I did not set any goals for the year 2023. Looking back, I cannot categorically say why. It could be that I got tired of setting goals and falling short, I wanted to try something different, or I could sense that 2023 would be different. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I was busy with the project I was working on, and I never stopped to look ahead and set goals for the coming year.
Looking back, I achieved more in 2023 than I did in 2022. Beyond that, I made preparations for 2024 without writing out goals.
Goal setting is important. There must be an expectation and an outcome to aim for. I have come to realize that I have been going about it wrong. I get so focused on the outcome that I don’t do the work necessary to achieve it. I devoted most of my energy (and bandwidth) to visualizing the future, measuring progress, looking for the fastest way to hit the mark, and using distractions to kill the pain of falling short.
I completely forget the Biblical injunction of seeking first the Kingdom of God, and other things will be added unto me (Matthew 6:33). I become super focused on other things while abandoning the main thing—doing my work and doing it excellently well.
We seem to think that we can control outcomes. It is like a farmer believing he can grow crops or trees. All he can do is plant and nurture the seed. When it germinates, he keeps on nurturing it. He cannot make it grow.
We cannot control the consequences of our actions; we can only control our actions. Trying to control what you cannot control is a recipe for frustration.
This reminds me of the serenity prayer originally composed by Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in the early 1930s.
“O God and Heavenly Father,
grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed,
courage to change that which can be changed,
and wisdom to know the one from the other
through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.”
We need wisdom to know what we cannot change and focus on what we can.
You want to earn $500,000 this year, grow your followers to 600k, your newsletter subscribers to 250k, etc.
Achieving these requires action by others—buy your product/service or subscribe. You cannot make them do that. They have to believe you are providing enough value for them to take that action.
What about losing 50lbs/23kg on a certain date? Again, how your body responds to your efforts is outside your control. As many of us have experienced, you hit a certain weight band, and your weight stops dropping despite your regular exercise and cutting back on food. What about a bestseller on a certain date? You may succeed in putting out something, but you have no control over how the market will respond to it.
The challenge is that most of our goals are about us, what we want, and what’s in it for us. It is not about others, what they want, and how best we can serve them.
We cannot get what we want without giving others what they want. Serving others is not the stepping stone to greatness. Service is greatness. Again, back to the Bible; whoever desires to be great should become a servant to others (Matthew 20:26-28).
The money we seek is in the pockets of others. Why would they give it to us? Because we served them. We took away their pain.
Does it mean we should stop setting goals? By all means, no.
We need goals.
How many people are we going to serve this year?
In what ways are we going to serve them?
How often are we going to serve them?
Which areas do we need to improve to serve them better?
How much effort am I willing to put in to improve my skills and service level?
How can I serve more people?
You get the drift…
If we can serve enough people the way they want to be served, exceeding their expectations, we will meet and exceed our expectations. It is a matter of time.
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