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 for as long as I can remember I have always being goal focused. I am sure most of you are also like that. Every new year, you set your goals for the year, or even every 3 -5 years and focus on achieving those goals. I was exactly the same. What is then so bad about this? This led me to research further. I realized that being goal focused is not so bad after all, but becoming growth focused is more superior. What then are the differences?
– Being goal focused makes me focus on the destination, while growth focuses on the journey – the experience. An example – I have a goal to lose 10Kg. That is all I think about – I can choose to miss a few meals a day, and I will achieve my desired goal. However being growth focused enables me to focus on the journey to achieve the goal. My focus then 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 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 – complete 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, meaning 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.
-Growth 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 this differences, I am now 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 goal. 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.
Are you a goal or growth focused person? Why or why not?