Hello my lovely people! I have had the most hectic past few weeks and finally I got time to sit down and “talk” to you. Just as I wanted to write something here but not sure what, I had the most interesting conversation about goals with a very good business partner and friend of mine. And that’s when the phrase “realistic goals are for losers” came up. It might be interesting to share my thoughts further here.
Do you set goals for each year?
I don’t know about you, but I do set goals for myself each year. When we are approaching the end of the year, my mind starts to pop the questions, “what can I do better next year?” “What do I want to achieve next year?” “What would make me really proud next year?” Then I would write down all my answers (aka goals) in my brand new journal for next year. I know, I know now you might want to say, “oh, but so many of us write our goals down, completely forget about them, then we repeat the process again and again every year, that sounds like a yearly ritual lol.” True, I was one of those people and those goals were called “new year resolutions” lol. Sound familiar? I think two of the main reasons could be 1. we feel like we need to have new “goals” (or new year resolutions) for the new year because everyone else seems to have it, but we are not serious about them; 2. most of us write down the “what” and don’t bother with the “how”. It’s kind of like that situation whereby everyone wants to win the Mark 6 (aka lottery in Hong Kong), but not many people are serious enough to actually get a ticket. Know what I mean? From my own experience, if you set relevant goals which are important to you, plus you are willing to take the time to turn the what into the how; you will see a change in your life.
Realistic Goals VS Unrealistic Goals
We are taught and told to be realistic all through education and work life, so when it comes to goal setting, there is a tendency to set “realistic goals”. But what exactly is a realistic goal? Something you know you can achieve without much more effort needed? Something easy so there is no obsession over it? Something mediocre so there is no disappointment involved? If you have been following me for years, you get the idea that I am not an air-head but only 99.9% of time is true. That 0.01% of dreamer kicks in when I am doing my goal setting. I probably have something in mind that I know I can achieve, say 15% increase of anything would be a realistic goal; but instead of writing 15% increase of blah blah blah, I would write at least DOUBLE. I am not asking anyone to write anything so wild like 1000% increase, but if you want your goals to happen and you are willing to do the dirty work, then CHALLENGE yourself with the “it-would-be-f*cking-amazing-when-I-achieve-this” goals. To some people, yes you are setting what seems to be unrealistic goals, but it doesn’t matter what they think. They are not you, and they are not going to put in the effort like you do. So ignore them, shut them out if you must. Don’t let them distract you. I believe goals should be at a higher level than what you can achieve comfortably. Goals should be the driving force pushing us to think outside the box, goals should be the fundamental guidance to our self-discipline, and goals should definitely give you that AMAZING feeling when you achieve them.
Realistic Goals are for Losers
Inspire yourself, even scare yourself. If your goals are not scary, they are not big enough. LOL. What’s the worst that could happen? You sitting in front of your goals and have to admit to yourself that you haven’t (quite) achieved them? Then I am sure you have worked hard, learn something new and grow up a bit along the way, and maybe that’s just what you need to get there. And even if you don’t achieve 100% increase, maybe you get 50%, or 80%, isn’t that better than where you were? The moment when you can check off a goal, it’s magical but what’s more magical to me is how a goal can inspire your approaches and how it can push you to come up with things that you haven’t even thought possible or doable before. Reaching the destination is ecstatic; but the journey is equally fun and exciting, if not more. Enjoy the ride my dear and have fun setting your goals :).
