I am not one for New Year’s resolutions, but this year I felt compelled to come up with some goals for 2015. I wanted to push myself and create tangible targets to hit throughout the year.
Only problems was that I did not really know how to best do that.
When doing some research on how to set goals and why it is important to set goals I came across this podcast featuring Michael Hyatt. Hyatt outlines the 10 biggest mistakes people make in goal setting. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to set (and achieve) their goals in 2015.
One portion of the podcast that really stood out to me was when Hyatt discussed what he calls, “three negative emotions that indicate you are on the right track.” He explains that these three things may be viewed as negative but they are actually positive indications that you are on course to hit your target.
I think Hyatt’s three indications are not only a great way to look at goal setting but can also be applied to many aspects of our lives. Let’s take a look…
#1 Fear
Is there a little part of you that is afraid to write down a certain goal? Do you fear that you might need to work at hitting it? If your goal is outside your comfort zone, then it probably means it is really important to you.
We associate fear with negativity but just because something is scary doesn’t mean it is wrong. Last year I wrote about Disney’s Planes and how the main character Dusty Crophopper had the goal of becoming a racer. He was afraid of letting go of many of the things that made him a crop duster and it wasn’t until he acknowledged his comfort zone that he was able to fly faster.
By locating and pushing through our comfort zones, we too can learn to fly faster.
#2 Uncertainty
One reason I struggled to come up with goals was because I was already looking ahead. Say I wanted to have the goal of selling more books in 2015, I would immediately question how this was going to happen. What would I need to do? How would I need to go about it? Without having a concrete answer, I would talk myself out of creating that goal.
Turns out, my uncertainty might not be such a bad thing after all. Hyatt feels that identifying the what is more important than identifying the how. He says,
The how will show up once you get clarity about the what, so if you have uncertainty about the goal, that’s actually a very good thing because something is going to have to show up in you, in your way of thinking about something to accomplish it that you’re not clear on now.”
This could be an instance of having to rise to the occasion. I may not have the exact roadmap that will show me how to sell books, but if that goal is really important to me, I will do the exploration, both inwardly and outwardly, to find the steps to make it happen. When the time comes, will I step up and meet it? Just because I am uncertain on day one doesn’t mean I won’t be able to figure it out by day 100.
#3 Doubt
Last year I wrote about my confusion with doubt. After looking into it, I concluded that maybe doubt in itself is not good or bad. Maybe our response to the doubt is what creates the positive or negative.
I think Hyatt would agree. He says that when you start to feel doubt sitting on your shoulder, “that’s an indication you’re onto a goal that you find compelling enough to follow through.”
Am I a good writer? Do I have what it takes to write a second book? Those are legitimate doubts that rattle around in my brain. But that doesn’t make those thoughts bad. My reaction to them and my ability to follow through will be what dictates the positive or negative outcome.
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