Edge 12 - Is it pointless to set goals?

What I'm Reading

A Bit of a Stretch is the most fun book I’ve read this year. The author is Chris Atkins a BAFTA-nominated filmmaker who gets sent to Wandsworth prison for a tax-related offence. The book is almost a day-by-day diary documenting behind the scenes of prison life. It gives a unique perspective into this closed world and some sobering facts like Britain having the worst reoffending rates in Europe, with 48% of ex-prisoners being convicted within 1 year of release. Also that this is costing the taxpayer 3 times the entire prison budget. There are so many mini stories and characters, reminds me a little of school.

It’s funny, witty, entertaining and raw. Plus very recent, he talks about the impact of COVID on prison life. I would definitely recommend it, it’s very easy to get stuck in.

Resource of the Week

Most people into fitness will have heard of MyFitnessPal. It’s an app that allows you to track calories. It has a nifty feature that allows you to scan bar codes of products so you don’t have to enter the calories and macros manually.

I’m not a fitness expert by any means, but the whole industry of losing weight and how it’s made to seem so complicated mystifies me. It’s literally just about being diligent and boils down to counting calories and macros. Using the app as someone who’s over 30, I managed to use it to cut off my COVID weight to around 13% body fat.

There really is no secret to it, if you stick to your daily targets you will lose weight.

Quote

"The most important battles must be fought anew each day. Exercising today does not render tomorrow's workout unnecessary. Supporting your spouse today does not mean you can mail it in tomorrow. Learn to love the endless nature of things and life gets easier."

James Clear

Thoughts

I have a love-hate relationship with setting goals. In my late teens and early 20s, I consumed a lot of self-help books. With most of the content being American, back then, visualisation, the law of attraction and all that was the rave.

It’s a fascinating industry because even today it’s so polarising. You have some very respectable people that swear by it, Shaan Puri for example from the ‘My First Million’ podcast has talked about going on Tony Robbin’s ultra-exclusive retreats. Whereas there are a lot of sceptics on the other side.

But I wanted to talk specifically about goals.

Just how important is it to set goals? I first started using the whole SMART goals thing back when I started my Amazon e-Commerce business. I followed the whole structure. I’d set a goal to earn £x monthly revenue in 6 months by doing a, b, and c actions. I was hyped! Things initially started going well when it took off. So naturally, I set myself a new goal after I hit the first. The business started levelling off and I started missing goals which really demoralised me.

Over the years I’ve come to realise not to place too much importance on goals, it’s only one piece of the puzzle and not a magic bullet.

I like to use a rowing analogy. Your goal is your direction and taking the strokes is daily actions and all the little tasks you need to get there. It’s useless to obsess over which direction you’re going in. If you don’t row, you don’t go anywhere. It’s far more important to start moving, stay consistent and get some momentum going. Sure life will get in the way, wind will blow you off course, but as long as you keep moving eventually you’ll end up where you want to, it doesn’t have to be a straight line.

Once you start moving opportunities will open up and can take you down paths you never knew about. So I like to have a rough goal but it’s far more about actually enjoying the process and staying consistent.

Now if I do set goals, it’s things that I am in control of. So for TikTok for example I try my hardest not to obsess over growing followers but more about sticking to my schedule and trying to get better over time. Not taking the outcome too seriously and enjoying it. Asking myself how can I make this fun? I’ve found that helps me stay consistent with it. Mentally I found this change liberating. Having a goal looming over puts a lot of pressure and stifles creativity.

I read recently that procrastination isn’t a time management issue but an emotional one. I think this applies here, giving yourself wins every day has helped me stick with it when things get tough.

It’s still a work in progress, really interested to know your thoughts. Just reply to this email.

Hans