Realistic, Yet Ambitious

The sweet spot for goal setting

If this is your first time on the site, check out the introductory post here to learn about the 18 Day Sprint concept

As we looked at yesterday, goals must be set not as final destinations but as milestones we’re attempting on a larger journey in being a certain kind of person.

That being the case, we want to be careful not to put too much stock in goals. Falling short isn’t that big of a deal if we’re showing growth. Still, they can be helpful in gauging progress—but only if they’re done right.

First, you don’t want to make them too easy.

If it’s the kind of thing you could achieve with barely any effort, why aim to do it? Again, the point should be changed habits and changed identity, not just a box checked. “I’d like to read two books this year” isn’t exactly pushing myself, and worse—I would know it. There would be little sense of accomplishment or fulfillment. To be honest, if you accomplish every goal on time there’s a good chance you aren’t aiming high enough. Make sure they’re challenging enough to remain interesting.

Second, you don’t want to make them too vague.

Generalities are the most basic starting point, but if left undeveloped they accomplish nothing.

For example, “I want to lose weight” is a great thing to say, but it probably won’t get you anywhere. It is basically impossible to use as a measure of success or failure. If you lose 5 pounds when there is a lot more to lose, you can say you lost weight… but was that the point?

Instead, you want to be a healthy person (identity) and you want to regularly choose nutritional foods far more often than junk foods (habit). Figure out what a healthy weight would be, make that the goal, and figure out what would be reasonable to shoot for every 2-3 weeks.

Third, you don’t want to make them too difficult.

This happens two ways: one, by taking on too many goals and two, by taking on goals outside your level of ability. On this site I’m pushing faith, family, finance, and fitness as four areas worthy of your time and effort.

If you try to go from fairly undisciplined to adding a 3 chapters-a-day Bible plan, plus a new hour-a-day habit of playtime with the kids, plus starting a work side hustle for 15 hours each week, plus starting up a daily gym habit, the odds are slim those all work out. It’s more likely they all collapse as you begin succeeding at one or two, then taking away from them to try to get the others going, creating a death spiral in which none get done.

On the other hand, you might have one goal that’s so difficult you fail to complete it and grow discouraged. For example, maybe you want to start running—that’s great, but don’t book a marathon two months from now.

Challenging but attainable goals, broken down into manageable milestones has to be the approach.

What I’ve found is, as I start hitting those goals it becomes like the old spinning plates routine. Once you get a habit ingrained, you’ve got a plate that can spin on its own. You don’t have to put much thought into it anymore. Time to add more—another habit, or a tougher goal. Follow this path long enough and you’ll be shocked at the amount of discipline of which you’re capable.

We’re just a few days from starting in on the first sprint of 2024. What kind of person do you want to be? What habits do you want to develop? What goals will you pursue on that path? And what will it take to start a snowball effect in that direction over the first 18 days of the year?