There are lots of ways to come up with useless goals, but before we even start thinking about the specifics, there are two important screening questions we have to ask ourselves:
1. Is the result under my control?
2. Does the goal actually matter?
Take health an example.
Getting taller is a bad goal. Sure, we might want to be taller, but without taking extreme action we can’t control our height. We stop growing, and that’s it. No matter what we eat or how we exercise, we spring up another six inches.
Similarly, a goal should have a purpose. It should be part of some greater objective that we’re pursuing.
When Fitbits first came out, hoards of people suddenly added a goal to their list: walk 10,000 steps per day.
But to what end? What’s the point of hitting this arbitrary step count each day?
By itself, I’d argue that the step count is a bad goal. Simply hitting 10,000 steps each day has little impact on overall health, appearance, or energy level.
However, if that step count is included as one piece of a greater wellness pursuit, then it’s a different story. If someone walks 10,000 steps per day while also eating primarily whole, natural foods and incorporating 3+ days of moderate to intense exercise; then they almost certainly will make health improvements.
The key is to make sure that we can actually take action to improve our chances of reaching a given goal and that the goal, if achieved, will result in some meaningful positive outcome.
It seems simple, but it’s surprising how many goals can’t stand up to this simple framework.
-Brandon
I would have to disagree with you on your example to make your point. Getting in 10,000 steps a day for the majority of the population would improve their health. Many barely get in 2,000 steps. Getting in 10,000 takes a concerted effort and gets them off the couch and improves their health. Also, they spend less time in front of the tv that gives them food prompts constantly through advertisements. Which is the biggest reason that sedentary people are so overweight.
You make a good point. Maybe that actually wasn’t the best example to illustrate a goal that “doesn’t matter.”
My argument was that 10,000 steps by itself isn’t enough as a health goal. If I walk for a couple of hours each day but spend the rest of my time on the couch eating unhealthy foods, then I would have achieved my goal but not met the underlying objective of living a healthy life. Thus it would be better to think about overall health as the objective and then to set-up multiple goals (potentially including the 10,000 steps target) to address activity level, diet, drug/alcohol use, and other aspects of health. In hindsight this example probably misses the mark though since walking 10,000 steps, although not sufficient by itself, does in fact have a positive impact on health.
Perhaps a better example of a goal that “doesn’t matter” would be something like maintaining a perfectly clear email inbox. I like to keep my inbox clean since it helps with my organization, but I’d argue that there’s likely little correlation between number of emails in someone’s inbox and their level of productivity.