Elimination for Effective Goal Setting
By Cachet Prescott, PHR, SHRM-CP

2020 is almost upon us, and it's the most wonderful time of the year when we go-getters and achievers set our sights on what we want to accomplish not only in the new year but in the coming decade as well! As a personal growth coach, I often write and talk about goal development but let's take a moment to focus on the less discussed role of elimination in the goal setting process.

Elimination is an important part of the goal setting conversation because it:

1. Forces you to be intentional about the opportunities you choose (or choose not) to pursue;
2. Keeps you focused and on task; and
3. Helps you avoid unnecessary frustration and sense of being overwhelmed.

As you plan for what's to come in 2020 and beyond, consider what you can remove from your schedule and life to help propel you toward achieving your goals.

Here are two effective elimination strategies to get you started that can be used to work through and solidify your future goals:

1. Eliminate the Shoulds
2. The Pumpkin Plan

Don't Should on Yourself

There are an influx voices and opinions invading your space and influencing your thoughts everywhere you turn. Even the mentally strongest of us have been caught in the comparison trap and have fallen victim to the trappings of what we “should” be doing when it comes to our goals.

When developing your goals for the coming year (and decade), I encourage you to be intentional about what you choose to take on. One valuable approach is to eliminate the shoulds from your vocabulary and thoughts by asking yourself the following questions:

1. How am I shouding on myself? What goals am I pursuing because I think I should?
2. Why do I feel like I “should” (fill in the blank)? How does this serve me (and my goals), and what will I gain from it?
3. Is this something that I even want to do, and if not, why am I considering or pursuing it? In SMART goal setting, the R stands for relevant, and if a goal isn't relevant to you (as in it's not something that serves you or your endeavors), there's a highly likelihood that you won't achieve it.

Bottom line … don't set yourself up for failure by shoulding on your goals.

Pumpkin Plan That Thing!

A similar yet helpful elimination strategy is to “pumpkin plan” to your goals, a concept that entrepreneur and business author, Michael Michalowicz expounds upon in his book, The Pumpkin Plan.

The basic premise is for business owners to take a note from pumpkin farmers that grow those ginormous, prize-winning pumpkins and apply that same concept to growing strong, healthy businesses. One of the main tenets that these farmers adhere to is that you must cut off anything that doesn't positively contribute to the productive growth of the pumpkin.

So, what does that look like when it comes to your “pumpkin” (aka your business, career and/or life)? Using the same pruning process to ruthlessly eliminate the “vines” and “weeds”, answer the following questions for yourself:

1. What am I offering, involved in or committed to that isn't serving (or no longer serves) my business, career and/or life goals? In other words, what do I need to prune from my “pumpkin” to facilitate healthy growth and achieve my goals?
2. When looking at the goals I've set, which ones (if any) should I eliminate? Do I have any weak or “good enough” goals that won't ultimately contribute to creating something powerful? This process of elimination, known as goal selection, forces you to choose what matters and to focus on that one thing (and thus, eliminating everything else from your plate).
3. Which goals have I set that might be getting in the way of my other goals? Author James Clear writes, “Goal competition says that one of the greatest barriers to achieving your goals is the other goals you have.” In this case, while you're eliminating a specific goal per se, you must prioritize to eliminate the competition between your goals.

No matter which approach you choose, each one requires you to be self-reflective and brutally honest with yourself to be most useful and successful in your goal setting process.

Your Challenge: It's time to get to work! Choose one elimination strategy to tackle in the next seven days.

Psychology-driven business strategist and mindset coach, Cachet Prescott helps stagnant entrepreneurs, professionals and organizations shift from stuck to clear, bold action. She owns Shift Matters where she creates space for others to think, focus, plan and do … with clarity and confidence.

Cachet's advice and insights have been featured on Careers in Government; GI Jobs; Military Spouse Magazine; Blue Star Families; The Muse; Thrive Global; The Huffington Post; Introvert, Dear; DailyWorth; Fast Company; FlexJobs; International Business Times (IBT); LearnVest; Monster and Recruiter.com.

A double certified HR professional, Cachet also holds a Master's in Sociology from the University of Georgia; a Master's in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Fairfield University; and a Bachelor's in Sociology from the University of Virginia.

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