Goal setting or quests, which do you prefer?

 

 

At first glance, goal setting seems like such a sensible and reasonable thing to do. Set ourselves goals – big or small, personal or professional – and then gradually work our way towards them. Won’t that be satisfying as well as improving our lives? A “win win” all round. Hurrah! 

 

Unfortunately, just like New Year’s Resolutions, it often doesn’t end like that. 

 

Why is this? 

 

Well, to start with, the whole process has the aura of hard work. Or, more accurately, VERY HARD WORK. From deciding what the goal(s) actually are, to their implementation and, at some distant date in the future, all going well being achieved. Can’t you feel your heart sinking at the mere thought of it all?!? 

 

And, as we all know, hard work is rarely fun. Cue struggle and having to rely on willpower, grit and stamina to get things done. Ahhh… 

 

Added to this the unspoken, but implicit, undercurrent of many goals is there’s a particular problem which needs fixing. Otherwise, why would we need the goal? Which, again, as we’ve often found out to our cost is rarely the easiest way to get things done. 

 

Finally, unlike our day to day lives, where we can quickly see the results of whatever we’ve done – or haven’t done (!) – goals tend to be longer term projects which will, hopefully, produce results at some unspecified date in the future. Assuming we stay the course and everything goes to plan… 

 

With this combination of hard work, struggle and problem fixing all in the hope of a carrot at some time in the future, it’s little surprise that goal setting has such a bad press. 

 

So, are we saying that goal setting is dead, RIP? 

 

In this conventional and negatively fuelled form, yes. Doing anything we’re not inspired to do rarely ends in success and, if it does, the cost is always high in terms of the effort and energy required.  

 

While it may go against conventional wisdom, the easiest and most successful approach is always to focus on doing things that inspire and excite us, regardless of what others may think about them. Both provide an inexhaustible fuel that will carry us along, easily navigating any bumps or diversions in the road that take us to the desired end result. Or, put another way, inspiration beats perspiration every time! 

 

We’ve all experienced this countless times in our lives. All those things we were inspired and excited to do, which seemed to magically unfold with everything falling easily into place. Being so satisfying and fun that we’d happily do them over again just for the pleasure of it. Then all those other ones that were a grunt and struggle from start to finish – if they ever got finished and, if they did, usually with less than optimal results… 

 

So, we were interested to recently come across another way to help ease the path of achieving our desires. At first glance, it may sound more like a case of semantics than anything else, but provides a very different energy and impetus to the whole process. 

 

The suggestion was quite simple. To see it as going on an adventure – a quest if you prefer. Coming from a curious “Isn’t this interesting” point of view. “This is what I would like, I wonder how I’m going to get there and what’s going to happen on the way?”. 

 

From the outset, we know it’ll take us on a new and different road, through unfamiliar lands. Like any of the stories we loved so much as children, we know there’ll be surprises, puzzles and unexpected encounters. Interesting people to meet, new events to encounter and much more besides. 

 

And, as the quests unfolds, not only does our situation change but we do too. Which, really, is the most important bit. It’s not just about changing something in our lives – which is all a goal is – but about it changing – or transforming – us in the process. Building new skills and capabilities, broadening our horizons, perhaps letting go of those which no longer reflect who we are. Put in more quest like terms, we slay our very own dragon. Or, often, a whole herd to them! Ones that live inside us, rather than lurking round the corner ready to pounce on us unawares. 

 

Unlike goal setting, which tends to be thought of for larger, more important projects, the quest approach can be used for any project. From the small, everyday ones, finished in a short period of time to the largest strategic projects running over months or years. It really is a “one size fits all.” Decluttering a house. Setting up a new workspace at home. Learning a new language or skill. Painting a mural. Creating a garden. Writing a book. Developing and delivering an online training course. Sorting out our finances. Fill in the blank with your own ones (!). 

 

And the best bit is that the satisfaction of achieving one quest – large or small – provides the impetus for the next. And that’s how change happens, one step at a time. Building our confidence in the process. Even better, we’ll come back with plenty of stories to tell those around us. Of how we slayed our very own dragon and lived to tell the tale! 

 

As always, the choice is yours.