Why You Must Ignore Your Coworkers' Small Goals

What you want in life is affected by what other people want in life.

When you see someone pursuing a career goal, it makes you want to pursue a similar career goal.

Scientific studies in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology show that people who watch someone else chasing a particular goal are more likely to chase the same goal. In fact…

Just reading about someone chasing a goal made these people more likely to adopt the same goal.

One study showed that participants who read a story about someone trying to make a certain amount of money were more likely to try to make the same amount of money too.

But people who read a story that wasn’t about making money did not set a money-making goal.

Your career goals are affected by other people’s career goals.

If you’re surrounded by people with mediocre goals, you’ll end up pursuing mediocre goals. 

If you’re not careful, everything you strive for in life will be based on what other people want, not what you want.

How To Achieve Your Own Goals

Quit chasing other people’s shiny objects.

It’s bad enough that they’re chasing these tiny career goals.

A fancy new middle manager job title, a measly 3% pay raise, a smile and a nod from your boss—these things will not make you happy for more than a day.

Stop chasing what other people want. Stop falling into other people’s pursuits.

Instead…

Focus your mind. Get deliberate with who you let into your life.

Actively choose your own career goals and then commit and recommit to them over and over again until you achieve them. Here’s how to achieve your own great career goals…

1. Pretend You’re The Only Person Left In The Office.

The reason you’re not achieving bigger goals is because you’re busy chasing other people’s small-minded goals.

You spend the majority of your day asking yourself what other people will think of you.

What will my boss think?

What will my colleague down the hall think?

What will my friend, family members, and neighbors think?

Who cares?

Other people’s opinions don’t matter.

When it comes to your career goals, the only person whose opinion matters is yours.

The problem is that you’ve been bombarded with other people’s opinions since birth.

You’ve been listening to what other people think for so long that you’ve forgotten how to think for yourself.

A good strategy for getting back in touch with your real career ambitions is to imagine you're the only person in the office after a mass firing.

Imagine all of your colleagues, bosses, and subordinates are fired but you still have to show up to work. 

What would you do? Which projects would you still work on? In which direction would you take the company?

Take it one step further.

Imagine you're the only person left on Earth.

Pretend you wake up in the middle of Times Square alone.

Picture yourself stranded on a desert island with all the tools you need to live and work.

What would you do?

Would you start a business? Would you build something? Would you read every book in the library? Would you write a book? Would you travel? Would you hike every mountain? Would you teach yourself to fly a helicopter?

Or, would you sit at home all day watching sad movies on Netflix and cry yourself to sleep every night?

What kind of person are you?

Try to consider your desires without the pressure of impressing or living up to others.

Dig into your mind and determine what you alone want for your life and career.

2. Gain Emotional Distance From Office Weasels And Snakes.

There are people in your professional life who should not be there.

These people are keeping you from fulfilling your purpose in life.

You only get one life—one chance to achieve your biggest goals.

No one is worth sacrificing your dreams to.

It sounds harsh but it’s the truth.

The only way to move forward is by leaving bad bosses, controlling micromanagers, and negative colleagues behind.

You were meant for something more.

You just can’t see it because you’re surrounded by people with mediocre career goals.

The only way to see your true potential again is to gain some emotional distance from these people.

You need to physically remove yourself from your current environment.

Stop eating lunch and gossiping with the same people every day. Stop attending pointless meetings that you don't really need to attend. Stop walking by your boss's office in a hurry just so he sees you pretending to work.

Instead, keep to yourself for a few days to a few weeks.

Distance creates clarity.

Your career and everything you’re capable of achieving during it is like a long, beautiful shoreline.

Your current perspective is like a rowboat stuck on one small part of that shoreline.

All you can see is the sand in front of you. But…

By pushing the boat out into the water and rowing out to sea, you start to see the entire shoreline.

Your perspective expands and you start to see what’s really possible.

3. Surround Yourself With Winners Who Are More Successful Than You.

Just like weak-minded people make your career goals weaker, strong-minded people make your career goals stronger.

Once you get in touch with what you really want to achieve, surround yourself with people who want to achieve similar things.

Or better, surround yourself with people who have already achieved the things you want to achieve.

You need people to push you.

You need to be held accountable to your real goals.

Without this accountability, office weasels and snakes will slip back into your life, and your goals will start to shrink.

The only way to prevent this is to determine what you alone want and then surround yourself with people better than you who are chasing career goals that are as big or bigger than your career goals.

Don’t be confused. There are winners and losers in your professional life right now.

Some of your current colleagues have mediocre minds and are chasing mediocre careers goals.

These people refuse to develop their minds or step outside of their comfort zones.

They actually enjoy being mediocre.

They like to pretend that having small career goals or having no career goals at all is noble. They like the attention it gets them.

People who spout this nonsense are indeed chasing a goal—attention.

Or, they’re chasing power—the power to hold people back, push others down, and make everyone feel bad about themselves.

Forget these people.

You were meant for something more. You were meant to achieve big, meaningful goals for your career and life.

Now it's your turn...

What small career goals have you stopped chasing? What big goals have you decided to start chasing instead? Tell me in a comment below.

I also write for Fast Company and Entrepreneur Magazines:

• The Skills You Need To Grow Your Business
• 10 People Who Will Destroy Your Business
• 5 Benefits Of Being A Misfit Entrepreneur

Check out my book of personal and professional advice, Black Hole Focus: How Intelligent People Create A Powerful Purpose For Their Lives.