Should You Have A Good, Better, Best Goal?

You may have heard of the good, better, best goal setting strategy where you set three different goals to achieve.  For example, if you want to lose weight by the end of the month.  Your good goal is five pounds, your better goal is seven pounds, and your best goal is to lose ten pounds by the end of the month.  Your goal is to lose weight but there is scale in which you can achieve that goal.  But, is this really the best goal setting strategy?

Three Winning Goals

If you achieved your good goal, you’d be happy with that result.  But, you’d feel even better if you achieved your better goal and over the moon excited if you achieved your best goal.  The idea is that you’d put forth the same amount of time and effort to achieve the goal, but you wouldn’t be upset if you just hit your good goal instead of your best goal.  Each goal is a winner to you.

Bigger Goals

However, let’s be honest, in the above example, a person that loses five pounds is doing different things than someone who loses ten pounds in a month.  Someone who loses ten pounds is exercising longer and harder.  They are eating healthier and cutting out junk food.  They are not letting any excuses win.  They are bound and determined to stop at nothing to achieve this goal.  Someone who wants to lose five pounds may be making a few simple dietary changes and adding some exercise throughout the week.  The truth is, the bigger the goal, the harder you’ll push to achieve it.  That doesn’t mean that you should always set extremely high goals for yourself.  But, you shouldn’t exactly make it easy either.  A goal is meant to test you and challenge you.

Amount Of Effort

Consider how much effort you want to put into achieving your goal.  This can help you establish the level you want to reach.  Perhaps you’re someone who shoots high and goes for that best goal.  Or maybe you’re someone who plays it safe and just goes for the good goal.  You might also be like the story of Goldilocks and the three bears where you think the better goal is just right since it’s neither low nor high.  But, don’t set three different goals, just pick one!

One Goal

Instead of having a range of goals where each one would be great to achieve, get specific.  Define the specific goal that you’re working towards.  Then, make a list of the action steps you need to take in order to achieve it.  You don’t need to get fancy.  Just be clear on what it is that you’re working towards and then start taking action to achieve it.  You might just surprise yourself and exceed your expectations!

When you have three goals your focus is pulled in three different directions.  It’s hard to know what exactly you’re working towards when you use the good, better, best goal setting strategy.  When you’re unclear about your goal, you’ll also be uncertain how to achieve it.  But, when you’re crystal clear on what you’re working towards, you can zero in on the action steps you need to be taking in order to get there.  Remember, the effort required to achieve the good goal is dramatically different than what is needed to achieve the best goal.  Stop focusing on having three goals and just choose one.  Then, put in the necessary effort in order to achieve it!