Not every goal is designed to change your life. Some goals are things you already know how to achieve. Others are the next sensible step. They may require effort, but the path is familiar and you can see how you will get there. The best type of goal is different. It stretches your imagination, challenges your current self-image and asks you to grow beyond the person you believe yourself to be today.

Three Different Kinds of Goal

The first type of goal is something you already know how to do. There is little uncertainty and very little growth involved. It may be useful, but it is unlikely to create a significant change in your life. I refer to goals like this as ‘rubbish goals’ because they don’t do very much except tick a box.

The second type of goal enables you to take the next logical step. It feels achievable because you can already see the plan. It may improve your results, but it is still based largely on what you currently know and believe. So I think of goals like this as being pretty mediocre.

A breakthrough goal feels different. It may appear unrealistic – delusional even – when you first consider it. You may have no idea how you will achieve it. Part of you may immediately reject it as too big, too ambitious or not for someone like you.

That discomfort is part of what makes it powerful.

The Goal Is There To Stretch You

A breakthrough goal is not only about the result. Its deeper purpose is growth. It asks you to think differently, behave differently, make new decisions and expand what you believe is possible.

Your breakthrough goal will need you to step right outside of your comfort zone. Whether that’s to become more visible, more confident or more willing to receive support.

You may need to release habits and beliefs that once kept you safe but now keep you small. You may need to stop waiting for certainty and begin acting from trust.

This is why the process can be as important as the outcome.

You Do Not Need To Know How

A breakthrough goal would not stretch you if you already knew exactly how to achieve it. But the path does becomes clearer as you begin to walk it. You may meet people you could not have planned for. You might discover opportunities you can’t currently imagine. You may even develop skills and abilities that only become necessary once you are moving.

Your job at the beginning is to create a clear image of the result and take action towards it. You don’t need every answer before you start.

Your Reason Must Be Stronger Than Your Comfort

A meaningful goal will challenge the familiar. I can almost guarantee that there will be moments when your old thinking returns and staying where you are feels easier. That’s why your reason matters.

• What will achieving the goal give you?
• What will it give your family?
• What difference will it allow you to make?
• What is the wider impact?

Your reason, or your ‘why’ as Simon Sinek calls it, gives you something to return to when fear, doubt or procrastination appear. It doesn’t remove discomfort, but it will remind you why the discomfort is worth it.

Do Not Attach Your Worth To The Result

A bold goal can provide direction, focus and urgency. But it should never become a measurement of your value. You can commit to an outcome without using it to decide whether you are successful, worthy or good enough. You do not need to force, hustle or exhaust yourself to prove how badly you want it.

Hold the vision. Nurture the belief. Take consistent action. Allow the goal to stretch you without allowing it to define you.

The real question is not only whether you will achieve the goal. It is who you will become as you move towards it.

If this has given you food for thought, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a message here and let’s start a conversation.

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