Misconceptions of goal management

We've all heard the term "goal management" and are probably already practicing it, or preparing to do so. This article does not provide specific goal management best practices, but rather aims to help you understand goal management more deeply by pointing out the misconceptions of goal management.

By understanding the common misconceptions of goal management thinking, it can help us to better manage our goals.

Keeping the Goal in Mind Only

Goals that are not written down are hard to achieve!

An oft-cited study done by Dr. Gail Matthews, a professor of psychology at Dominican University in California, shows that if you write down your goals, you are 42% more likely to achieve them. Despite this, most people don't write down goals.

Why is it important to write down your goals instead of just keeping them in your head? There are three reasons. One, is that over time, the goal in your head will gradually blur, and you will not be able to clearly remember exactly what your original goal was, or that it has been modified numerous times in your head.

Second, in a world that is easily distracted, overworked, and overloaded, writing down your goals will force you to have a clearer, more specific perception of your goals.

Third, writing down your goals is the first step, and only by writing them down will you be able to follow through with breaking them down and developing tasks that you can perform, so they will be possible to achieve. And, you shouldn't just write your goals in your journal, you should look at them often, every day is ideal. This will keep your top priorities hanging on your mind.

Over-planning Leads to Early Gratification

A seemingly perfect plan will make people get a sense of satisfaction in advance, but the implementation process later becomes unattractive and difficult to sustain. This is why most people's flags fall so easily.

A good plan should not be too detailed. If the plan is made too detailed, it is not conducive to subsequent adjustments. "The first rule of making a plan is to be ready to redo it" - this proverb from Project Management High School has the same cautionary effect on individuals. Sometimes people feel that since they have made a plan, they should strictly execute it. The truth of the matter is that there will always be unplanned events, and if the plan is too well thought out leading to a loose end, it may well lead to the collapse of the entire plan.

David Allen has given a scale to do the plan for your reference: the plan does not need to do everything, the level of comfort is that you see the plan and know how to implement it, as well as it does not occupy your brain again.

The Pursuit of Perfect Execution

Pursuit of perfect executionThe most important aspect of goal management is consistent execution and valuing the compounding effect of small, daily changes. The idea of simply giving up on anything that isn't perfect will only leave you harsh on yourself, full of disappointment, and ultimately unable to accomplish any goals.

The theory in the book "The Atomic Habit" once again illustrates for us the problem of perfect execution and the importance of consistent execution.

For example, let's say you are a former non-exerciser who wants to make a habit of exercising 30 minutes a day. You set yourself the task of "exercising 30 minutes a day", but soon you find yourself unable to stick to it and give up. Eventually you come back to the self-perception of "I just don't like to exercise". This is because the task is too difficult for a person who has no exercise base at all, and you need to do it gradually. We can simplify it into a task that is not too difficult to start with, and a workout that can be done in 2 minutes is a good starting point. For example: put on your sneakers. Put on your sneakers today and walk downstairs tomorrow, doing a little more each day than the day before, changing your self-perception one step at a time. If you feel you've done a lot today, you can certainly maintain the previous day's behavior until you think you can go further.

The best way to learn goal management is to start taking action right away, even if the implementation is not as good as it should be, just keep implementing it, and as you gain experience, your goal management skills will grow naturally.

To-Do List Trap

Why is it difficult to manage goals with a mere task list, a topic that we have devoted an article to Why To-Do list fails?.