of not achieving the goals is a common reason people don’t even start. So let’s reframe our thinking. Goals are to serve us rather than make us slaves to them.
4/ Fear of success
This is a funny one. I remember one of my first ever coaching clients who ironically was a coach not wanting to start on goals, because she was afraid if she did she might be overcome with the success of it. We often can be more afraid of success and the pressure that it will cause, rather than failure. We therefore don’t start. Overcome this by planning and having a plan B if things do “take off”. You will be able to cope.
These are some of the main reasons I have seen why people don’t set goals. I have also experienced them myself. Setting goals can be a refreshing, fun, energising process that inspires us and gives us a greater sense of clarity. It does require some work – so grab yourself a coffee, pen and paper and start.
Keen to get in touch? Contact me and let's chat about how coaching could change your life. Email me grant@sparked.co.nz if you want to find out more.
