Dear Yogesh,

We all have personal and professional goals. In an office, professional goals are timely reviewed; however, personal goals are to do more with how I manage them, and to an extent, I feel I am managing them well. While I don’t feel overwhelmed with my goals, like my career growth, family, my health, etc., my friends think that I am taking too much than I can handle. Can you help me identify when it is enough? Or how many goals should I set at a time? Also, I wanted to know if there is any thumb rule for setting goals.

Regards,
Krish

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Dear Krish,

It is wonderful to hear that you set goals in all walks of your life, including your work goals and personal goals. Congratulations on the same! Yes, we all feel that if we set meaningful goals, the result will also turn out to be meaningful. But then, very few of us would actually sit down and write down our goals, and even fewer would religiously maintain and strive to achieve them.

There are some best practices on goal setting which I will share with you. It focuses on getting the right thing done on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis. These tips have helped me personally to multi-task and execute more projects without any added stress.
First of all, we need to set clear goals

We need to have well-defined goals clearly written down. It is refreshing and motivating, and we feel that these goals can certainly be met. When there is too much work on us, such clear goals will give us clarity on the purpose of each task. Even if there is a new task coming up or an ad-hoc task that threatens to rock out an already brimming bucket of goals, having well-defined goals can help us maintain calm and then review our goals to know what to do and what to renegotiate and what to decline. This helps in better decision-making and maintaining our focus.

The biggest problem for most of us is not about having too many goals but having vague and unclear goals like – a training program, a vacation, pursuing a hobby, etc. However, the specifics do not figure in the name of the goal. It should answer questions about the details of the goal so that it can be accomplished as desired. This specific description helps in prioritizing and achieving these goals and also helps you realize -  “When it is enough”.
How I set my goals

At the beginning of the year itself, I set 3 to 4 goals related to my work and 3 to 4 goals related to my personal life. You can choose different numbers for yourself.  

Initially, these goals are defined at a macro level. For example, a goal can be planning 2 international trips and 2 domestic trips with my family. After defining major goals, I further divided them into micro-goals like when the ticket is to be booked for the vacation, the time when the hotel bookings and other finer arrangements are to be made, and so on. These micro goals will help me reach the macro goal, and this is how planning is done.

In the case of work-related goals, it has to be seen whether it aligns with the company goals set by my Manager and the organization’s strategic plans or not. If this is set properly, it will give a great boost to your career growth. Hence if you want to grow in your organization, set goals that connect with the company’s vision and the strategies taken by the company.

It would be worthwhile if you could share your goals. But be careful with whom you share. Certainly, you should never share it with anyone who tries to put you down or shows any kind of apathy. You should share it with people who care for you and can also hold you accountable. It is a known fact that one is likely to meet their goals after committing to another person.

When your managers or peers hold you accountable and keep reminding you of your micro goals (not the macro goals), your small actions will lead you to achieve your bigger goal. This way, you meet your micro-goals on a timely basis, and it eventually leads you to your macro goals.
Let me know if it works!

Best,
Yogesh

This blog is an adaptation of a blog written by Justin Hale on March 24th, 2021 - https://cruciallearning.com/blog/goals-when-is-enough-enough/