How to set the right goals this year

Dear Rethinkers.

I hope you had a restful and enjoyable break. Hopefully, you’re feeling refreshed and optimistic for the year ahead. In the first edition of Rethink in 2023, we’re going to explore a topic I’ve talked about previously: goal setting. I’m sure that the process of setting goals is applicable to many of you at this moment – but are you setting the right kinds of goals?

• Popular wisdom goes that the best way to achieve what we want personally and professionally is to set specific, challenging goals. For decades, I swallowed the Kool-Aid that goals – sales targets to hit, products to sell, marathon to run – are universally positive for improving motivation and performance. But I’ve had to learn how to rethink the process of goal-setting.
• Maurice Schweitzer, a professor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and his colleagues have conducted some fascinating research on what happens when we overprescribe to goal-setting. Here are some of the problems they’ve identified:

Problem #1: Goals are too focused or narrow

Problem #3: Quality versus quantity goals

Problem #2: Deprivileging other values

• I love this quote from Michelangelo: “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

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