GOAL OR DIRECTION?

To move forward you first need aspirations—aspirations that you can act on. We call those “goals.” And goals are important because we hardly ever outperform our aspirations. So if you’re committed to making this a good year for yourself, a meta-year, in terms of your health, relationships, career, finances, passions, learning, and skill development, then you’ll want to set some goals that will enable you to move forward in the direction that’s important for you.

When I mentioned this the other day to a client, she asked, “But which is more important? Is it goal-setting so that I have some exciting goals to aim for or is it setting a general direction for my life?”

What’s the difference a goal and a direction? The difference is that specific goals will give you stepping stones for your direction. Within a specific goal you will have a precise activity so that you can do something about what you want— your aspirations.

One of my goals for 2009 is to write and publish two more of the books in the Meta- Coach Series. And the specific activity I did today to is making this real is that I read another four chapters on leadership and took notes. After that, I spent time working out the details of a self-actualizing culture in one of my chapters.

Direction has more to do with the vision that you have about yourself and your life. Direction has more to do with the path that the goals put you on and presuppose.

For me, the direction that my writing goal puts me on has to do with fully documenting the Meta-Coach Training System and creating credibility for the models. And so that gives me a direction. It puts me on a particular path that I will transverse over 2009— a path of study and interaction with coaches and coaching, and ongoing research with companies and organizations.

Goals fit into a pathway of activities and so they both create and manifest the direction that you set for your life. Goals make the direction real and grounds the pathway so that you have specific stepping stones. Direction occurs at a higher level and gives you the vitality and energy, the excitement and passion because it makes the specific goals meaningful and significant.

“Which is more important?” That’s hard to answer because each is equally important, but important for different purposes and functions.

Direction is more comprehensive and encompassing. With direction you are able to step back and rise up to a meta-level that allows you to see the why. Why is this path and this direction important to me? Direction encompasses all of the goals you set, and all of the small steps you take each day. Direction describes your transcendent purpose. Direction enables you to question yourself on the meaning scale:

• Is this the direction I want to go?

• What does it mean to me to go in this direction?

• Does this direction enhance my life and empower me as a person?

• Will this direction facilitate me getting to where I want to get to?

• What meanings can I add to this to make it richer and more robust?

Goals are more specific, detailed, precise, action-oriented, and feedback sensitive. With a goal you are able to step forward to do one specific thing that advances you along the path to the larger desired outcome that you want. Goals answers the question of how—how can I move myself step-by-step toward the outcomes that I want to achieve? Goals enable you to question yourself in a different way, on the performance scale:

• What are my goals for today that will inch me forward to my desired outcome?

• What specific actions will I take today and how will I know I can check it off?

• When and where will I take this action?

• What resources do I need to make this goal happen?

One of the directions that I have for myself is the direction of putting Neuro-Semantics and NLP “on the map.” That is, to get international attention to the models and community that we have. Two of the goals that I have for this year are these: I will write a series of 8 books on the Meta-Coach Training System, books on the models of Meta-Coaching that will substantiate and legitimize Meta-Coaching. I will sponsor the NS/NLP Trainers’ Training this year in order to develop the trainers and leaders to help us get international attention and put Neuro-Semantic NLP on the map.

Sometimes when a goal isn’t sufficient to excite you (doing 100 sit-ups; writing a business plan; spending 30 minutes a day on administrative activities), ask some direction questions: “Will completing this goal be one step forward in the direction that I want to go?” “Is this goal putting me in the right direction?”

Here’s to your highest direction and your best goals to fit that direction in this New Year!