Relevance in Goal Setting
After you clearly articulate why you want to do something, and create a vision of how reaching that goal will change your life, it’s then time to come clean and admit the relevance of that particular goal. Relevance, in this case, refers to how much you care about this goal enough to make it a priority. Are you willing to let go of or cut something else from your schedule to work on this goal? On a scale of 1-10, how important is it to you to reach this goal? If your answer is a ‘6’, then, yes, it’s true that you’re more than 50% committed. However, in that case, you probably need to take a closer look at the “why” you want to set and reach this particular goal. You may need to recalibrate.
A lower relevance score usually indicates that you’re trying to work on something that’s important to someone else, but you have yet to find or assign your own value to that particular goal. Until you do, your efforts will most likely fall short of achievement or sustainability. A lower score on your relevance scale can also mean that there’s an obstacle you haven’t fully examined or addressed, therefore, you’re not confident that you can achieve the goal. In that case, it’s really important that you drill down and get everything out on the table. It may be that through this process you change direction and disregard this goal altogether, or you might keep the goal and establish a better plan for addressing potential obstacles. Unturned stones here will most likely cause you to stumble in your journey towards reaching your goal. Time to be brutally honest and get to the bottom of how committed you are to this goal!
Next Week: Reward in Goal Setting