Should you set your goals high, or a bit lower?

Dien -

First, belated holiday greetings! Been away from the screen for few days (or lurking only:-))

Generally, I've used both types of goals in concert, i.e.

1. Determine a large objective (shoot for the stars goal) to accomplish by a certain time. (Could be financial, physical, emotional, whatever. I've used it to create businesses, train for marathons, etc.)

2. Begin with the end in mind (as Covey said) and reverse engineer the process with several intermediate and immediate steps (attainable goals) that must be accomplished to achieve the big result.

3. Don't be so locked in on the individual steps that you miss serendipitous opportunities that come along to help you achieve your big goal in an unexpected way (a la Rick above).

4. Ensure that your big goal/project is aligned with what you're all about in life (i.e., mission or purpose or ethics, etc. Gordon's post and examples underline this point. Large and small is relative to the person and situation, grasshopper:-))

The key for me has been wanting to achieve the big goal and being motivated to take the actions necessary. Then, the steps to accomplishment are often obvious and fall into place as you move along. Fluidity as opposed to rigidity of process:-) Taylor embodies this in his post.

I think the main obstacle to goal achievement (large and small) is lack of action, as has been often stated here and in the Square One process a while back. Goal achievement, to me, boils down to decide what you want to achieve, why you want it, about when you want it, and then take the necessary actions to do it.

Simple, but not easy:-))

Excellent topic for year end. Thanks!

Bob