Goal Setting: A True Story

Photo by Serkan Göktay

A man and woman wanted to go on holiday, but the holiday they wanted was a lot of money, so they couldn’t reach a decision until one evening the man booked the holiday anyway!  His partner asked how he was going to pay for it.

The man talked about the long-term goal of paying for the holiday.  They had about fifteen months to find the full amount of, well, let’s say £1200, once the deposit was paid.  They realised that if they set a series of short term goals and saved £100 per month, they would have paid for the holiday by the time the final payment was due.

Each month, they ensured they met their short-term goal and saved the money they’d agreed, and a little bit more beside.  Whenever they wanted to do other things, they would see how what they wanted to do affected their short-term goal, and made a decision based on the expected outcome.  However, they celebrated achieving their short-term goals.

By the time the tour company asked for the final payment, the couple had saved the money and had a little put aside for spending.  They paid the final bill and as things had been a bit hard, celebrated achieving their long-term goal by treating themselves to the odd take away and night out.  Now was the time to save for their spending cash, and they agreed to keep doing what they’d been doing.

However, when it came time to change this money into traveller’s cheques, they found that other than the little bit they had over when they’d paid the final account, there wasn’t much more to change.

What went wrong?  Throughout this process, they had had a long-term goal; paying for the holiday, from which they were able to establish short-term goals to help them reach their long-term goal.  In all their decision-making processes, they had focused on their goals, which helped them to reach a better decision and they ultimately achieved more than they’d expected.

However, once they had achieved this long-term goal, they failed to set any further goals in relation to the spending money.  Prior to that, had been saving well, and they thought that to keep doing what they had been doing would be enough, but because they had lost their focus and failed to set achievable goals, they failed to achieve anything at all.

If you feel that you are struggling with Goal Setting and could do with some help and support, please do not hesitate to contact me.