January: The Month of UnGoals for Leaders and Other Smart People
Karen Snyder, Certified Speaking Professional
Improving culture and senior leadership synergy through keynotes, executive coaching and customized programming.
Over the years, I’ve written a lot about goals.?I believe in setting them, and I often do. But there have been times when I didn’t set a goal and still achieved something meaningful — both professionally and personally.
So this January, while podcasts and blogs buzz with strategies for goal setting, I’m taking a different approach. I’m sharing a few personal stories of when I acted like Nike and “just did it.”
One of the most notable professional examples was earning my master’s degree.
I can’t recall the exact year, but it was before 1991 when I officially received the degree. At the time, I was working as the Director of Management Training for what was then Sovran?Bank of Maryland (now Bank of America). One day, a brochure crossed my desk promoting a class in organizational development. I thought, “How interesting!”
As I read further, I discovered the class was being offered near my home, conveniently scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday evenings — perfect for my work schedule. "Marvelous," I thought.
The brochure mentioned an information session with the professor, which included dinner. I figured, “Why not?”
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Long story short: I attended the dinner, signed up for the class, and was immediately captivated. The subject matter fascinated me, the reading list was compelling, and the other attendees seemed interesting. I signed up for the class and found most of the coursework as well as the classes engrossing.?By the end of the semester, I wanted to take another, and then another — and I was hooked.
Before even realizing it, I was one-third of the way through a master’s program before I made a conscious decision to pursue the degree.
It wasn’t until later, when I started looking into the requirements for the program, that I learned I’d have to take courses in statistics and statistical inference. Those weren’t exactly thrilling prospects, but by then, I was too engaged in the journey to stop. I was learning too much — about the content, my peers, and myself.
It struck me that sometimes, we achieve big things not because we plan every detail in advance, but because we follow a spark of curiosity, take the first step, and keep going.
So, this January, I encourage you to reflect: Have you ever found yourself achieving something great without formally setting a goal??
Realistic Resilience Expert. Change and Adaptability Researcher. Global Keynote Speaker and author of ReVisionary Thinking. Teaching your team to adapt faster and achieve more. 100% Certified Fakeness-Free. ??
1 个月I love this method, Karen! I have a mixed relationship with big goals: I think they can be incredibly valuable, but I also think sometimes we can single-mindedly pursue goals long past the point of viability just because "I said I would so I have to make it happen." Your strategy here (or, rather, NON-strategy!) is so clever because you didn't FORCE yourself to do anything, you just followed an interest and an instinct, and it led you to success. That's the kind of flexibility that I can get behind!
Inspiring Keynote Speaker | Peak Performance Expert | Helping Leaders Take Their Seat of Success in the Front Row.
1 个月I'm a big believer in goal setting and bucket lists but you're right, not all achievements started with a goal. I'll have to reflect on this to uncover some of my wins that fell into place through passion and like you say, I just did it.