As 2021 comes around Nathan finds himself torn about setting business and personal goals for the new year. 

Having clear and audacious SMART goals has led to some of his biggest achievements in life and business.

But the disappointment that's come from falling short of some of those audacious SMART goals has left a mark. 

He now finds himself at the point where he's not sure if the trade off is worth it. 

"Are the benefits and happiness that come from smashing really big specific goals worth the possible disappointment and energy drainage of falling short?"

A common piece of advice he gets from fellow entrepreneurs is to follow a different approach:

"Instead of going after SMART goals follow a more 'habits-based system'."

The logic behind this is:

Correct intentions (vision) + Good effort (habits) = Good enough results without the added stress and negative pressure.

But this doesn't sit well with Nathan. Something still feels off.

Separating Logic and Emotion

Let's call a spade a spade. From a dry logical standpoint, creating clear goals is the best way to create a plan of action that will lead to success.

Reverse engineering a vision, followed by OKR's, and then reverse engineered SMART Goals is the most logically sound approach to success. 

This structure gives clear feedback about whether we've succeeded or not and what shortcomings need to be remedied.

Now while this makes logical sense, we humans aren't logical creatures.

We're emotional ones and the mere thought of failing to achieve our goals makes us FEEL very uncomfortable.

The real reason why people adopt the "Don't have goals, simply create good habits" approach isn't logical, it's emotional.

It doesn't make logical sense to take action without having a clear definition of what victory is, right? 

Yes, entrepreneurship is chaotic and stressful, but shedding goals in favor of habits isn't a valid way to reduce the pressure of possibly not achieving our goals.

It's a way to run away from our inherent fear of failure. 

So what can we do instead ?

Is there a Better Question?

So what if instead of asking the easy and surface level question of:

"Which is better: SMART goals or Habits based systems?"

We ask the much more complex, challenging and uncomfortable question of:

"How can we set out clear and audacious SMART goals for ourselves and our businesses without getting so emotionally rattled in the process?"

Yes, it is harder to do, but wouldn't answering that question get us 10x better results?

Creating Clarity

The first thing we need to do in order to not be held captive to our emotions is to recognize that we need to separate this big goal setting thing into three different parts. 

Instead of thinking:

"How will I approach this whole goal setting thing?"

We should ask instead:

"What are the three components of effective goal setting and execution?"

The 3 Step Process

1. Big picture strategy and goal setting
2. Day-to-day execution
3. Conducting an emotionally detached debrief of the progress made

What will following this kind of process get us:

1. Big picture strategy and goals setting: 

Reverse engineer the vision all the way down into clear SMART goals. 

2. Day-to-day execution basis: 

Focus solely on what's in front of you that day and what you can control - your focus and effort. Regardless of that day's results, be proud of showing up and doing your best.

3. Conduct and emotionally detached  debrief:

If your goals weren't met then analyze what went wrong from a dry, emotionless planning perspective. Employ logic as to what went wrong and why. 

"I did great! I showed up and did my best. With that said what are the gaps in my strategy that need to be fixed moving forward?" 

Now this might sound simple in theory, but it's not easy in practice, right?

What Will You Decide?

Nathan was thinking about his goal setting dilemma in the wrong way.

The possible success and achievement that come from setting audacious SMART goals Vs. The potential emotional downfall of disappointment.

But as you can see, there's a better solution.

Instead of emotionally running away from the fear of failure and disappointment he can follow this 3 step process, gain clarity, dare to be audacious and go big. 

This three step process can take goal setting and move it from our panic zone and into our growth zone.

And honestly that's as much as we can ask for.

It now comes down to making a decision. Will you secede to your emotions and let them dictate your goals setting and in turn your life and business or will you systematically employ logic, combat your emotions and dare to set SMART audacious goals?

What will you decide?

Have a great 2021,

Itamar

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P.P.S. If you want to learn more about debriefs go here.