Kevin Bemel ·
It’s a Shame for You Not to Be Goal Oriented When Achievers Do It So Easily
As you might guess I have read a lot of books on setting and achieving goals. And if you are a regular reader of my blog you know I have written on that subject several times. The process of setting and achieving objectives seems so obvious to me that until recently I found it difficult to understand why everyone doesn't find it equally straightforward. Do you?
Not long ago I was talking with Melanie about goals. She asked me why I thought she was struggling so much to achieve a particular one. I began going through the process with her: a goal must be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound; the reward for meeting it must be enticing; start out with a small one and build up; and visualize yourself as already having achieved the goal. But those were not her issues.
Having done all that, Melanie still struggled for motivation. How could that be? She is very intelligent and accomplished. As a nurse, she is used to persevering through demanding doctors and miserable patients.
What about my approach made it easy for me? I have to be careful here. But with all due modesty, having set a goal I seamlessly transition into developing and executing the tasks to accomplish it. Then I thought about when I was a Cub Scout. At seven years old, I was hell-bent on becoming a Wolf Scout and getting that cool wolf’s head rank patch. A year before becoming eligible, I already had all of the knowledge and skills to earn the Arrow of Light. Then it struck me.
[Tweet "Being an achiever and being goal-oriented are two different things."]
For an achiever, attaining the goal is essentially an end in itself. It is part of a person’s make-up. Extraneous rewards are just icing on the cake.
Becoming goal-oriented is about learning the process of identifying an objective, defining it, and setting out the tasks to accomplish it. You have to become habituated to achieving goals. In his wonderful book The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg examines the concept of a keystone habit, one that spurs the development of more good habits. Finding your keystone habit is critical to becoming goal-oriented.
Being an achiever means you have internalized this process to the point that it takes place automatically. It is the lens through which you view how you guide your life, order your priorities, and use your time. In short, you can set a goal to become an achiever.
So next time you see someone who easily accomplishes goals don’t be frustrated. The person probably is an achiever and does not face the same challenges you do. Rather than get discouraged, keep working on habituating your goal-orientation. It is only a matter of time until you knock your head on your keystone that spurs you to become an achiever.
Question – What goal, when you reach it, do you think will propel you to achieving a bigger and more important one?
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