When it comes to setting personal or professional goals, how do you determine what makes your list? We\u2019re often tempted to commit to important or urgent tasks that have been nagging us for a while. But that\u2019s a mistake.<\/p>\n\n
A woman in our 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever<\/em> private Facebook group faced this problem. One of the goals she set this year was getting her accounting caught up. She knew it had to be done, but she struggled to stay motivated.<\/p>\n\n The problem is that she had confused a project for a goal. While every goal is a project, not every project is a goal.<\/em> If we confuse these two, we\u2019ll end up with bloated task lists and make little progress on what really matters.<\/p>\n How do we mix them up?<\/p>\n When setting goals, we often look at a big or pressing task and say, \u201cThat seems important. I should make it a goal to finish that this year.\u201d That\u2019s doubly true if we\u2019ve been putting it off for a while.<\/p>\n We fool ourselves into thinking if we set it as a goal, we\u2019ll be more likely to finish it. That tactic might work for some, but it doesn\u2019t work for most people I know or have coached over the years. Why? There\u2019s something critical missing from the equation.<\/p>\n One analogy people can use remember the distinction involves feathers: All crows (goals) are birds (projects), but not all birds (projects) are crows (goals). All birds have feathers. But, as a subset of all birds, crows have additional defining characteristics. All projects have importance. But, as a subset of all projects, goals have additional defining characteristics.<\/p>\n I can think of at least three criteria a project must meet to gain the distinction of a true goal.<\/p>\n The list can go on practically forever. And that leads to the second criteria.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n If you can find nothing intrinsically motivating about a certain project, you should probably strike it from your goal list and find a way to automate or delegate it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Transformation.<\/strong> It\u2019s not a true goal unless it has a transformative effect on your life or business in some way. Projects are about maintenance, or at best incremental improvement. By contrast, goals are about leapfrog innovation and dramatic improvements that require us to step outside our day-to-day tasks.<\/p>\n Compare it to swimming. Projects are composed of daily tasks we do to stay afloat. If the alternative to treading water is drowning, I\u2019m all for treading water! But goals are all about swimming to new and desirable destinations.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Just because something is important, doesn\u2019t mean you should make it a goal. If it leaves you feeling drained or demotivated just thinking about it, you should definitely<\/em> not make it a goal. Instead, you should look for a way to automate or delegate it.<\/p>\n\t\tThe Source of the Confusion<\/h3>\n
3 Criteria for True Goals<\/h3>\n
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\nUpdating your accounting is a project\u2014probably a very important one. But it\u2019s also business as usual. There\u2019s nothing uncertain or unknown about it. That makes it more of a hassle than a challenge. Similarly, for most entrepreneurs or executives,<\/p>\n\n