The Problem with Goals

Goals are great.  I love goals.  Goals are important.  Done properly, goals provide clarity and perspective. While everyone is talking about goals in the New Year. I’d rather not add to the noise here. Instead, I’d like to expose the biggest problem with goals, that most people don’t talk about.  Regardless if you are full-time make money online entrepreneur, or someone that is just getting started with an online business, you’d do well to be aware of this problem with goals, and plan for it.

The Problem with Goals

Now, let me make this clear. Goals are critical for your success.

As the saying goes, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.”

You may not hit them all, but going through the proper process of thinking, evaluating, brainstorming, writing them down and integrating them into a strategy is essential to move any business forward. Goals = good.

What Goals Don’t Give You

Here’s the thing. Goals are also a huge source of tension in people’s lives. That is good too, hopefully making you uncomfortable enough to actually move toward the goal.

However, the Internet Marketing space changes so rapidly, and these changes will impact your business. In some cases making your goals out of reach or even incompatible with your business altogether.

Here’s What Happened to Me

I enjoy good relationships with most of my affiliate partners (products I promote).

One company is offering great value to online businesses, so much so, that I decided to create a dedicated website with a special report, bonus training, the whole ball of wax because I was (am) a believer of their stuff.

Shortly after putting the site up, and about 90% complete with the project, I learned that they had some internal technology changes that impacted their ability to track and pay affiliates in a timely manner.

Sidenote: I had a bigger goal here… a profitable project.

After a conversation with them, it was apparent that this was a busted project. I needed to walk away.  Lesson learned.

This was something out of my control. I couldn’t fix their problem. The goal of a successful project (in a reasonable timeframe) wasn’t attainable, nor was it compatible (profitable) with my objectives. Exit right.

The Problem With Most Goals

The problem with most goals, they are inflexible. They don’t give the goal setter permission to make changes. That is something only you can offer yourself.

In the beginning of the year, I decided to be free to change my goals or remove them altogether should I gain new information that impacts the goal’s achievability.

Had I not given myself permission to make changes to goals mid-stream, I would have failed at my goal.  I would have continued participating in a doomed effort. Instead, I was able to walk away and move to the next (profitable) goal.

Bottomline On Goal Setting

Goals are huge. You need them. In all your goal setting, however, remember the bigger goal (in my story, a profitable project), and give yourself permission to change the goal as new information surfaces.

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