Unleash Your Potential #25 - Realistic/Achievable Goals
- Douglas McCall
- Jul 20, 2024
- 3 min read
Douglas: Welcome to the Unleash Your Potential Blog, what question can I answer for you today?
LifeElevator: How do I set realistic and achievable goals?
Douglas: Well done! You have asked a question that provides me an opportunity to dig a little deeper into one of the six criteria for SMARTR goal setting! (for review - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound, and Resources). In my perspective, attainable is synonymous with realistic and achievable.
What then does it mean to be realistic and achievable? These two words are related. A realistic goal can be achieved and an unrealistic goal cannot be achieved. The key to this is understanding what your potential is.
If you want to set realistic and achievable goals, you need to have an accurate understanding of your strengths and areas for growth. The first step to this then is to do an honest self-inventory. In business, there is a tool for analysis referred to as a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). This is an exercise that allows the company to get a very realistic picture of where they are and where they have the potential to grow in the future. I would suggest that you conduct your own SWOT analysis. Write down on a piece of paper (or type digitally, whatever works for you) those four areas and spend some time being very real about them. This is not an opportunity to pat yourself on the back or beat yourself up, but to get an accurate picture of where you are and where you might be able to grow.
Then you move on to the consideration of realistic and achievable. To begin with, I want to clarify that attainable does not necessarily imply easy. It can, but it shouldn’t all the time. As you are developing goals, you should be easy (to allow you some early successes and moments for celebration, but there should also be some that are stretch goals. Those are goals that make you grow outside your comfort zone. A realistic and achievable goal is one that with some effort and perhaps additional resources or education/training, you can achieve.
It is important at this point to discuss effort as it relates to realistic and achievable goal setting. Part of a goal being realistic and achievable is knowing how much effort you are willing to exert. If the effort required to achieve the goal is not an amount of effort you are willing to expend, then the goal is not achievable. Those of you who read my blog regularly may recognize that I am about to relate this topic to my love/hate relationship with my golf game.
I have played golf for nearly 20 years (possibly more). Some years, I play a lot, and some years I never get out the clubs. When I play regularly, I am solidly average by my estimation. I believe that if I wanted to, I could probably be fairly good at the game. I believe that if I applied myself, achieving a handicap of 0 (scratch golfer) is a goal I could attain. However, at this point in my life, there are several things I am not willing to commit to. One is the time (effort) to play as much as I should to get better. The other is the time/money/effort to take golf lessons to improve the areas of weakness in my game. So while becoming a 0-handicap golfer might be achievable, because I am not willing to expend the effort to do so, the goal is unrealistic.
This is the key to setting realistic and achievable goals. 1. You need to understand your strengths and weaknesses, 2. The goal should work within your strengths and weaknesses while stretching you a bit beyond them, and 3. You have to be willing to expend the time/energy/resources to accomplish the goals. If you address all three of these items, then your goals are much more likely to be realistic and achievable.
I hope my answer sheds some light on your question. If you want to dig into this concept further, I encourage you to reach out and set up a conversation. In the meantime, check back tomorrow for the next question in the Unleash Your Potential Series!
Be Well!
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