Goal Setting or Wishful Thinking?

With the prospect of a brand new year laid out in front of us, many people are busy setting goals for the future. Why is this such a common practice this time of year?

Because the nature of people tends to be progressive. We all enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from making positive changes in our lives. The desire to improve seems to be hardwired into us.

Is it goal setting or just wishful thinking?

Sad to say, even with the best of intentions our goals often fail to become reality. It’s happened to all of us at some point. What can we do avoid repeating that scenario? First, we need to recognize that effective goal setting involves many different elements.

Today, I want to focus on just one of those elements. Let’s talk about various ways of measuring our progress while working toward a goal. It’s relatively easy to create goals for ourselves, but without a way to keep track of our progress, goals can quickly be reduced to nothing more than wishful thinking. I want to help you avoid that outcome.

How will you gauge your progress?

Without some way to gauge our progress it is impossible to know where we are headed. The truthfulness of this is not restricted to our individual goals. It actually applies to every aspect of our entire life. If we want our life to be progressive, then we need a way to measure our progress. Makes sense, right?

Many people go through life never measuring their progress. Where does this lead? More often than not, it leads to massive disappointment when they finally take the time to look back and analyze their life course.

It’s very easy to get so caught up in day to day living that we never stop to get our bearings. The problem with this approach is that we can be completely off course without ever realizing it. So, what’s the best way to keep track of our progress?

Is this how you gauge your progress?

There are basically two ways that we can keep track of our progress. While both of them have their place, they also need to be kept in their place. One way to gauge progress is to compare where we are to our ideal. For every area of life there is usually an ideal that we would like to strive for. There is nothing wrong with this concept, unless you try to use it as a way of keeping track of your progress. Why?

Because as you move toward your ideal it will change. It’s like moving towards the horizon. Even though you are covering ground, you never get any closer to the horizon. Ideals are just as elusive as the horizon. Even if we are making progress, our evaluation of what is ideal tends to evolve in proportion to our progress.

Regardless of the fact that we may have accomplished some notable changes in our life, our position with relation to our ideal never improves. It’s far better to use ideals to establish a general direction. Much like a compass pointing to the North Pole, ideals can help us stay on a particular heading, but they really don’t help us gauge our progress.

Here’s a more reasonable approach

A far better way to gauge your progress is to compare where you are to where you were. This type of comparison makes it very easy to identify how, or if, things have changed. This approach also helps you avoid the trap of comparing your progress to someone else’s. Remember, personal development is personal, it really doesn’t have anything to do with what other people are doing.

On the other end of the journey, if you have established a specific goal, or milestone, you can also compare where you are now to your intended outcome. Looking back at the progress that you have made can motivate you to keep moving toward your goal. Progress is encouraging. So, having a way to gauge your progress can provide you with just the right motivation to keep moving forward.

There’s more to goal setting and just measuring progress

Obviously, there is much more involved in learning how to set and achieve goals than just finding a way to gauge progress. Goal setting is a multifaceted life skill, with several vital aspects. We’ll talk about some of those other aspects in future articles. For now, I invite you to examine the way that you currently measure your progress in life. Perhaps this would be a good time to analyze your past performance and get your bearings.

Before you get all wrapped up in setting new goals, why not take some time to celebrate your accomplishments? As you look back on this year’s activities, don’t forget to give yourself credit for the progress you’ve already made. Chances are your life is changed in many positive ways over the last year. Reflecting on your personal achievements will likely inspire and motivate you to to keep moving in the direction of your ideals.

Got goals? Feel free to share them!
How will you keep track of your progress?
Did you accomplish something important this year?

Print Friendly