“Don’t fall for the seduction of someday. That day is promised to no one.”
– Sarah Boxx
She was sitting in a room with close to 350 women. Of those, she might have known 10. None of those 10 were sitting anywhere near her. Most were younger, many still in school or university, and many early in their careers. The energy and exuberance in the room were high. The information and presenters, exhilarating. Participants were focused on learning. A handful of women were desperately hoping their pitch would garner resources from the funders and promoters in the room.
Toward the end of the day, it came time to put a stake in the sand and declare a personal goal with a stranger. The intent was to make visible and real goals that for many were theoretical and safe when kept on paper and guarded closely.
She could feel her reticence to share and natural inclination to let others go first. In fact, if she played her cards right and she kept the other person engaged, time would run out before it was her turn. That didn’t happen.
She found herself sitting across from an executive at one of the larger hotel properties in the region. Someone with shared business connections. Putting her goal out there could expose her professionally.
“You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.”
-Tina Fey
She jumped all in.
When asked what she wanted to achieve professionally in the next year, she declared:
By June 30 (only eight months away) I sell my partnership back to the firm and shift to working full time for myself.
Honestly, the minute it came out of her mouth she was simultaneously more committed than ever, but still terrified. Even though there were nearly half a million people living in her area, it was still close-knit. Word of change moved quickly. She knew even if she never saw this woman again, word of her change could travel fast. She had not yet revealed it to her partner and team members.
What she didn’t realize was that when she shared her goal, she created a powerful “anchoring” of that future in her reality. She had finally verbalized as a completed result, what she’d only planned to do someday. And, with that, it finally “clicked”. She felt it and believed it. No matter whether she hit the June 30 time frame or not, she knew her destination. And, it aligned with her values and purpose.
When she moved her “one day soon” and “in the near future” goals to one with a finish line, she saw herself standing at the finish line. Now it was up to her to take consistent, focused action until she reached her first milestone. And, then adjust and continue from there.
A fluke or was this move of sharing her goal a good idea?
There are a few studies on this topic and differing opinions on the results. A Fast Company, Inc. Article outlines four reasons we should share our goals if we want to increase the likelihood of succeeding. Publicly sharing a goal increases a sense of accountability, social connection, and urgency to follow through especially when we regularly update and report our status. Praise for accomplishments can fuel even more effort, which can be a big help when motivation is lagging.
However, other studies show that declaring goals prematurely can give a person a false and premature sense of accomplishment.
While you feel a sense of pride in letting people know what you intend to do, that pride doesn’t motivate you and can, in fact, hurt you later on. (Gollwitzer, 2015 )
Further, depending on a person’s level of confidence and experience, sharing their intentions with those who are not supportive or who don’t know how (or want to) be a true champion for your success, the takeaway is not surprising:
Whether you publicly declare your goal or not,
“A goal without repeated action in pursuit of its achievement, is like opening a savings account, never making deposits, all the while expecting the balance to increase.”
– Sarah Boxx
Closing the loop.
When June 30th rolled around just eight months later, our conference-attendee had, in fact, achieved her goal and was running her own business while still partnering with people she knows and respects from her “previous life”.
What about you? Did you set a goal this month for enhancing one of your life dimension areas? Did you share it or keep it to yourself? More importantly, did you take regular and repeated action steps in that direction every day? If you are ready to dig in and get the results you want, I’d love to partner with you on your journey to success. Click here to sign up for a call to discuss what coaching could do for you!
Resources:
https://www.fastcompany.com/3047432/why-sharing-your-progress-makes-you-more-likely-to-accomplish-your-goals
https://www.inc.com/melissa-chu/announcing-your-goals-makes-you-less-likely-to-ach.html
