'The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.' Michelangelo
Most people are afraid of setting themselves big targets because they don't want to feel bad when they don't reach them. The good thing about setting yourself big targets, though, is that there is a positive effect on your motivation. You will simply achieve more when you have a bigger vision.
A way of setting yourself high targets is to work with the logic of OKR. OKR is a target setting framework introduced in 1968 by Intel president Andy Grove. It stands for 'Objective and Key Results'. I the past, OKR was mainly used by startups based around two key questions: 1. Where do I want to go? 2. How do I pace myself to see if I am getting there?
The framework helps getting teams focused around a common purpose through jointly setting three types of goals. So-called 'aspirational goals' are set in a way where reaching 70% is considered a success. 'Commited goals' serve as a minimum requirement that has to be achieved by 100. 'Learning goals' look at the experience from a meta level, defining what the team is trying to learning during the process. All goals are set for a period of three months and monitored closely.
Take this idea as inspiration and define the three different types goals for yourself for the next three months:
Aspirational goals: What is the bigger vision you want to achieve?
Committed goals: What is the minimum that you fully commit myself to achieving?
Learning goals: What is it that you would like to learn by moving towards your goals?
Make sure to monitor on a regular basis where you're at. Do a final review in three months’ time.
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