I love creating goals, writing bucket lists, and thinking of everything I hope to accomplish in life. Currently, I have four different lists of goals I’m working on in my personal life, and another list I keep for my job. And while I love all these lists, and still find my self brainstorming more ideas of what I want to accomplish, I need to address the dangers of goal setting.
Obviously, I have an excessive number of goals I hope to accomplish, or at least too many lists. Two of these lists are aimed to be accomplished in a single year – including my 24 by 24 by 24 list (which I hope to finish by my 24th birthday) and my annual(calendar year) list of goals. I have a lifetime goal list, which I created using the steps I detailed in a previous blog post, and a list of random challenges I think of spontaneously and write in my planner for safe keeping to work on, or possibly incorporate in a future list (that doesn’t sound crazy).
However, while all of these lists give me a starting point to think about the steps I need to take to accomplish them, it also leads to me feeling overwhelmed. All of the goals I write I know I can accomplish. But it becomes frightening when I go a week or two and feel like I haven’t been able to check off anything from my lists – even if I am working on goals. Or realize I can’t even remember some of my goals because there are so many.
Part of this is because some of the goals I am working on require lots of time to accomplish, or are seasonal. That, or I picked them purposefully because I knew they would be a “delayed satisfaction” type of goal. Often I do exactly what I want when I think of it. Which is not a bad thing, but I wanted to incorporate challenges in my life that I can work towards, and not just accomplish in a day or less.
I am very aware of the fact that I tend to live in my head, and this can lead to me fantasizing about the future and all I hope to accomplish, or fixating on what I haven’t accomplished yet. And this negative thinking can put a damper on working towards these goals.
A solution could be to add already near accomplished tasks to the lists. Tasks that a person has been working on that they know they will soon achieve. I do have some goals like this, many of which I have been working on for years, and it does not feel like a cop-out to add them. However, it does not feel right to me to add a simple goal to a list just to check something off.
“A goal properly set is halfway reached.”
Zig Ziglar, American Author
Retroactive goal adding is a little different. Sometimes I do think it makes sense to add a major life accomplishment to a list, if for no other reason then to recognize something great you accomplished and documenting it somewhere. However, not every job well done needs to be recognized on a list.
Finally, fixating on lists of goals in itself is unnecessary and dangerous. Yes, I love my lists, and will continue to reference them for inspiration. But I don’t want to feel tied down to them, or limited with my life options because I feel like I need to check things off by a certain time or in a particular order. For me, these lists above all else are meant to bring me joy and a creative outlet, so that I can live a purposeful life and not forget the happiness I felt from facing challenges and pushing myself out of my comfort zone.
In other words, goals are good – recognizing something you hope to accomplish and writing it down is just one way of holding yourself accountable to figure out how to fulfill them. But holding yourself accountable to an excessive number can lead to feelings of disappointment and stress. That’s why its important to remember that goals are meant to be enjoyable. Yes, some are required to be done, but by completing them, there should be at least a feeling of success. That’s why I am going to continue using my lists for inspiration, but also keeping in mind that life continues to happen, even where I’m trying to make plans to check off a goal.
“Man Plans and God Laughs.”
Yiddish Proverb
Chasing serendipity 