MAKING PERFORMANCES MEANINGFUL

At Starbucks after the turn of the year, I heard four people talking about New Year goals. When one of them noticed that I was listening (either he had great calibration skills or I was pretty sloppy as I was listening in), he explained, “Our friend John here doesn’t believe in goal setting or New Year Resolutions.”

“Yes, in spite of the power of goals, there’s actually lots of people who share that view of disbelieving in goal setting, and something they actually have good reason not to believe in.”

Having agreed with and validated both sides of the argument, another person said, “I don’t get that, what do you mean?”

“Well, because there is a structure and process for goal setting —which makes it a powerful process ... to attempt goal setting without it being well designed, people would not believe in it, having not experienced how to do it effectively.”

The man who first noticed my interest in their conversation then spoke up. “Okay, I get it that there’s a formula for doing it well, but I don’t get that they have a good reason to not believe in it.”

“Imagine asking someone about a desired goal. When you ask, ‘What do you want?’ what will they tell you? [pause] ... Will they not tell you the long-term effects of their goal? What they will not tell you is what they have to do to reach that goal. They will say happiness, relaxation, confidence, health, love, and other emotional behavioral effects. They won’t say that they want to diet, sweat, exercise, etc.”

He agreed that yes, that’s what most people will say.

“So imagine setting a goal about eating more healthily and exercising. So in setting this goal, ‘What do you have to do? What things do you have to perform on a regular basis?”

That started a conversation at the table about going to a gym, doing specific exercises, and so on. Once a respectable list had been elicited, I then ask “So this is your goal— to do these things. Right?” There was a pause and then some hesitation, “Well, it’s not that I want to do these things as I need to ...” “And I have to...” Everyone laughed.

“So how much capacity do you have to do those things right now? Do you need to develop or expand your capacity for these actions in order to do what you have to do to get the results that you desire?”

That’s when John piped up, “That’s precisely why goals don’t work and why I don’t believe in setting goal!”

“Exactly!” I chimed in. “Effective goal setting not only catches a vision of the end-result

and the effects of that final outcome, you also have to identify what you have to do to get what you want and see those actions as valued activities which will deliver the goods. You also have to see yourself as empowered to be able to perform the required actions and the strategy for making it happen.”

They all agreed, “That’s a lot.” This highlights a fascinating dynamic about goal setting, namely, people often don’t know, are unaware of, or simply have not come to terms with the actual performances which they will have to do if they are to reach their goal. Envisioning the final outcome is one thing. Stepping in to anticipate experiencing the emotional and behavioral effects of the goal is another.

Yet most important is the pathway to the goal which is made up of lots of specific behavioral activities— things you have to do. To effectively set a goal, be sure to focus on the required performances. Then as you focus on what you have to do to achieve the desired results, make sure these behavioral performance are meaningful to you. If you don’t make the process for reaching your goal meaningful and significant, then eventually your performance itself will suffer. That’s when the activities will begin to seem like a lot of effort— like work. And that will lower your motivation; it will tempt you to procrastinate, it will set you up to become impatient and discouraged.

What you do to achieve your goal must not only make sense but also provide you a sense of meaningfulness. You also need to bathe those activities in significance. Then you will care about two things— the end result effects and the processes for getting there. Then you will have two kinds of goals — end goals and mean goals.