Understand Your Goal Setting Style

“Hey, Honey…I have an idea,” my husband typically starts the conversation.  “Um, you do?” I hesitantly reply.  Now, I love hearing all my Country Boy’s thoughts and dreams.  However, I have discovered that almost none of his ideas are small or short term.  His goals usually involve packing boxes or lots of late dinners and long Saturdays, whereas, I enjoy setting short term goals.  As we have comes to realize our different goal setting styles, we are able to work together more smoothly.  It is vital to understand your goal setting type as you set about accomplishing your goals.  Whether you are talking about personal goals, family goals or business goals, you will want to understand your goal setting style!

You have a secret power when it comes to setting goals.  You are naturally gifted at accomplishing certain types of goals.  As you gain understanding of your unique skill set, goal setting will become so much easier.  And people will begin to seek you out for your ability!

Long Term and Short Term Goal Setting

The two main types of goal setters are long term goal setters and short term goal setters.  You will typically be a natural at one.  Your brain just seems to gravitate toward it.  With practice you can develop the ability to accomplish both.  However, right now let’s focus on unleashing your born talent so that you can begin to thrive at setting goals and amaze others with your hidden talent:)

Long Term Goal Setters

Long term goals setters see the big picture.  They are often called visionaries and they prefer to work toward goals that take months or years.  When it comes to the forest or the trees, they are all about the forest.  They can imagine what could be and have the endurance to continue at their long term goal in order to create it.

People who rock long terms goals tend to be able to lead others to follow their big picture ideas.  They may do this on a small scale or a big scale.  They prefer to allow others to handle the details as they spend their energy creating a vision that often only they can see.  Since long term goal setters dreams are huge that can often mean big successes or big failures.

Tips for Long Term Goal Setters

• Cultivate a Few Wise Friends – Part of your skill as a long term goal setter is that you do dream BIG.  However, keep yourself semi grounded by having a few confidantes that can be sounding boards to bounce off your ideas.  It may take you awhile to find the right friends to fill the job as many will just tell you your plans are unreasonable.  However, persevere til you find a friend who has some good ole common sense but is enthusiastic and believes in YOU!  The right friends will encourage you, but they will also balance your tendency toward tunnel vision.
• Don’t Let Failure Stop You – As I mentioned, long term goal setters can have amazing successes and some HUGE failures.  That’s okay!  Don’t stop at failure.  Reevaluate what went wrong and get back on track.    Learn from your past mistakes and take steps to improve as you move forward.
• Find and Treasure a Short Term Planner – You will absolutely need a good detailed person or two to give your plans some feet.  A co-worker that excels at creating short term plans will get the ball rolling on your BIG dream.  Find this person and appreciate all the behind the scenes work they will do! I once worked at a company that was full of visionaries.  They had so many plans, but they were always changing.  The company was in desperate need of a few more detailed people to give their visions some depth.
• Slow Down – A Little Bit – You may need to have patience as it takes others awhile to catch onto your big vision.  Build trust by taking into consideration what they tell you and following through with some of your plans.

Short Term Goal Setters

Short term goal setters strive to cross things off their to-do list.  They prefer to mark things finished and enjoy goals that take a day or a month to complete!  Short term goal setters typically complete their projects.  “Try not to start things you cannot imagine finishing,” is a rule they try to live.  Short term goal setters can be counted on to care about the details.  They will think of the little things that will make a project run smoother.

• Learn to Delegate – You probably feel more comfortable taking care of all the details yourself, but try to find some fellow collaborators that you can pass off a few items on your to-do list.  You are typically busy and in high demand.  So by delegating, you will be able to accomplish more and not face burn-out.
• Celebrate Your Gifts – Often the world is dazzled by the big flashy headlines. However, short term goal setters are special and unique.  I enjoy American history.  While there were men who were trailblazers like, Daniel Boone, the Frontier would never have been settled without the ordinary men and women creating farms and raising their families.
• Take the Plunge – A plan that has no clear end in sight can be terrifying.  But what do you do if you feel passionately that you want to try something bigger or longer term.  Break your plan into steps or give yourself a date, months or a year out, that you can evaluate if you wish to continue.  Blogging is such a long term goal for a short term girl like myself.   And as I have started blogging, I focus on my goals for the next two weeks rather than thinking in terms of years- Yikes!  Do you know a long term goal setter?  Ask them what they think about your plans!  They will often cheer you on telling you to “go for it”, giving you that extra boost of courage.
• Seek out Long Term Goal Setters – Long term goal setters would be lost without you!  We don’t have to tell them that!  But you and I know:)  Life can be an adventure when you work together.  Long term goal setters may drive you crazy every once in awhile.  But enjoy the opportunity to do what you are good at with your eye on the details as they steer the ship!

Take time to think about your natural inclination when it comes to goals.  Do you love to jump into a big plan?  Or do you prefer to create short term benchmarks steadily moving forward?  As you begin to understand your goal setting style, you will discover that you are simply amazing just the way you are!