Page 33 - Hard Goals

24 HARD Goals

right degree of diffi culty and so on), if it’s not heartfelt, if you’re
not emotionally connected to it, if you aren’t ready to chase this
goal to the far corners of the globe, then you’re more likely to
abandon it than you are to accomplish it. Goal-setting processes
often get so hung up on the analytical and tactical parts that
they often neglect the most fundamental question: why do you
care about this goal?
In the early days of my career, I advised seriously troubled
organizations (the ones teetering on the edge of bankruptcy).
And believe me when I say they needed some seriously HARD
Goals to fi ght their way back. I could always tell if the company
had a suffi cient foundation from which to launch a success-
ful turnaround just by walking around and asking employees,
“Why do you care if this company succeeds or fails?” If I heard
a lot of people say, “Because I’ll lose my job,” or “I need a
paycheck,” or something similar, I knew the company probably
wouldn’t make it. But if I heard something more heartfelt like,
“I’ve poured my heart and soul into this place, and I’m not
gonna let it fail now,” or “Too many people are counting on
us,” or “Our customers need us to survive,” then I knew we had
a great shot at a comeback.
By the way, every politician that wants to survive knows
that caring, emotional intensity, and heartfelt connection all
mean the same thing: voter turnout. When people are emotion-
ally connected to an issue or leader, when they feel heartfelt
enthusiasm, they’ll move heaven and earth to guarantee its suc-
cess. But when they’re apathetic—that’s very bad news indeed!
If your goals are important enough, if they’re HARD, then
at some point you’re going to hit a stumbling block, because
every goal worth doing is going to test your resolve and ask
you to decide if you really want to keep going. And at that