You Can Achieve the Goal and Still Miss the Point

What happens when you achieve the goal — and discover it hasn’t achieved what you thought it would?

We’re naturally drawn to measurable goals: revenue targets, promotions, growth percentages, salary levels, weight, retirement dates. Numbers give us certainty. We know whether we’ve succeeded.

But the things we really want are often much less tidy.

More freedom. Greater security. Better health. More enjoyment. Stronger relationships. A business that doesn’t depend on us.

In this episode of Scaling New Heights: Leadership at the Next Level, Nick Sellers explores the important distinction between the goal we pursue and the outcome we actually want.

Using the example of a business owner aiming to double turnover, Nick asks a deceptively simple question:

What is this goal a proxy for?

Because doubling revenue might create greater security and freedom — but it might also create more complexity, more pressure and greater dependence on the owner.

The goal can be achieved while the point is completely missed.

Nick also explores why we find vague outcomes uncomfortable, why measurable things can become disproportionately important simply because they are easier to count, and why effort itself can make us reluctant to question a goal once we’ve started pursuing it.

The episode finishes with three questions to apply to a goal you’re pursuing now:

What is the goal?What do I expect achieving this goal to give me?Is pursuing this goal actually increasing the likelihood of achieving that outcome?