What no one tells you about setting goals

I spent the first part of my adult life working for an employer as a business consultant. In this role, you are placed onto projects based on a combination of your skills, abilities, and the current corporate needs. I felt that at times the placement was a perfect marriage, and at other times I was just lucky enough to be an available body. Either way, my work ethic drove me to give 100% of my professional focus to the goals of the current client/engagement/corporation.

Did you catch that? I spent 100% of my work time on the goals of the project, which were often set by the client.

This became a problem when I was asked to set career goals aligned with the company annual initiatives.

My goals? My goals were to get paid for doing something interesting, enjoy my personal life, and put money away for retirement.

As I started to play the corporate evaluation game, I had to ask myself: how do my personal goals align? Did I want to put my time into the company big hitters? Did my values align? Why was it so hard for me to articulate my goals?

I realized, after years of helping organizations make systemic changes, I was trading time for money. I was accomplishing someone else’s goals. I had more than goals. I had dreams.

So, entrepreneur, what does no one tell you about goals?

A goal is not a dream. A dream is not a goal. But without a dream, how can you set, execute, and accomplish goals that have meaning?