Seven myths about goal setting

National Public Accountant, The, April, 2002 by Jeff Davidson

Goals Set by Others For You Won't Work

There is a common misperception that a goal you undertake has to be your own--set by you, and pursued by you. This is not true. Studies have shown that one person can set goals for another. In fact, this happens every day in sales organizations-- don't sales managers develop quotas for the sales staff? The key element is that the person for whom the goal is set adopt the goal as his or her own. This is welcome news for parents, managers, or anyone else who has the inherent or mandated responsibility for the performance of others.

Once a Goal is Appropriately Set, It's Best Not to Tamper With It

This is true much of the time, but there are enough exceptions to merit discussion. Often, when you set an appropriate goal, factors outside your control change. These could include:

* a new regulation levied by government

* an action by a competitor

* a change in the social environment, or

* the significant reduction or increase in resources allocated to you.

Sometimes it makes sense to revise your goals mid-stream. This is not an open-ended excuse to modify goals on a whim or when the going gets tough. This simply recognizes that even the most intelligently and appropriately set goals cannot always withstand the vicissitudes of a changing environment.

A Goal is an End in Itself

Although a goal can be an end in itself, it rarely is. If your goal is to increase earnings, lose weight or develop a better quality relationship, ask yourself what you really want.

You may want more money to better afford the education of your children, I enjoy greater leisure, or donate more to worthy causes.

Losing weight will promote a healthier lifestyle, reduce your risk of heart attack, and increase your longevity so that you'll be around to enjoy your grandchildren.

Having a better relationship may not be an end in itself. Related goals may include becoming a better role model for your children, or spurring your partner to even greater Growth and personal development.

Set challenging and reachable goals that are quantifiable and have a specific time line, and pursue them with vigor. These goals may end up as stepping stones to other goals that emerge as you realize one desirable outcome after another.

It Is Necessary to Announce Your Goal

Many goal-setting gurus advocate letting everyone know about your goal. This could involve sharing your goal with a few select others who help you achieve what you set out to do, publishing your goal in a department newsletter or broad-casting it at a meeting.

I think such measures can be useful and effective depending on your goal, who you are, and how you can best pursue the goal. It is Lot essential, however, for you to publicize all your goals.

Announcing your goals can have a negative effect. Why? You maybe locked into having to achieve your goal at a visible and/or measurable pace so that others feel comfortable about your progress.

Don't pay attention to them--its you who's important.

Even Progress is Best

Sometimes, when you pursue a goal, the pace isn't even. Weight loss generally falls into this category. Research has shown that in the first few weeks, your weight is not likely to change at all. Your body is adjusting to a new level of exercise, a new level of caloric intake, and a new rate of metabolism. Often, the greatest change comes after you might have expected it to come. This explains why so many people give up on diets too soon. Just when they were about to see progress toward their goal, they concluded that it wasn't working.

You Need to Chip Away at Your Goal a Little at a Time

Incremental progress toward your goal is positive, but sometimes your perceived progress is anything but incremental. This is due to a process termed germination. Germination can mean development, growth, or maturation and none of these concepts suggests an even progression. When learning to play the piano, for example, you may have the darnedest time practicing a particular song. Suppose you try something else a bit more complicated. After spending days attempting to learn the more complicated piece, you return to the easier piece. Guess what? All of a sudden you can play it with a flourish. Why? You experienced a germination process while learning to play the piano. As you jumped to the more difficult piece, you were laying the foundation for being able to effectively play the easier piece even though you weren't practicing it. This seemingly uneven type of progression happens all the time. Author Brian Tracy, in his book, Maximum Success, says that your pursuit of success is rarely an even progression. It' s more like two steps forward, one step back.

The All-time Myth About Goal Selling

In virtually all books written about goal setting, the authors refer to the celebrated study at Yale University in 1953 that dramatically "illustrates" the importance of goal setting. As the story goes, each member of the 1953 graduating class at Yale was surveyed as to whether or not he (only males attended Yale in 1953) had written out the goals that he wanted to achieve. Some 97 percent of the class responded that they HAD NOT written down goals, while 3 percent of the class responded that they did. Then, allegedly in 1973, Yale's Class of '53 allegedly was polled again. There searchers discovered that the 3 percent of the class who had written down their goals when surveyed in 1953 had now generated more personal financial wealth than the remainder of the class combined.