We are all familiar with performance goals:
- Lose 10 pounds.
- Earn $100,000 this year.
- Make 20 sales this month.
Those goals have to do with specific accomplishments, and they can be motivating. They can also be frustrating. When you lose just nine pounds or make 17 sales, you feel like a failure.
On the other hand, learning goals are about taking the steps that will get us to our other goals.
For example, instead of (or in addition to) the performance goal of losing 10 pounds, there could be a learning goal of discovering a fun way to exercise or learning to cook healthful meals.
I heard a presentation the other night by Keith Ferrazzi, who was talking about the concepts presented in his new book, Who’s Got Your Back: The Breakthrough Program to Build Deep, Trusting Relationships That Create Success–and Won’t Let You Fail
One part of Keith’s talk that resonated strongly with me was the talk about learning goals vs performance goals. In the book, he says:
Certain goals, known as “performance goals,” imply a finite result, like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But to me, far more important is developing a process and a road map that help you achieve [the goal] in a given time. In other words, you should be thinking about the rainbow, not just the pot of gold.
That is a wonderful image. How often do we get caught up in the quest for the pot of gold (sometimes almost literally) and forget about the rainbow? Performance goals are fine. They give us a target to aim at and it is satisfying to reach them. But learning goals help us the acquire the skills and knowledge we need to move toward those performance goals.
So the next time you are setting a goal, don’t just look at where you want to end up. Think about the path that will take you there, and beyond.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Vinny // Jun 24, 2009 at 12:17 pm
The problem with goals is people set them to high and eventually give up when they can’t make a goal.
Most weight loss programs suffer from this and that’s why people yo-yo with their weight. When I started losing weight I made my goals 5 pounds each goal, before I knew it I had lost 15 pounds and taught myself a lifelong lesson on proper nutrition along the way.
2 Cathy Stucker // Jun 24, 2009 at 1:31 pm
There is nothing wrong with setting goals that cause you to stretch, or even the occasional goal that seems impossible. However, if you always set goals that are way beyond your reach, it gets frustrating.
That’s why I like the idea of “learning goals” and your idea of small milestone goals. Both can take you a long way!
3 Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella // Jun 25, 2009 at 11:57 am
I love the idea of learning goals. Making sure you have new skills and a good support network will go a long way to achieving your goals. I am very lucky because my hubby is super supportive of me and my goals. So are my 2 grown kids. It really helps to set me up for success.
4 Katherine Swarts // Jun 25, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Great post, Cathy. I have “chronic rush-to-the-finish syndrome” and at least half my mind is usually on the next ten tasks. They say a bad habit takes 21 days to break, but I’m still working on this one after more than 21 _months_! (Maybe the primarily mental ones take longer because with no way to remove yourself physically from the source of temptation, it’s a lot easier to constantly fall off the wagon!)
One of my friends says you shouldn’t set goals like “get x new clients” or “earn x freelance dollars” because that kind of goal depends largely on the actions of others, and that you should stick to goals that are more exclusively within your control. Any thoughts on that?
5 Cathy Stucker // Jun 25, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Katherine, that is a great example of why learning goals can be so effective. You can’t control what other people do, but when you set learning goals you make changes that make you more effective–and you can control what you learn!
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