Goal-setting is an important aspect of professional and organizational growth. Without it, there may be nothing to keep you going. Goals keep you motivated and provide a vision for the future. However, goal-setting must be done carefully. While you must set ambitious goals, your goals must also be realistic. Ambitious goals allow you to dream big. They keep you untethered and eager to invest great energy into following your passions.
However, you run the risk of disillusionment, which can discourage you from chasing your dreams. On the other hand, realism keeps you practical and aware of constraints and challenges. However, it can make you afraid to dream big and can cripple your creativity. Therefore, you must strike a balance between ambitious goals and realism.
Balancing Ambitious Goals and Realism
Setting SMART Goals
The SMART framework can help you balance ambitious but realistic goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Specific means your goals are detailed to the last. Measurable means your goals can be evaluated based on certain parameters. Achievability ensures your goals are practical because you must consider your resources and capabilities. Relevant means that your goals align with your objectives. Finally, time-bound means there are target dates to keep.
Keeping your ambitious goals within this framework can help you maintain your aspirations while remaining practical. You can dream as much as you want to and aim high, but you will also stay within the boundaries of realism.
Consider Organizational Objectives
Another way to balance ambitious goals with realism is to consider the scope of your goals within your organizational structure. If your goals don’t align with the organization’s vision and mission, achieving them will be difficult. Hence, set your goals to fit in with the organization’s structure so you can keep dreaming big while staying grounded.
Consistency
Another way to balance ambitious goals and realism is through consistency. By building and acting on your goals over the years, you gain experience that can help you predict steps. Consistency keeps you focused and enables you to think of the long rather than the short term. It also allows you to set realistic goals because you know your capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, and resources. Furthermore, consistency helps you track your progress and note areas you must work on.
Minimum Baseline For Ambitious Goals
If you fear being over-ambitious with your goals, you can resolve this without giving up your dreams. You can set a minimum borderline for ambitious goals. This way, you have minimum work to do to achieve your goals. Setting a minimum baseline for ambitious goals makes you feel safe being ambitious. You know you’re putting in the work required to make your dreams a reality, moving you closer to your long-term goals.
Balancing ambitious goals with realism may be challenging, as that can seem ironic. However, you gain a lot if you balance ambition with realism. Setting SMART goals, having a minimum baseline for ambitious goals, being consistent, and considering organizational objectives will help you do this.
#Clique, what steps do you take to balance your ambitious goals with reality? Let us know in the comments.