Goals are vital to achievement, or so common wisdom would indicate. But that’s not the entire story. In this instance as is so often the case, a little shift in your thinking can have a huge impact on your results.
Like the little shift marking the difference between setting goals and making commitments. The latter is more likely to get you to your desired result.
The word goal is a bit passive and soft, while commitment is active and strong.
Try it out loud. Pick a goal you’ve wanted to attain and use it to fill in the blank below. First say,
“My goal is to _________________.”
Does it sound a bit dreamy and aspirational?
Now try,
“I am committed to ________________.”
Doesn’t that sound more concrete and action-oriented?
I’ve set a ton of goals in my life and achieved some of them. But only the ones where I was committed to taking action. Aligning commitment with what you want to achieve leads to a mindset that gets things done.
Where People Fall Down with Goals
Of course, good goals are SMART goals. (Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Results-Focused and Timebound.) And if you go to the trouble to break your goal down into steps that fit those criteria, you’re ahead of the pack. Lots of folks don’t get that far. But you still have to DO the steps and that takes commitment.
You can have a goal without commitment but you really can’t have a commitment without a goal or you have nothing to which you are committed. Think about it. Once you’re committed to taking action the goal is just out there waiting for you at the end of the path.
Goals are easy. It’s commitment to completing every step in the process that gets you there.