Setting big goals can actually do more harm than good

This is a sensitive topic but I felt strongly about this.

Most people teach about setting big goals or stretch goals. Some even say that if it ain’t big enough, it’s not worth doing.

I find it disturbing.

Most of the time, teams or individuals can’t achieve big goals. Their spirits get crushed and they always find themselves lacking.

Why sabotage yourself? If setting big goals don’t work, why torment others by insisting on it?

You can’t create winners but making everyone feel like they are losers.

My proposition: Set goals you can hit

Once you do it, celebrate the win and make the goal a little bit more difficult. It is an iterative process where you can achieve smaller goals in a shorter time.

This creates a rhythm of winning and you can develop self-confidence and belief from this.

This is also used in the computer games industry where the first few stages are always easy to get you hooked to it. After that, they need to increase the level of difficulty so that you don’t get bored.

I have found out in my work with hundreds of teams that when people win small, they want to win more.

They start taking more steps forward. Some even take bigger steps.

You might ask: What if they just keep winning small and don’t grow more? My answer is simple: You just have to make the next goal a little harder. Focus on what it takes to go to the next level.

All these will lead to big changes.