Just recently I have been thinking, like many people, about goal setting for 2019. In terms of success in 2018, I did achieve many of the goals that I set, yet I still feel that I didn’t achieve my full potential.
Why is that?
In some cases I think it just that I didn’t aim high enough. I am a fan of big bold goals, but even though some of the goals at first glance looked bold, they were definitely achievable, and I could have aimed higher.
Secondly, I think some of the goals I set were just not important enough. That doesn’t mean that the goals were not important, or good for business. It means that they were not important enough for me. They were not authentic goals.
What do I mean by authentic goals?
Well, these are goals which are aligned with your values.
Only goals that help you live your values, or help achieve things in line with your values will be truly important to you. When things get tough, or you have to make a choice invariably we will decide in line with our values.
For example, if money is not one of your values, then setting a goal of being a millionaire is probably not in line with your values. Or if helping people is not a value, then setting up a charity to aid people, whilst a good thing is not going to be aligned with your values.
Now to be clear, I am not saying that one value is better than any other. I am not trying to preach that you need to change your values. I am just saying that if your goals are not aligned with your true values then that goal just won’t be important enough to you.
Even worse, if you actually achieve a goal that is not aligned with your values, you’re probably not going to be that ecstatic about it.
Yes, there is always some pleasure in hitting a target, but if it’s not related to your values then that pleasure will fade very quickly.
2019 goals.
So as you think about the goals you want to achieve in 2019, first of all make sure you know and understand your values.
The better you understand your values the easier it will be to set goals that will resonate with you, be important to you and will make you feel happy once you have achieved them.
