Are Your Goals TOO Realistic?

Have you ever heard of the SMART goal-setting technique? This acronym stands for setting specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely goals. In college, professors have recommended this goal-setting theory when it comes to business goals or other goals we set as professionals. In the blog world, I’ve also heard people refer to this technique. I love the idea of writing down goals and making them as useful as we can to help further our lives. But have we been setting goals in the wrong way? Does the SMART method really work?

By following this SMART model—consciously or subconsciously, we have been setting realistic goals as a culture, focusing on things that we know will be possible or should be possible. But more importantly, we may have set aside large-scale goals and dreams in our hearts in order to do things like “read more books this year” or “save X amount of money to get out of debt.” While these are awesome goals to have, other larger goals may get put on the backburner if we put smaller goals in the forefront of our planning. Side note: the “size” of a goal really depends on the person. Saving money could be a realistic goal or an unrealistic goal for some people, so I don’t mean to categorize different goals as big or small, but encourage you to take some risks in your goal setting! Let’s see why.

I think we need to get in the mindset now to go beyond short-term, realistic goals.

[bctt tweet=”Are your goals TOO realistic? See how to make 2016 the best year yet, starting with your goals.”]

We need to go for the goals that make a true mind, heart and life change in us. It’s time for us to go bold and do the big things we’ve had in mind for years.

Reason #1 why:

We shouldn’t set realistic goals because we have to be honest with ourselves—a lot of times we want or desire the unrealistic.

We want the unpractical. The road less traveled. We want to create our own path.

Let’s set our minds to what we actually want to accomplish. And get ahead. Let’s remove distractions. Let’s have the guts to actually get ahead in this world.

I love this quote from Albert Einstein:

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” — Albert Einstein 

How we set our goals shouldn’t be all logic and realism. It should include a little imagination. It’s time for use to get creative in our goal-setting. Instead of thinking of things to change about our daily lives–how many times we workout every week, what time we will get up in the morning, how long we will spend on social media, how many blog posts we want to write each month, etc.—let’s focus on goals that will breathe back energy and creative power back into our souls. Now, what does that mean? It means looking at the bigger picture. It means recognizing our smallness in the world and readjusting our values to focus on what matters most to us. It means taking time to live life slowly, putting people first and ourselves second. It means being honest with ourselves that we want to achieve the seemingly impossible. We want to cure disease, work to make a difference in the lives of others, travel the world, have a family, start a business, be on our own.

Reason #2: 

We need to fail in order to make progress.

We may risk failing when we set unrealistic goals, but failing is productive.

[bctt tweet=”We may risk failing when we set unrealistic goals, but failing is productive.”]

We can fail on our goals. It’s perfectly okay to do so. Even if we feel vulnerable. Even if it’s humiliating or uncomfortable. These moments are purposeful and part of our journey of achieving our callings.

The good news is that we can strive forward in our goals and even despite failures, we will end up in the place we need to be.

Reason #3:

Writing unrealistic goals also helps us to acknowledge and face our deepest fears with where we want to be in life.

We are able to drive out fear by actively loving and pursuing our dreams day and night. We are creatives. We are doers. Our goals should reflect that. They should reflect our passions and our innermost desires—what we deeply care about.

What do we want to create in this world? What do we want to change? Is it fighting hunger? Is it helping others find peace in broken situations? Is it helping friends and family get healthy? Is it inspiring others to chase their creative dreams? Sharing knowledge to students? We want to make a difference, no matter what it is. And it’s time we start to recognize that this is a desire we all have. Our choices, our planning, our goals should reflect our true intentions—we hope for a world full of change and freedom, in so many little ways.

Let’s get bold in our goal setting.

Starting today. 

A couple bloggers and I are teaming up to create a blogging community surrounding goal setting for the new year. I can’t wait to share this opportunity for a chance for us to reflect on some big, unrealistic but honest goals we have as bloggers, professionals, family members and humans who walk this earth. More information is coming soon.

I hope this post has inspired you as you make plans for 2016. I’m right there with you, planning details for next year, big and small. Let’s join together in helping each other achieve big, bold and purposeful actions for the next stages in our lives.

How are you planning your year? Do you like to set goals?