Is Goal Setting Bad For Your Health? -Part II

In the previous argument, I showed that making goals was akin to setting yourself up for failure and was, in conclusion, bad for your health. If you did not get a chance to read that entry, please read it now before moving on.

Today I would like to tackle that same statement from a different perspective.

Let’s first restate the complete argument:

Are we setting ourselves up for failure by setting goals?

Are we inadvertently endangering our health in doing so?

This immediately brings on the question: WHY do we set goals in the first place?

Let’s use the convenient travel analogy: I want to take a road trip to the east. The “east” is a pretty big place, so I know right away that I need to be a little more specific in my destination: Ashville, NC then. (Hi Todd… Hi Beth… )

I now have a goal with a destination: road trip from Austin, TX to Ashville, NC.

Granted, rather than choosing a destination, I could simply pack up the car and take off, in any random direction, and have a great experience. I would meet people, see places, and have experiences I would most likely not otherwise have. This is one approach to life or anything else that works well for some.

Setting the goal of Ashville give me something to shoot for. How I get there is really not the point. I can make as many stops and visits along the way as I choose. I can take as many detours as I fancy. I can leave room for spur of the moment surprises for things I discover as I am driving that pick my interest and demand further investigation.

This in turn might point me on slightly different roads than planned on, with wonderful landscapes, people, and towns. It is a trip of discovery after all, and that process should be honor, not stifled.

The difference off course with the set destination is that my choices are guided and influenced by my desired outcome. If I choose the “go along and enjoy the ride” approach, than packing the car and taking off makes sense. If, however, I know where I wish to end up, then a plan or sorts, however rudimentary, will be helpful in getting me there.

Conclusion so far: Setting a goal, or desired outcome, brings focus to one’s actions, yet leaves room for spontaneity and creativity along the way.

Let’s venture that Part I did not bring to light all the facts and dig a little deeper through a series of inquiries.

FIRST, if none of the goals were accomplished, what was?

As it turned out, new opportunities presented themselves during the year. By veering off course to explore these further, my art and skills grew in unforeseen ways.

The results for 2007? Here’s a short list:

• The River Notes newsletter (developing writing skills, finding a voice, name exposure)
• Writing book reviews & articles (same as above)
• The improved Mandala technique (new skills and marketable product)
• Poster printing (convenient, practical way to market my art)
• Confidence in tackling photography (I had again been attracted to the medium but felt intimidated –uses for this skill are endless)
• New confidence & knowledge through studying promotion and entrepreneurial mind set (expanded thought process)
• Along with several other secondary products and skills born of these primary ones.

In moving away from the goals laid out, I accomplished a tremendous amount of “unplanned” goals. I use quotation marks because even though these were not written down per se, they were a natural progression of where I am heading.

SECOND, of what was accomplished, is it ultimately supportive of the original goals?

Yes. The goals were to finish A Cappella vol. 3 and get started on Stray Tales vol. 2 (my comic book series). Even though I ended not working on those two specific projects, I developed other personal and professional skills; all ultimately supportive of my being a better artist, writer, self-promoter, health advocate, and entrepreneur.

You see, so much changed during the year, I no longer think in the same linear way. The goals made at the start of 2007 reflect what I thought to be viable at the time: publish books and figure out how to sell enough of them to support myself.

In the course of the year, I expended my comfort zone, assimilated new ideas and ways of thinking, learned a great deal about the internet age, and woke up to an entire new paradigm of what it takes to become self-supportive… and the old book publishing format is no longer valid. This detour was necessary for me to get to this next level of growth.

What about the books? They will still happen. In fact, I have taken up A Cappella vol. 3 again and it’s progressing nicely.

Second Conclusion: In reviewing specific goals, it is important to take into consideration new, unforeseen developments supportive of the long term desired outcome, and objectively assess progress within the context of the overall picture.

This is where, in retrospect, the temporary stress induced anxiety of Part I was misplaced.

The main points thus far:
• Goals provide direction for the desired outcome (become self-supportive).
• They focus actions and productivity;
• Yet leave room for creativity and spontaneity.
• They provide steps along the way, which:
o are not set in stone;
o should be upgraded as needed to account for growth.

In reviewing goals, one should:
• Take into account unforeseen development supportive of the bigger picture
• Have proper frame of mind while reviewing goals
• always keep the bigger objective(s) in the picture rather than focus in on a particular detail.

Final Conclusion:

By loosing track of the bigger picture (to become self supportive) and focusing on the specific goals (finishing / publishing books), I became stressed with a “perceived impression” of not making progress.

Was the action of goal setting responsible for my sense of failure?

Goal making in itself was not the cause of my feelings of failure; my frame of mind while reviewing the goals and focus on taking the goals literally were.

Making goals does NOT set one up for failure. On the contrary, it gives direction to one’s actions, thus favorably raising the odds of success.

We can then safely say that NO, Goal setting is NOT bad for your health, and is in fact recommended.

So you might ask, did I make goals this year?

Off course I did. And this time, I’ll keep the bigger picture in mind.

Is Goal Setting Bad For Your Health? -Part I

I have come across an interesting concept while discussing goal setting with peers. The idea was raised that:

By making goals, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Have you ever encountered this? Either personally or as a concept?

Most successful entrepreneurs out there teach that we should set goals regularly, and that we should write them down. Further, depending on whose philosophy you follow, goals should be more or less specific, with steps on how to get there and a time frame. They also entail visualizing, affirmations, and a whole industry’s worth of techniques.

This idea that setting a goal will lead one to failure is actually something I have experienced myself - as recent as this past year. I had about three goals I had set out for myself to accomplish by the end of the year 2007. Come review time, I was dreading looking at that list because I knew I had not completed what I had wanted to do. In fact, I had not even started on a couple of them.

Did I feel like a failure? You bet I did. I felt utterly depressed for several days leading up to the impending end of the year whenever I thought about it or took a look at my list. The thought that I had “not done anything” popped up in my mind and feelings of “what’s the point?” made themselves felt on numerous occasions during that times.

So is Goal setting bad for your health? Are you setting yourself up for failure?

Well, let’s consider the argument so far:

1. I set out to complete 3 goals and wrote them out with a time frame (end of year).
2. Come End-Of-Year, the goals were not done, 2 of which were not started.
3. As a result of not accomplishing my goals, I felt depressed, had unproductive, negative thoughts, felt the exercise of goal setting to be pointless, and felt angry at myself for failing.
4. The mental stress translated into physical apathy and lethargy.
5. It is now a known fact that stress and anxiety have direct detrimental effect on the physical body on a cellular level, speeding the aging process and, in cases of habitual or extreme stress being present over prolonged time, can be a cause of cancer.

Therefore: By writing down goals and not accomplishing them, I did set myself up for failure, and experienced a number of mental and physical stressful effect as a result.

Conclusion: Goal Setting IS bad for your health.

… All right…

Now that we have proven this argument, let’s look at it again, this time coming from another perspective.

Stay tuned for Part II of Is Goal Setting Bad For Your Health?

…

This information is for entertainment purposes only. Christine Pointeau is the artist, author of the Stray Tales and A Cappella comic book series. See her art and more at http://www.RiverbyNight.com and read more articles at http://www.ChristinePointeau.com