“My life isn’t focused on results. My life is really focused on the process of doing all the things I’m doing, from work to relationships to friendships to charitable work.”
— George Clooney
The research is clear; people who set goals achieve more at work. But what if your goal is to be happy? Can goal setting help you obtain a more fulfilling life? The answer is yes, but the devil is in the details.
Choose the right goal.
Conventional wisdom tells us that achieving our goals will make us happy, but science tells us otherwise. The achievement of goals can be anti-climactic or even counterproductive. People who pursue goals such as money, beauty, and popularity may be less happy and more anxiety-ridden(Ed Diener.) The important thing is to choose the right goals and for the right reasons.
So, what makes a good goal?
A good goal is meaningful and provides positive experiences while you are pursuing it. The key is to select a goal that makes you happy in striving for the objective, regardless of whether or not you achieve that end. Many individuals who pursue excellence in music, sports, and the arts know this intuitively. They work daily in the pursuit of perfection while knowing it is a goal they will never achieve. Yet, they find the process of striving for excellence to be rewarding in itself. The goal is meaningful, even if unattainable, and the process is enjoyable. Hence, they relish working every day in their studio or gym.
“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”
— Bruce Lee
A good goal is meaningful and provides positive experiences while being pursued.
If you want to put goal setting to work for you, then change how we see goals from ends (expecting that their attainment will make us happy) into means (recognizing that they can enhance the pleasure we take on the journey). I think of a good goal as a far off mountain peak. You can see its misty form off in the distance, which keeps you oriented to move in that direction. It also makes it possible for you to enjoy the place you are in. It allows you to savor the view and stop to admire the flowers along the way.
If you focus too intently on the destination and allow your thoughts to fixate on where you are going, that robs you of the opportunity to be where you are and enjoy it. So the goal needs to be one where you will enjoy doing the work at least as much as you will enjoy achieving the end. Because it is enjoying the process that gets us to show up every day, and small, daily progress compounds into big results over time.
An empowering purpose informs us where we are going while freeing us to focus our full attention on making the most of where we are.
“…it is the process of striving after goals—rather than goal attainment per se—that is crucial for happiness and positive affectivity.”
— Robert Pirsig
The important thing is having a meaningful goal to strive towards, not the attainment of that goal. Thus a good goal serves as a reason to do the work. It becomes the reason Why we do the job. And the why informs what we do, not the other way around.
Characteristics of motivating goals.
Goals that motivate people are self-selected, interesting, and personally valuable rather than imposed from outside. Inspiring goals provide the opportunity for intrinsic motivation like growth, connection, and contribution rather than extrinsic factors like money, beauty, or status. Objectives that meet these criteria are what psychologists call Self-Concordant goals.
Self-concordant goals have several characteristics;
- They are freely chosen rather than imposed by others.
- Stem from a desire to express one’s self rather than to impress others.
- Stretch one’s abilities.
- Are personally meaningful.
- Connect one to a community of like-minded individuals.
Selecting self-concordant goals is a difficult skill that requires considerable self-awareness. One must be able to accurately perceive their aptitudes and interest. That person must also be able to separate their desires and needs for growth from what society tells them they should want. The second part is critical; the ability to separate your values from what society tells you to covet.
Set better goals.
So set yourself down and think about the goals you are currently pursuing. Were those goals freely chosen by yourself, or are they things that others imposed upon you? Do your current goals build on your interest? Utilize your abilities? Give your life meaning? If not, discard them and develop some self-concordant goals. How?
Long-term Goals: Write out some long-term goals that you want to achieve. Long-term is anywhere from one year to thirty years from now. These are not wishes, so make these goals as concrete as possible. Think about what you will achieve and when you will achieve it. Remember, your goals should be big enough to stretch your current abilities and even scare you a little.
Short-term Goals: Now break down those big goals into achievable steps. What do you need to do in the coming year, month, and day, to achieve your goal? These steps should be immediate, concrete, and doable. If you want to run a marathon, don’t start on day one with running all 26.2 miles. Instead, start with what you know you can do and then push it a little farther.
Action Plan: Create a list of daily steps you can take starting today to achieve that goal. Keep your focus on doing the day-to-day work and enjoying the process. Small steps repeated daily can lead to big results over time. Make sure that you settle on a process that you find enjoyable so you can stick with it long enough to see your efforts compound.
Remember, your long-term goal is like the misty mountain on the horizon. Use that image to keep you oriented so that you continue to move in the right direction, but also enjoy where you are and the work you are doing today. Focus on the mountain in the distance, but stop and admire the flowers along the path, and you will achieve more while being happier in the process.
“Happiness grows less from the passive experience of desirable circumstances than from involvement in valued activities and progress toward one’s goals.”
— David Myers and Ed Diener
