Page 16 - Hard Goals

Introduction 7

most people set woefully inadequate and incomplete goals. And
sadly, this is often by design. For example, many businesses
use a goal-setting process called SMART Goals. They set goals
that are Specifi c, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-
Limited. For starters, goals that are Achievable and Realistic
are diametrically opposed to Diffi cult goals—a critical element
for engaging your brain. Steve Jobs has made a career out of
doing things others said couldn’t be done, and trust me, no goal
he’s ever set is going to pass the Achievable and Realistic test
for a SMART Goal.
And even a factor like Specifi c, which sounds OK, can suck
the life out of a goal. For most people, Specifi c means turn your
goal into a number and jot it down (for example, I want to lose
a specifi c weight, like 27 pounds). But that defi nition of “spe-
cifi c” pales in comparison to the intensely pictured animated
goals of achievers like Jobs and others. Sure they’ve got a num-
ber, but they know what their body will look like 27 pounds
from now, what clothes they’ll be wearing, even how they’ll
feel when they no longer carry the weight. For them, 27 pounds
isn’t an abstract concept or a number on a form; it’s a vision
into the future that feels so real, it’s as if it’s already happened.
Some people and organizations get so hung up on making
sure their goal-setting forms are fi lled out correctly that they
neglect to answer the single most important question: Is this
goal worth it? And then, if it is “worth it”—if it’s a goal worthy
of the challenges and opportunities we face—we need to ask,
How do we sear this goal into our minds, make it so critical to
our very existence that no matter what obstacles we encounter,
we will not falter in our pursuit of this goal?