Setting achievable or attainable goals will set you on the path to mediocracy, nothing more and nothing less. You won’t evolve, excel, or feel the thrill of doing something above of your current skill set. Setting achievable or attainable goals is a recipe for average. If you’re reading this, I know you’re not average!
No one in the history of humankind has achieved their full potential by setting achievable or attainable goals. You are an outstanding attorney, why in the world would you settle for a goal which will land you in the middle of the pack? If you believe, as I do, each of us was put on this earth to do great things, and you’re going to achieve your full potential and do great things in your law practice as an attorney and leader, you must (trust me, I don’t use words like “must” or their equivalent very often) stop setting “achievable” or “attainable” goals.
We’ve all heard of them…SMART goals. The framework was birthed in a 1981 article by George T. Doran. As originally proposed, I know Doran got one of the letters completely wrong. Of course, like a bad game of telephone, Doran’s original framework was further bastardized beyond recognition. The worst modification of the goal-setting framework surrounds the A in SMART. This bastardization has lead a generation (or two) down a path of mediocracy and regret.
As originally suggested, Doran used the acronym SMART to mean Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, Time-related. If you’ve been paying attention (and why would you have gotten this far in the post without doing so), you can guess where I believe know Doran originally got it wrong. Yes, that’s right, he blew it when he suggested management goals be Realistic. (For my clients and me, I’ve altered Doran’s R to stand for Relevant. In other words, why the is goal important.)
Now to the game of telephone. Doran’s original A, which he defined as Assignable has been improperly altered to mean Achievable or Attainable! Can you imagine? I mean, if you stick with Doran’s original R (Realistic), why in the world would you also have to set a goal which is Attainable or Achievable. The A and R become redundant with the change. If you adopt the altered version of Doran’s framework, it will keep you playing a small game until your final breath. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?
Attainable, Achievable, Realistic. Yuck.
When I looked into my then five-year-old daughter’s eyes, do you believe I told her “Allie, don’t listen to people who tell you you can be anything you want to be, instead, you’ve got to be realistic.”? If you’re a parent, do you say such things to your child(ren)? I certainly hope not.
Goal setting is the key to your growth; you’ve got to get the basic framework right. Performing the solemn (yes, solemn) act of putting pen to paper (yes, pen to paper, there’s neuroscience behind it) and defining your goals, whether for the next 90 days or 3 years, requires (yes, requires) more from you if you’re going to get close to achieving your full potential. It requires more from you if you’re going to be the person your law firm, clients, family, and community need. It will require you to ditch “attainable” “achievable” or “realistic” goals.
If you are a practicing lawyer, you went to law school, graduated, took and passed the bar exam. Before you began, even if you were at the top of your undergrad class (I wasn’t), setting the goal of completing law school and passing the bar exam was not “achievable” or “attainable” when you first began. If you think it was, you’re kidding yourself. This means you have the power to think big; it is in you.
Ditch attainable, achievable, and/or realistic goals. Such goals are for people who love settling for average, for being “okay.” Instead, set goals so that when you’re writing them, you feel that pit in your stomach, your palms get a bit sweaty, you’re a bit embarrassed to share them with those closest to you for fear of sounding, well, unrealistic. You question whether you can achieve them. Doing so will empower you with a sense of awe and wonder. Doing so is the only way you’ll leave an average existence behind and begin on the path to achieving your full potential.
After all, isn’t that why you’re here?
I believe it is.