A few months back I read a fantastic (for me – I think most of you would hate it) book that advocated writing down your goals twice a day.
It seemed like “woo-woo” self-help guru advice when I first heard it.
(No, I’m not about to advocate that you do the same and that this will save all your problems and make you a billionaire)
It probably is, probably was – but humorously, it’s worked positive changes for me regardless of my original opinion. I’m pretty sure I know why that’s the case simply because I’m thinking more about my goals when I write them down twice a day.
Instead of getting sidetracked and forgetting what my main focuses are, I review them twice a day (no, I’m not perfect at this). It’s a lot easier to say “no” to things when you have what you’re saying “yes” to in the forefront of your mind.
It’s also made me realize the largest failure I previously had in goal setting – something I’m positive 95%+ of you are also doing if you’re tracking your goals at all.
Traditional Goalsetting
“I want to do X”
That’s how most of us traditionally start when we’re writing out our goals. You also make sure not to go “too big” with your goals.
“I want to work on a video game”
“I want to write a song”
“I want to record a guitar lick”
Not… very inspiring, right?
There’s also those of you who know the “S.M.A.R.T.” goal setting technique – which I think is “specific, measurable, actionable, (something that starts with an R), (something else that starts with a T)”.
Most of what I can recall about “S.MA.R.T.” goals is you give them more detail, specific dates to finish by, and actually review them, not bad ideas.
“I want to work on a AAA Xbox game by August 6, 2020”
or even better
“I want to work on Forza Motorsport by August 6, 2020”
(Not an actual goal of mine)
So you see how our “I want to work on a video game” gets more clarity to it, which helps us define action steps. If you want to work on an Xbox game by that date – you can find studios working on Xbox games, or move near Redmond, and start networking and helping people. If you want to work on Forza Motorsport audio, then you’re likely relocating to Redmond and you’ve got a handful of people you need to start reaching out to and building relationships with.
Neither of these types of goal setting are bad. In fact, if you’re not writing goals at all, these are definitely better than nothing.
You could argue, and I wouldn’t necessarily disagree, that “S.M.A.R.T” goal setting is incredibly beneficial for most people. I think it is!
Despite that, I still think it misses a major potential issue.
What you Don’t Control
I used to make goals about making money.
Actually, let me rephrase that. I used to make goals about how much money I would make in a given, specific period of time.
Something like “I will/want to make $10,000 monthly, online”
By my system of writing my goals twice a day, I’m fairly well focused on that if that’s one of my actual goals.
But it caused me to struggle a bunch – for the same reason that most of you struggle just to get started with anything.
I have no roadmap for that.
Normally, in this scenario, I advocate that if you don’t know what to start with and you have no clear roadmap – just start with something and you’ll start blazing a trail to get where you want to go.
Yes, this means the path you travel will be indirect and not a straight, “easy”, path to where you want to go. It means you’ll encounter failure quickly, and be required to learn quickly from those mistakes.
But that’s the way the vast majority of life is done when you’ve got even mildly crazy goals to accomplish.
So why then, am I now suggesting to you that I have an alternative idea to what I normally recommend?
Compare these two goals:
“I want to become a good sound designer”
“I want to make $10,000 a month, online”
There’s one major glaring difference between these two goals that almost none of you will spot. I didn’t see it until recently, myself.
I’ll explain…
The first goal “become a good sound designer” requires nothing outside yourself to achieve. While that’s probably a mind blowing and potentially life changing idea to some of you – it’s 100% the truth.
You can sit down every day for 15 minutes and practice with your sounds and a DAW. Or spend those 15 minutes recording sounds, watching YouTube videos and applying technique, etc. You can enroll in classes for sound design.
The list goes on and on regarding things you can do to become a better sound designer that doesn’t require someone else doing something for you.
That second goal, however, is exactly the opposite.
I cannot make $10,000 a month on this website without someone deciding to click a “buy” button. I cannot force anyone to click that “buy” button.
I can practice sales, I can practice copywriting, I can take seminars, I can read books, I can learn to make more software, write books, create course material, etc.
But I will never 100% control your decision to click a “buy” button – I can only do my best to persuade and influence that doing so is in your best interest (and I believe, often, that it is!)
Notice the difference now?
Redefining Goals
I believe that the biggest thing the majority of us miss when plotting out our goals is what we can and cannot control.
If I can’t directly control making $10,000 a month online – that’s a bad goal, in my opinion. I can set some sort of “soft target” or “hope” that I’ll do that if I must.
But if I set that dollar figure as a hard “must meet” goal (and all my goals tend to be “hard”, I will achieve this under any circumstances, kind of goals), I’m setting myself up for emotional devastation when it doesn’t happen.
I’ll restate that – because it is the most important idea of this piece.
If I set a goal – and don’t have 100% control over if I can achieve it or not – I’m setting myself up for emotional devastation. Because, if I do everything right and someone else royally screws me, I’m still going to be crushed.
That is stupid.
But here’s the problem –
I like that money goal, personally.
I love making goals that seem kind of stupid, wild, or impossible. Those really are the best kind of goals. They’re the kind of goals that, when you achieve them, everyone looks at you like you’re a magic wizard. You know the truth – it’s not as hard to accomplish as people think – but people still put the “magic wizard” title on you, and begin to trust that you can do anything you want to do (which isn’t true).
So, to me, it’s difficult to drop the “I want to have $100 million and my own mansion” kind of goal.
(Obviously yours doesn’t have to be about money – I’m trying to make a point specifically about ludicrous goals that you don’t have 100% control over)
But you know what you do control? The potential steps to get there.
For example – if I’m to make $10,000 a month on this website – while I can’t control when any of you buy something, I do control if you can buy something, what you can buy, when you can buy it, how much it costs, etc.
So a better goal is “I will have a course available to pre-order on August 1st that costs between $50-$100”
I can also make a goal like “I will have 5 products for sale on my website by the end of 2018 and one of them will cost over $100”
Now, if anyone buys that $100 product or not, who knows.
But my goal isn’t a sales goal. My goal here is simply to make 5 products available by the end of the year where one costs over $100 to purchase.
If there are zero sales, I can take that product down, lick my wounds, but still have accomplished my goal.
See the power in that?
Seriously, that should be earth shattering to plenty of you.
Setting your goals as such that – if you fail, you still win – is huge.
Let’s take this from another angle besides money…
Going back to the game job goal – “I will work on Forza Motorsport by August 6, 2020” – by my definition, is kind of a bad goal. You can’t control whether or not you get hired – you can be a great candidate and for whatever reason beyond your control, it just doesn’t work out.
But what about “I will interview for a job with Turn 10 Studios by August 6, 2020, and be prepared to give my best interview”
This still gives you a very clear path to take in order to accomplish this goal (move to Redmond, meet the director(s) of Forza’s audio team, get great at car sounds, learn FMOD, find out what would be unique and useful to the Forza team and learn it so you can bring that skill, etc.)
But, if you didn’t get the job, you still accomplish your goal.
This gives you a completely different outlook when you walk away, and a tremendous competitive advantage.
Most people would walk away from interviewing for a “dream” or “goal” job, if they didn’t get it, and they would be absolutely crushed. You, however, can take it in stride.
First, you did everything you could do. If there’s nothing else you can do, loss is much easier to handle. It’s when you tell yourself a story of what you could’ve done different, that you start regretting not doing that (even if said story is false).
Second, by accomplishing a goal, you can easily reflect on everything you’ve done with pride. Let’s assume you’re an introvert from a small town who wants to work on Halo. If you moved near Redmond, got a day job, worked to meet people on the Halo audio team, built great audio chops, learned Wwise, and brought something new to the table – it’s hard to walk away from doing all of that and tell yourself “I’m a complete failure” if you still don’t get the job.
Instead you can walk away going “I did so well that I got the interview, that was my goal in the first place and something to be proud of!”
You can celebrate that, and also look at yourself more positively. After all – if you were good enough to get the opportunity to interview for something you previously thought impossible – you’re probably good enough to get a games job with another company.
Let that simmer in your brain a bit today. I think it has the power to be really, truly life altering.
I can’t wait to see where you take it.
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