Goal Setting has a fatal design flaw
January 15 Is When New Year’s Resolutions Tell the Truth
January 1 is hype. January 15 is feedback.
15th March is reality check time!
Now, we’re in the final weeks of the end of the financial year.
By now, most New Year’s resolutions are either wobbling… or quietly dead. And most people do what humans always do when reality arrives … they don’t investigate. They justify:
- “It wasn’t meant to be.”
- “Life got busy.”
- “I’ll try again later.”
Here’s the uncomfortable truth … Goal-setting has a fatal design flaw.
It assumes you can get a different outcome staying the exact same person you’ve been. Same identity. Same defaults. Same coping loops. Same environment. Just a shiny new “goal” stapled on top.
Want a lie-detector?
If I offered you $5m to stick to your resolution for 90 days, you’d suddenly discover motivation, discipline, time, and energy you “didn’t have”. And if I paid you the moment you hit it, I’d bet you’d drop it fast — because you didn’t become someone new… you just rented a behaviour.
Now the bit SME owners need to hear … Business doesn’t set goals. The owner does.
So, if the owner doesn’t change, the business can’t “outperform” its operator for long. It snaps back. That’s why the better question isn’t “what’s your goal?”. It’s … What would have to change about you for this to become inevitable?
Because the problem isn’t your resolution. The problem is what’s underneath it. And that’s where Part 2 gets uncomfortable… but useful too.
