My sister and I had this conversation this week:
Me: So, I’m trying to embrace the Fitbit. I set a daily step goal, and I’ve met it every day this week!
Kim: Wow! Really?
Me: Well, yeah, it was only 2,000 steps, so sure.
Kim: Two thou—? Can’t you hit that just walking to the bathroom during the day?
Me: Yup. If I can’t meet a goal, I don’t even set it. And if it’s too hard, I quit. Doesn’t everyone do that?
Kim: No.
This was an eye-opener for me. The whole notion of setting a goal that one might never obtain sounded, quite frankly, stupid. Why set yourself up for disappointment? What a depressing way to live!
It also goes against the basic principles taught by just about every “self-help” plan out there. Weight Watchers, for example, tells you from the start to set an achievable goal. Losing thirty, sixty, or ninety pounds is sensible and obtainable. Losing four hundred pounds when you only weigh a buck fifty in an effort to see if you can become the first virtual-particle human black hole and prove the theory of quantum fluctuations: no. The organization frowns upon this, and will suggest you get professional psychological help. Preferably inpatient.
Any business class will advocate the practice of setting SMART goals: specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, and timely. The key word in there is attainable. So, for instance, if you dream of being an astronaut (apparently all of my examples today will be space-oriented) but you’re terrible with directions, you should just give up on that dream right now. You will undoubtedly miss that left at Albuquerque, completely overshoot Mars, and wind up on Rigel, where you will die on Orion’s kneecap, a lonely, failed footnote in space history. Nobody wants to go out like that. Aim lower. Seek to attain a goal that is easy to get to with MapQuest directions and a GPS.
But if nobody dreamed big, you might argue, nobody would achieve great things. I disagree. Let’s look at some of the great dreamers over time: Socrates. John F. Kennedy. Martin Luther King Junior. Steve Jobs. You know what I see? Poisoned, assassinated, assassinated, cancer. Would these men have lived longer if they’d played it safe? If Socrates had kept his mouth shut about ethics and morals and instead pursued the study of better toga-washing? If Kennedy had opted for a seat on the local Board of Assessors instead of aiming for the highest office in the nation? If MLK had said “I have a passing fancy” instead of “I have a dream”? If Jobs had gone to the doctor sooner than he did? Yes. They all would’ve lived longer. But their lives would’ve been purposeless, you argue. I disagree. We still struggle today with keeping our whites whiter and our brights brighter, all because Socrates selfishly aimed to be the father of Western philosophy instead of the father of tidy togas. Was that really the better way to go? Not that we can ask him what he thinks: poisoned, remember?
Today, while the rest of you are dreaming of writing the great American novel, or trying to invent the next amazing technological breakthrough, or planning out how to take over the world, I will be aiming to hit 2,001 steps over the course of twelve hours. Just to raise the bar a little higher, I will also challenge myself to bring my car in for an oil change. Because that’s the kind of overachiever I am.
I’ll meet my goals (and maybe feel a bit smug about doing it, I’ll admit). Will you?
Me: So, I’m trying to embrace the Fitbit. I set a daily step goal, and I’ve met it every day this week!
Kim: Wow! Really?
Me: Well, yeah, it was only 2,000 steps, so sure.
Kim: Two thou—? Can’t you hit that just walking to the bathroom during the day?
Me: Yup. If I can’t meet a goal, I don’t even set it. And if it’s too hard, I quit. Doesn’t everyone do that?
Kim: No.
This was an eye-opener for me. The whole notion of setting a goal that one might never obtain sounded, quite frankly, stupid. Why set yourself up for disappointment? What a depressing way to live!
It also goes against the basic principles taught by just about every “self-help” plan out there. Weight Watchers, for example, tells you from the start to set an achievable goal. Losing thirty, sixty, or ninety pounds is sensible and obtainable. Losing four hundred pounds when you only weigh a buck fifty in an effort to see if you can become the first virtual-particle human black hole and prove the theory of quantum fluctuations: no. The organization frowns upon this, and will suggest you get professional psychological help. Preferably inpatient.
Any business class will advocate the practice of setting SMART goals: specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, and timely. The key word in there is attainable. So, for instance, if you dream of being an astronaut (apparently all of my examples today will be space-oriented) but you’re terrible with directions, you should just give up on that dream right now. You will undoubtedly miss that left at Albuquerque, completely overshoot Mars, and wind up on Rigel, where you will die on Orion’s kneecap, a lonely, failed footnote in space history. Nobody wants to go out like that. Aim lower. Seek to attain a goal that is easy to get to with MapQuest directions and a GPS.
But if nobody dreamed big, you might argue, nobody would achieve great things. I disagree. Let’s look at some of the great dreamers over time: Socrates. John F. Kennedy. Martin Luther King Junior. Steve Jobs. You know what I see? Poisoned, assassinated, assassinated, cancer. Would these men have lived longer if they’d played it safe? If Socrates had kept his mouth shut about ethics and morals and instead pursued the study of better toga-washing? If Kennedy had opted for a seat on the local Board of Assessors instead of aiming for the highest office in the nation? If MLK had said “I have a passing fancy” instead of “I have a dream”? If Jobs had gone to the doctor sooner than he did? Yes. They all would’ve lived longer. But their lives would’ve been purposeless, you argue. I disagree. We still struggle today with keeping our whites whiter and our brights brighter, all because Socrates selfishly aimed to be the father of Western philosophy instead of the father of tidy togas. Was that really the better way to go? Not that we can ask him what he thinks: poisoned, remember?
Today, while the rest of you are dreaming of writing the great American novel, or trying to invent the next amazing technological breakthrough, or planning out how to take over the world, I will be aiming to hit 2,001 steps over the course of twelve hours. Just to raise the bar a little higher, I will also challenge myself to bring my car in for an oil change. Because that’s the kind of overachiever I am.
I’ll meet my goals (and maybe feel a bit smug about doing it, I’ll admit). Will you?
Also, why play sports if you're not naturally good at it? Improving sounds like hard work. Yuck.
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