The Forgotten Element – ElPropósito4 min de lectura

The one factor that decides whether we reach our goals

Photo by Bosco Shots on Unsplash

Many factors can keep us from reaching one or more goals. External factors are mostly things we didn’t plan for. How ambitious the goals were when first set is also critical, which is why they should be written from the start to be realistic and achievable (an often misunderstood idea). There’s one single factor that matters when a goal goes unmet. Read on and you’ll find out what it is.

How realistic a goal is depends directly on our strengths and also on our weaknesses. That’s why, in a SWOT analysis for example, we should be very critical when looking at internal factors (I’m thinking of an organization, but also of each of us personally). A company is much more likely to fail if its strategic goals call for growth beyond its home market while its processes lack the right capabilities. It first has to close that gap and only then set more ambitious goals. So the more realistic a goal, the better our odds of achieving what we set out to do.

I can’t leave purpose out of any talk about goals. It’s striking that nearly every publicly traded company puts great emphasis, for its stakeholders, on values and purpose. They’re the two main levers of any organization: one describes the culture it wants, and the other is the main driver toward any vision, mission or strategic goal. The flame that keeps a goal burning is purpose.

The last point I want to focus on is a very old and very valuable idea: what’s in our hands to do. Once we’ve analyzed our capabilities and set a route, a plan, a series of goals, it’s as if we’d pressed play, and the game of achieving what we set out to do begins. In theory, with our current capabilities and the upgrades we make along the way, we can reach whatever we aim for, knowing there are external factors. Yet most goals end up half achieved or not achieved at all, often because we couldn’t see everything that was in our hands.

Everything in our hands to do (take note) must get done. Looking closely, many organizations, and many people, conclude at year’s end that what they could have done to reach this or that goal went undone for lack of leadership, while capability was never the issue. The missing element of our time is, without a doubt, leadership, and it’s tied to everything in our hands to do. Unused capabilities trace back to a lack of leadership much more often than to a lack of will. A clear purpose together with leadership is the perfect blend for any plan. It’s time to plan the next steps.

Warm regards and all the best,

Rodrigo Baccaro

• P.S. This week’s VELA:
• What I was watching: Secrets to a successful marriage. A phenomenal debate, well worth watching
  – What I was listening to: Jordan Peterson & Piers Morgan. A top interview to nearly close out the year
  – What I was reading: 12 Rules for Life. Rereading or revisiting rule 7 every year is essential
  – What I was learning: The prisoner’s dilemma. An exercise I first learned about 14 years ago during my MBA. Seeing it again in a video, I find it very instructive and interesting, especially for how widely it applies

Before I knew my Life Purpose, Sundays were a day of real anxiety for me. I knew Monday was next, and with it an avalanche of issues that completely overwhelmed me, many of them outside my life purpose. I decided to make a deep change in my life and commit to living in line with my Life Purpose, a life with Purpose. One of my goals, in keeping with that purpose, is to write a simple message every Sunday that lights at least a small spark of hope that change is possible and that the best life is the one where we keep fighting to make the changes we want to see. Always the best for you, always. Help me spread ElPropósito. I’ll be grateful, and if I can be of service in any way, count on me. Coaching of Excellence is the tool of this century.

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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