4 Obstacles to Better Goal Setting
To get to that next level of performance, you need to set goals that you can realistically achieve. Steer clear of these four common goal-setting obstacles, and you will be on your way to hitting your target.
Obstacle 1: Focusing On One Overly Specific Goal
You come up with a single goal and laid it all out, including all the steps you need to take to get the job done. But such hyperfocus can cause you to miss the big picture. In a 1999 study called “Gorillas in Our Midst,” two Harvard researchers asked subjects to identify how many times basketball players wearing white shirts passed the ball. The majority of subjects ignored the players in black shirts because they were focused on counting the white-shirted players. They also failed to notice a man in a gorilla suit walking onto the court, pounding his chest, then walking away.
Solution
Set your goal, but be aware of the changing landscape of real life. Take a step back and try to look at the big picture to identify problems before they occur.
Obstacle 2: Goal Not Specific Enough
If you don’t spend enough time creating your goals, you might run into trouble when the goal is too broad or too vague.
Solution
Instead of saying you want to lift heavier weight, specify the weight you want to lift or focus on the training plan you will follow to hit that weight. Or, if you’re trying to slim down, set a goal of reaching a specific weight or dropping a jean size by a certain date.
Obstacle 3: Unrealistic Time Expectations
Give yourself enough time to reach your goals in a healthy fashion, or else you may get discouraged halfway through when you’re not making enough progress.
Solution
Whether you’re aiming to lose 20 pounds before a big event or push your Bench, Squat and Deadlift to the next level, create a timeline with milestones on the way to your goal by certain dates. This will help you determine if it’s possible to achieve your goal in the time allotted. If not, you may need to change your approach or reset your goal.
For example, if you want to bench press 315 pounds in a year, but your current bench is 225, in six months you should be pressing around 270 pounds. Is that realistic? If not, you may want to scale back your goal.
Obstacle 4: Goals Are Simply Too Challenging
To reach your goals, you need to push yourself outside your comfort zone. But if your goal requires you to push too far, you can hurt yourself both physically and psychologically. (“Goals Gone Wild,”Academy of Management Perspectives, 2009).
Solution
Tailor your goals to your talents and abilities. Be realistic about what you can accomplish and constantly remind yourself of the result you want to achieve. This will help you stay focused.
Look at Venus and Serena Williams. If any 2 sisters belong in studies on goal setting, it would be those two. Yet, something we are ALL missing here, very tragically missing so we can really learn to either replicate their successes or…..walk away from them is not in their story, be it magazine articles, family and friends interviews, or interviews with the stars themselves. What other dynamics came into play? After all, their dad didnt even put the focus on either of them to play at all. He “thought” they were too young. But when the 2 older sisters showed no talent or interest, Venus and Serena jumped in with a ravenous craving and desire to succeed (or was it to make daddy give them all that attention in coaching them),that the real payoff for all that hard work long before they ever set foot on a professional court!
This success story and many others are missing very key nuggets that prevent regular people like us from using these people as role models, successfully. Wouldn’t you think since the years that Venus and Serena exploded on the Tennis scene, you would see a wave of daddy/daughter coach-protege relationships, especially, ESPECIALLY in the African-American community? What are we missing here? There seems to be gold to be extracted and the audience(as usual) is being misdirected by a good magician to look in the wrong direction. I read several of their bios, and their father doesn’t seem to want to reveal what he did that made his encouragement work…over every other father/daughter team in the world!