Goals Are A Way To Upgrade Yourself

One can explain good concepts in many ways. In many coaching conversations, I find myself explaining the same idea or concept differently based on the other person’s situation. Goal setting is one such concept.

I was recently in a conversation where the discussion was on the role goals play in our life and I ended up with a different perspective from the ones I have shared before.

The purpose of goals is not to manage an outcome. It is also not about some number that needs to happen. It is about becoming a superior version of yourself to achieve your goals. Goals are a way to upgrade yourself.

Let me illustrate this with a simple example. Imagine you are strong enough to deadlift 20 kg very comfortably today. Would you set yourself a goal to lift 20 Kg in 6 months if you were already capable of lifting that weight today? Very unlikely.

Very likely, to upgrade yourself, you would set yourself a target to deadlift 40 Kgs in 6 months. Now, what needs to happen for you to lift 40Kg? First, you need to develop muscles and body strength to be able to lift the higher weight. That is the process. Your ability to deadlift 40Kgs weight requires that you become stronger as the first step.

Thanks to the goal of lifting 40 Kgs, you become a stronger person.

The real victory is not in the ability to lift 40 Kgs but in becoming a stronger version of yourself. And the beauty of this approach is this. If you manage to lift 35 Kgs instead of 40Kgs, you are still a winner. After all, you can lift 15 Kgs more than you did earlier.

Goals are meant to make you bigger.

If at the time of setting the goal, you know it is very easy to achieve, then that goal is not big enough to help you grow in any way. You understand that the goal is really big and will help you grow if, at the time of setting the plan, you feel, ” oh god, how will I achieve this goal?” That is when you know you are on a trajectory to become someone big.

Take on goals that are so big that you don’t know how to make them happen…that’s a sure-fire way to grow.