Goal or Growth focused?

Become growth and not goal focused. When I read this statement the first time, from one of my favourite books – The laws of invaluable growth by John Maxwell, I was confused. I was so because I have always been a goal focused person.  I am sure most of you are also like that.  Every new year, you set your annual and focus on achieving those goals.  I was exactly the same. What is then so bad about this?  This led me to further research. I realized that being goal focused is not so bad after all, but becoming growth focused is more superior. What then are the differences?

– Goal focused people focus on the destination, while growth focuses on the journey – the experience.  An example – I have a goal to lose 10Kg.  I can choose to miss a few meals a day, and I will achieve my desired goal over time.  However being growth focused enables me to focus on the journey to achieve the goal. My focus is learning through the experience – learn about how others may have lost weight, understand why I have not reached that goal previously.  I learn about the best ways of losing weight – which will mean understanding the right foods to eat, why I need to exercise more frequently.

– Goal focused people plateau out easier than growth focused people.  After goals have been achieved, there is usually a plateau before the next goals are set.  This happened to me many years ago.  I had a 5 year plan – achieve this and that.  I accomplished these goals within the set time.  Next I reached a point of what next.  For about 5years after that, I did not have any motivating goals and I plateaued for a while and just existed.  If I was growth focused then, I would have discovered other things that I desire to achieve in between the 5 year cycle. One of the goals I had then was to work as an ERP consultant.  If I had focused on growth, I would have been learning and growth, this then increases my capacity and helps develop other interests which is then incorporated into new goals which keep on increasing.

-Goal focused people motivate people. You put a target in front of your team and drive them to achieve it. If you’re growth-conscious, then you’re more concerned about maturing your people. Outcomes, while important, cease to be the sole determinant of success to a growth-conscious leader. He or she is more concerned with improvement, progress, and learning the right lessons.

As a result of understanding these differences, I am able to set growth focused goals. So yes, I do have goals, but I am now more intentional about growth.  I have growth plans around each goal. I pause to reflect on my experiences through journaling. It is amazing the difference, by intentionally deciding to grow in every role of my life, I find out that there is so much I do not know. As I gain new knowledge, my goals keep growing and sometimes changing to reflect my growth.  I am constantly growing through pausing to understand why I might have failed in something I had planned to achieve. Failures then for me become learning experiences, which in itself is a wonderful experience.  This is contrary to the negative experience I felt when I was more goal focused and did not achieve my goals.

Are you a goal or growth focused person? Why or why not?

 

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