Is the outcome I want achievable?

Smart Goal Series: part 3 - Achievable. This article dives deep into exploring ensuring your goal is achievable so you can be successful! So far, we’ve covered how to be specific and measurable with our goal setting. Determining what we want and how we’ll know that we’re headed in the direction of achieving our outcome are major steps when setting goals. Now, let’s move onto achievable.

I think it’s important to first mention the elephant in the room. Doesn’t it seem a bit ridiculous to think that we wouldn’t set an achievable goal?

Believe it or not, most of us at some time or another have set an unachievable goal for ourselves. Let me clarify. The goal you set may or may not have been achievable, but perhaps the planning, resources and/or motivation may not have been enough to support achieving your desired outcome. Whether or not an outcome is achievable is very contextual per the individual. The following is a checklist to help you determine if you have what it takes to achieve your goal.

1.    You must create a goal that is compelling, motivating and important enough for you to throw all you have at it.

• Do you know what it will take to achieve the outcome?

• Do you feel passionate about it?

• What motivates and inspires you to achieve your desired outcome?

2.    Ensure you have the appropriate method of action to achieve your desired outcome.

• Do you know the steps to get your desired outcome? What actions need to take place?

• Is it in your power to initiate and follow through on the action needed to achieve the outcome? Does achieving the outcome rely upon some external variable such as luck or another person?

• Who do you need to be to initiate the processes and behaviors and maintain them over time?

3.    Assess whether you have the skills, abilities, attitude, internal/external resources, action plan and financial capacity to achieve the goal.

• Have you attempted to achieve this goal before? If so, when and what happened? In your previous attempt what worked and what did not work?

• Is there anything or anyone that may stop you from achieving the outcome? Any blocks, obstacles or sabotages - either internal or external?

• Do you know who you need to be to achieve the outcome? Do you have the internal resources (identity, attitude, values, beliefs, frames of mind, strategies)? Do you have what it takes?

• Do you have the external resources to complete each step (money, time, people)?

• Do you know who is the best person for the job and where to find that person?

Now you’ve got a quick checklist to test whether you’ve got what it takes to achieve your desired outcome.

Let’s cover a couple caveats

The first caveat is to acknowledge that the questions laid out in this blog are not the exhaustive checks to establish if your goal is achievable or not. There are many individual contexts that play into determining if one’s desired outcome is achievable or not. Please expound on these questions and build your own.

The second caveat would be to ask yourself if dangerously unachievable, monstrously big goals are a waste of time? I would argue no … with some context and understanding. The big goals I’m referring to are the ones that fulfill your wildest dreams. Maybe a bit too big for where you are currently, but not completely unachievable. Big, wild goals combined with reasonable achievable goals may likely be the best combination, which leads me to my third caveat.

Failure

If you’ve ever been coached by me you might recall my motto, “failure is only feedback.” This phrase can cause conflict because a lot of adults believe that failure is the result of some moral or character deficit, and thus their self-esteem, self-image, self-confidence and motivation to succeed all tank.

Imagine your little toddler attempting to take their first steps and crashing to the ground. You don’t think to yourself, “There must be some moral or character deficit in my child for failing to walk the first time”. NO WAY!

We Learn by Failing

How do you learn to pick yourself up when things don’t work out? Failing. How many years, seasons, player changes, staff changes and coach changes did the Kansas City Chiefs have to endure before they finally won another Super Bowl? Failing can be a good thing! Failure teaches us how to change, grow, develop, overcome and endure.

So, it’s important as you decide on your goals to choose a mixture of goals that are achievable for you and some that push you to face your fears. And, remember to reframe failure as feedback so that you can make the needed adjustments to your plan to achieve your desired outcome. Failing is a gift!

In gratitude,

William Malcolm

IntuitiveWellnessNow