As with most things in life, you can have too few goals and also too many goals.
Too few goals would be zero. If you have no goal at all, then I don't see the point in even thinking about the idea of being successful. It is possible that you can be happy with no goal as you let your circumstances define your existence. It is when we choose some goal, any small thing that we want to accomplish that we can then start to determine if we are successful or not.
So, assuming that you have at least one goal, how many goals is too many? Is it possible that you can have too many goals? What if, after doing some goal setting exercises, you end up with 20, 50 or 100 goals? Is it reasonable for you to be able to focus on this many goals at one time and accomplish them? How can you reduce these down to a manageable number?
When trying to reduce things down into small numbers, I like to keep things under 7. It is thought that the human short-term memory capacity is about 7 items, so that seems like a nice number to limit ourselves to.
I use two techniques to filter my list of goals. First, I choose one or two identity goals. These goals don't have to be time limited or even very specific, they more define how I want to see myself. An example my be to be an adventurous person, a powerful leader, a positive role model, or healthy. These are more general guidelines that you can refer to on a regular basis to see if your actions are a match for this identity.
The second technique I use is to break down my goals into different categories. I use four categories, physical, mental, interpersonal and financial. You can use whatever works for you. This then allow me to focus on what is the most important goal for each of these areas of my life.
How about you? How do you handle having too many goals?
Too few goals would be zero. If you have no goal at all, then I don't see the point in even thinking about the idea of being successful. It is possible that you can be happy with no goal as you let your circumstances define your existence. It is when we choose some goal, any small thing that we want to accomplish that we can then start to determine if we are successful or not.
So, assuming that you have at least one goal, how many goals is too many? Is it possible that you can have too many goals? What if, after doing some goal setting exercises, you end up with 20, 50 or 100 goals? Is it reasonable for you to be able to focus on this many goals at one time and accomplish them? How can you reduce these down to a manageable number?
When trying to reduce things down into small numbers, I like to keep things under 7. It is thought that the human short-term memory capacity is about 7 items, so that seems like a nice number to limit ourselves to.
I use two techniques to filter my list of goals. First, I choose one or two identity goals. These goals don't have to be time limited or even very specific, they more define how I want to see myself. An example my be to be an adventurous person, a powerful leader, a positive role model, or healthy. These are more general guidelines that you can refer to on a regular basis to see if your actions are a match for this identity.
The second technique I use is to break down my goals into different categories. I use four categories, physical, mental, interpersonal and financial. You can use whatever works for you. This then allow me to focus on what is the most important goal for each of these areas of my life.
How about you? How do you handle having too many goals?
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