Setting overly ambitious goals without the requisite discipline required to accomplish them is the best way to set yourself up for failure.
“If you’re dialing in your New Year Goal’s list..
Dial back.
Cut your goals by 50-75%.
I don’t say this to be negative, but because I know goals aren’t accomplished by having good intentions in comfortable settings.
Less is more.
Raise the floor.
Small wins are BIG wins.”
-Ray Zingler on Twitter
A decade ago, I used to hate on the New Year New Me, stuff.
I was one of those guys touting the “Well if it’s important to you than you’d start now” and while I still largely believe that (as it pertains to myself) I have learned that some and I could even argue most, need the turn of the year as a catalyst to start their thing(s).
So what good is bashing people who are encouraged to start something before they even start? Is there merit in that? There isn’t.
If you want to be a valuable person, meet them where they’re at, not where you’re at because I promise you there are areas in your life (and mine) that those “new year new me” folks could certainly help us in.
Moving on to goals.
“Cut my goals by 50%? 75%? Why are you encouraging me to reduce my ambition? That’s awfully negative!”
It’s because I want you to win.
See like most bravado based “tough” guys with 12” arms wreaking of cigarettes, 3 sheets to the wind, walking up to the dime in the bar, most people overshoot their shot.
And like our boy ‘Back In My Day’ Joe they end up getting 1 of 3 things: Turned down, punched in the face, or dragged out of the bar by a bouncer.
Comparing the example to goal achievement, it’s usually the ladder of the 2 consequences most people who set overly ambitious goals are met with.
By starting out with less ambitious goals, whether that be cutting the weight you want to lose in half or starting that new habit 3 times a week instead of 7, you’re creating far more realistic winning opportunities.
When you win, despite the size of the win, you build confidence. As your confidence grows, so can your ambition.
The reason this is possible is because you now have proof.
You’ve shown yourself, “I have the discipline to achieve what I said I wanted to achieve.”
Then, you can leverage that discipline and increase the ambition.
Should you increase it by 100%? Nope.
Try 5% or 10%.
The key is to set yourself up to continually win.
Hit consistent singles. Don’t worry about home runs.
