Going big is overrated, be specific instead
How being specific with your goals will bring more life fulfillment than going BIG
In a world focused on millions of social media followers, massive IPOs, and hefty bank accounts, the above headline may trigger you, but hear me out.
Big for big’s sake doesn’t help us get to where we need to be.
Having audacious goals can give us an initial jolt to our effort and the teams we’re on, but without a plan and a meaningful “why” those goals often become giant reminders of our failures.
A problem with massive goals and visions is the real possibility of overlooking all the progress we make along the way. Not to mention the incredible challenge that comes with building a strategy to achieve the near-impossible objective.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t aim high and strive to be better, not at all. I’m saying that being specific is far more potent than merely stating some ridiculously lofty goal because it sounds cool.
I know the world has taught us to “ Dream Big.” I know you might be shouting me down in your minds right now, and that’s okay, but a more useful goal-setting strategy is one that’s rooted in our unique desires and vision.
We overlook how much our society has influenced what we believe we desire.
Let’s say we want to build a billion-dollar company — the exalted Unicorn status. On the surface, that sounds awesome and seems like an incredible feat to work towards, but why?
Without something deeper driving us, this goal is only an empty wish we hope will happen, and that’s a big problem with this mentality. Setting goals is such a small part of the equation for real success and achievement.
We overlook the power of persistence, patience, effort, and SYSTEMS in the goal-setting process. A billion-dollar company may seem like a great goal, but in reality, it’s a terrible goal for most people.
I’ve been one of these people!
However, I learned that being a billionaire isn’t really what matters. What matters is the freedom to live my life on my terms and help others work towards what matters most to them.
Let’s compare our billion-dollar unicorn status to a specific goal using my company, Advisory Cure:
A profitable business that generates a yearly income of at least $250k a year
Can be run from my laptop with an internet connection
Service-oriented to help others achieve their business goals
Marketing-focused for a diversity of clients and type of work
B2B for professional focus and high standard of relationships
Centered around creativity, strategy, and problem solving
Company is under my control
Requires no more than 40 hours a week to run
Notice the difference? That’s what specific looks like!
Why specific is much more powerful.
If you look at the list above, you will notice right away the attributes can be tracked and measured, but there is also a powerful why behind each of them:
$250k take-home income would be a high wage to raise a family with and have the freedom to do what I enjoy. Studies have shown anything over $100k is essentially overkill and has no impact on our overall happiness.
Freedom to travel and work when and where I prefer. I can structure my life around what works for me.
Service and value are meaningful to me and want to leave the world a better place, and the business becomes a means to that end
Marketing is both diverse and foundational to all successful businesses
B2B is the world I prefer to be in as the standards and practices are different from working directly with consumers
I love to think, problem-solve, and build strategies for intentional work
I’m stubborn and like to be in command. I’d rather die by my failures than I would succeed following others.
40 hours or less is simply a quality of life balance and believe business is a tool for living and service
Do you see how these are all connected to something specific? I didn’t even discuss what I envision for the future, as it’s baked into the goals I’ve defined for myself and my family.
All the goals listed are meaningful to who I am and what matters most to me.
Self-awareness is so critical to success. Otherwise, we’re following whatever the world has told us is “success.”
Following others’ ideas of success is dangerous, and I see many people fall into this trap. When you ask them why they’ve chosen the goal, their reasons are vague and unclear. When goals are disconnected from what matters to us, we have such a small chance of achieving them.
Specific goals are richly more potent as they’re tied directly to what matters most to us and why we’ve chosen the path we’re on.
Building businesses, pursuing entrepreneurship, becoming a high performer, and other goals are incredibly complicated and will push us to our limits. Without that powerful why and specificity, we become lost in our pursuit of achievement and quit before we ever get started.
Success is ours to define.
We’ve fallen into the “bigger is better” mentality as a culture, and it’s taking its toll on those who seek to achieve. Making boatloads of money and building a billion-dollar company will not make us happy.
“The happiest people discover their own nature and match their life to it,” according to Ray Dalio.
For him, the goal was never about making money. “Meaningful work and meaningful relationships were and still are my primary goals and everything I did was for them,” he says. “Making money was an incidental consequence of that.”
Creating a life that matches our innermost desires and needs is the true definition of success. Endless, meaningless, audacious goals seem like a great idea, but when you dig deeper, they leave us grasping for me.
Even more so, they set us up to fail as our measurement for success is out of order, sending us into a downward spiral of disbelief and pain all for the sake of pursuing what we’ve been led to believe is the best way.
When you’re setting up your next quarterly, yearly, and beyond goals, ask yourself what matters and why are you seeking to achieve them.
Do your best to pinpoint the deeper aspect of your goals and the specific meaning they have for you as a person. Doing so will set you up for success and, more importantly, lasting fulfillment achieved from building a life designed for you.
You’re the maker of your world, now do great things! But be specific :)
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Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.