Let’s not skip this important process
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Have you ever done this exercise of listing up pros and cons of whatever you consider doing?
Many business books and self-help magazine articles suggest that you do this exercise to make a decision.
But I have never seen one that suggests you do this useful exercise for setting goals. Is it because nobody doubts about the virtue of setting goals?
I got burned out by continuously setting goals in my life. So at least for me, setting goals is not a holy grail. This exercise helped me understand the nature of goal-setting and consciously graduate from it.
Interested? Let’s do it together.
Pros of setting goals
I think you can find gazillions here. Please do list up. I will list only a couple.
- It gives you a sense of purpose of life
- It gives you a clear direction
Cons of setting goals
Here we go.
- It gives you a false sense of achievement
Once you have set a goal, you feel good. You feel the sense of accomplishment of something. Remember! Goals are nothing more than your fanciful desires.
- It limits your possibility
What you set as your goal is based upon your information, experience and imagination, all of which are limited. No goal can be beyond your imagination.
You set a goal to be a top writer in entrepreneurship, because that was what you thought you are an expert of. But you have just started learning Ikebana and your interest is mushrooming. By simply sharing your new findings and excitement each day, as a result you can be a top writer in Ikebana or eventually in art topic.
- It forces you to seek a shortcut
Once you set a goal, you try to draw the straight line from where you are right now to your goal. You want to take the shortest route to get from point A (your current position) to point B (your goal). You tend to ignore what lies in between the two points, however wonderful it may be.
You set a goal of obtaining a teacher’s certificate in Ikebana, which requires you to finish at least 80 lessons. You seek the most efficient way. You only use the same kind of materials because you know how to handle them. Congratulations! You finished all the lessons in a record-breaking speed. But you missed the opportunity to touch variety of materials, which would have deepened the joy of Ikebana.
- It takes too much of your attention
If you pay too much attention on your goal, you lose time and energy to focus on what enables you to achieve the goal.
You set a goal of having 1,000 followers on Medium. Every half an hour you click the “stats” menu to see the progress. Alas! The paradox is that attention to the goal is actually hindering you from achieving it. Rather, you should have spent that time writing a new article and publishing it.
The list above is not exhaustive, but I hope you get the idea: Cons of setting goals.
Then what is the alternative to setting goals? I will also try to present my idea in the future article. But that’s all for today.
Thank you for reading!