You’ve probably heard that you’re more likely to succeed if you set SMART goals, because SMART goals are measurable. In other words, you can tick the boxes as you achieve them. The beauty of this is that each ticked box rewards you with the little dopamine hit needed to get you over the hurdle of doing something that you might otherwise not do. The problem, though, is that whatever is measured can too quickly become the focus.
Once, back before the days of GPS, I saw a cartoon: a family in a car loaded up with camping gear. The wife is looking at a map, saying, “We’re completely lost!” Her husband, the driver, replies cheerfully, “Who cares? We’re making great time!”
The cartoon is a perfect example of how measuring selected indicators can blind you to the fact that you’re headed in the wrong direction. Even focussing on the destination itself can have you forgetting the reason why you chose to go there in the first place. Imagine: the family eventually make it to their campsite, only to ruin the holiday by arguing on the way.
SMART goals are certainly helpful for mundane tasks that we feel we ought to do, even when they don’t excite us. As a guide for life, though, aspirations that motivate us for positive reasons are more inspiring. For the family in the car, the objective of getting to the holiday site serves the more important purpose of having fun together, which in turn contributes to the aspiration of a happy family life. Such ambitions can never be ticked off as ‘achieved.’ Rather, we must ask ourselves constantly, “Does this action take me closer to, or further away from what I truly aspire to?”
Stephanie Hills ©