Imperfect Goal Setting: How To Set Better Goals

Do you set goals? Resolutions? Maybe it’s something like wanting to read 20 books in a year or losing 20 pounds. While setting goals is great, putting in the work to achieve those goals isn’t always (usually) glamourous. And what happens if (when) you fail to reach a goal?

Enter in imperfect goals.

So often when setting goals, we attach a number of things to do. Like visit 10 countries, lose 20 pounds, save $1,000. But what if I only visit 1 country, lose 5 pounds, or save $900? Does that mean I failed? I failed to meet my goal that I set, but did I fail?

What if I set a goal of saving money. An imperfect goal might be to transfer money each month. Maybe some months it’s $20 maybe in other months it’s $100. Am I saving money? Yes. Is it a set amount? No. It is making progress though.

Center on the Why

The reason we set goals is to improve some area of our life. Health is a big one for most people, which is awesome! Yay healthier people! But so often we get bogged down in the results. Losing 5 pounds isn’t enough, running 1 mile isn’t enough if I’m trying to run a marathon. But is the actual goal to lose X amount of weight, or is the actual goal to get healthier?

If the goal is to get healthier, you could focus on any number of things. Maybe you want to cook at home more or eat more vegetables. Maybe rather than go vegetarian overnight, maybe you try to eat 1 veggie a day. Would eating more vegetables make you healthier? Yes.

When focusing on the why behind a goal, I am able to really boil down what I want to do. So often a goal is just a random thing I think I should do because everyone else is doing it. But when I find my why, my reason, it makes a goal deeper and more important.

Imperfect goals focus on action, not results.

Running 1 mile is awesome! Reading the first chapter of a book is amazing! That means you did something, you took action! Maybe action that’s a little imperfect, but action all the same.

When I focus on the end result, it looks like, and feels like, I haven’t done anything. And that just makes me not want to keep going. I get bogged down, overwhelmed, and defeated.

Progress is the key. Changing my mindset really opens the door. Take 1 baby step at a time. Maybe for a running goal, I start by walking a few times a week. Then maybe I change 1 walk to a jog. If my goal is to be healthier, I’m making progress. More action, less thinking about how to make it happen.

A couple times a month, I check off did I take action on my goals. Not did I finish my goal, did I make my goal. This mindset shift allows me to celebrate what I did accomplish, and often my own progress surprises me.

Action = Habits

Habits is a great way to accomplish goals, and is really the secret behind sticking to life changing goals. Most of the examples above are focused on habits. Saving money monthly, eating a veggie daily, and walking weekly are all based on habits. Monthly, weekly and daily habits ensure that you can accomplish a mix of goals.

When setting habits, it’s easy to think about specific days to accomplish the task. For example I will read a chapter of X book every Sunday. The problem with this idea, is what happens if Sunday doesn’t work out one week? Or what if I don’t like the book I’m reading? A better weekly habit could be, I will read for 30 minutes 1 time a week. Maybe it’s reading a certain book, or listening to an audio book for that amount of time. This is a goal that could be accomplished on my way to work 1 morning a week, or before bed, or maybe it does happen on a Sunday afternoon. It leaves me flexibility that can be altered as the week happens. But it’s still meeting the goal of reading for 30 minutes 1 a time a week.

Eventually, habits add up. I could finish a book every 2 months with this weekly habit. I could save money over the course of a year. And that is the power of imperfect goals.

Imperfect goals lead to imperfect progress. But imperfect progress is better than no progress.