BEFORE YOU SET THOSE 2014 GOALS

One Saturday I had to baby sit my two brisk nephews, aged 8 and 6. Only those who have stayed with such lively toddlers would know they are quite a bunch to handle. After screaming, threatening, and cajoling them to stay quiet while I watched Arsenal humble Cardiff, I struck an idea and applied it promptly. “Alex, Joshua,” I screamed. “You guys should go and wash my car, and if you finish in the next 30 minutes we would go for lunch in Chicken Republic.” They dashed outside, gleeful. Twenty five minutes later they reappeared. I smiled at my own victory. I had achieved my goal of getting them out of the house and succeeded in finishing the match peacefully in record time. Or did I?

Yes, they were at the door in time. But twenty five minutes from start to finish meant that they didn’t wash the car very well, they definitely didn’t brush the car-mats, nor cleaned the interior, and the body of the car was a mess. Maps of dried dirty water stains gave it an irritating camouflage. We all know how important it is to have goals, right? And not just any goals, but stretch goals. Its pure logic: if you don’t know specifically where you’re going, then you’ll never get there. And if you don’t set the bar high enough, you’ll never live up to your potential. In Nigeria, there is this “advice” making the rounds: “Reach for the stars, and even if you don’t get there, you would land on the moon.” This is accepted common sense in the some people’s world, and it’s reinforced by research. A study, perceived to be carried out on a Harvard Business School class you may have heard of, averred that only 3% of the graduating students who wrote down clear goals, became 10 times the worth of the rest of the class combined twenty years later. Compelling, right? It would be if it were true. But it isn’t. That study doesn’t exist. Its pure urban myth says Peter Drucker. Still, that’s just one specious story.

Probing the wisdom of setting stretch goals is like questioning the very foundation of life itself. We might debate which goals to set, or how to set them, but who would debate whether to set goals at all?
I’d like to. It’s not that goals, by their nature, are bad. It’s just that they come with a number of side effects that suggest you may be better off without them. It’s practically impossible to predict the negative side effects of a goal. When we set goals, we’re taught to make them specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (SMART goals they call it). But it turns out that those characteristics are precisely the reasons goals can backfire. A specific, measurable, time-bound goal drives behaviour that’s narrowly focused and often leads to either cheating or myopia, suggests Drucker. Yes, we often reach the goal, but at what cost? So what can you do in the absence of goals? It’s still often necessary to drive toward achievements in life. We need help setting direction and measuring progress. But maybe there’s a better way to achieve those things while sidestepping goals’ negative side effects.

I want to propose one: Instead of identifying goals, consider identifying areas of focus. A goal defines an outcome you want to achieve; an area of focus establishes activities you want to spend your time doing. A goal is a result; an area of focus is a path. A goal points to a future you intend to reach; an area of
focus settles you into the present.

Obviously these aren’t mutually exclusive. You could have a goal and an area of focus. In fact, one could argue that you need both together — the goal specifies where you’re going and the area of focus describes how you plan to get there. But there is a benefit to concentrating on an area of focus without a goal. An area of focus taps into your intrinsic motivation, offers no stimulus or incentive to cheat or take unnecessary risks, leaves every positive possibility and opportunity open, and encourages collaboration while reducing corrosive competition. All while moving forwards on the things you value most.

In other words, an area of focus offers all the advantages of a goal without the negative side effects. How do you do it? It’s simple: identify the things you want to spend your time doing — or the things that you decide are the most valuable use of your time — and spend your time doing those things. The rest takes care of itself. I have found that five major things are about the limit before your efforts get diluted.

The key is to resist the temptation to identify the outcome you want to achieve. Leave that open and allow yourself to be pleasantly surprised. I’m not suggesting that this is easy to do. Paul Newman states that; “I never realized how goal-focused I was until I tried to stop focusing on goals. Without goals, I found it hard to trust that anything would get done at all. But things got done.” And in my experience, not only will you achieve at least as much as you would have if you had set goals, but you’ll enjoy the process far more, avoiding unnecessary stress and temptation. In other words, if we focus on the tasks instead of the outcome, my nephews will still get the car washed on time, but they will have cleaned the interior, brushed the car-mats, and cleaned well the whole body too.