Snippet 17: How To Set Better Goals for 2023 - Oliver Burkeman
Dec 20, 2022
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Oliver Burkeman discusses the importance of acknowledging our limits to achieve a fulfilled life. He emphasizes finding a balance between achievable targets and personal satisfaction in goal setting. The conversation contrasts destination goals with journey goals, focusing on actionable steps rather than just outcomes. Practical strategies for sustainable productivity and maintaining creative routines also take center stage, encouraging listeners to embrace their aspirations while minimizing stress.
Setting goals that are within one's control leads to more fulfilling and meaningful productivity.
Breaking down larger goals into smaller, tangible steps makes them more achievable and helps overcome obstacles.
Deep dives
The importance of setting tangible and controllable goals
In this podcast episode, the author Oliver Bergman discusses the idea of goal setting. He emphasizes the importance of setting goals that are within one's control rather than focusing on outcomes that are outside of one's control. For example, instead of setting a goal of achieving a certain number of views on a YouTube video, he suggests setting a goal of creating a video that one is proud of. By shifting the focus from external outcomes to personal satisfaction and fulfillment, goals become more meaningful and satisfying. Bergman also mentions the research on effective goal setting and the role of challenging goals in achieving high performance. However, he acknowledges the tension between aiming for specific outcomes and simply doing one's best. Overall, the key insight is that setting tangible and controllable goals, such as a specific word count or a certain number of videos, can be more helpful in driving progress and reducing the emotional burden associated with open-ended goals.
The value of breaking down goals into manageable steps
Another important concept discussed in the podcast is the value of breaking down larger goals into smaller, manageable steps. Bergman describes a three-step process he follows for goal setting. First, he sets a destination goal that is within his control, such as writing a book he's proud of. Then, he breaks that goal down into journey goals, which are smaller and more tangible steps that he can take on a daily or weekly basis, such as writing a specific number of words. By focusing on these process-oriented goals, he finds it easier to overcome the challenges and obstacles that often arise during the creative process. Additionally, he emphasizes the importance of setting realistic expectations and even deliberately lowering the bar of quality at times to make the goals more attainable. The podcast also highlights the benefits of incorporating built-in fuzziness in daily practices, like aiming to do something daily-ish rather than rigidly tracking streaks. Finally, Bergman discusses the significance of stopping and walking away from a task, even when on a roll, to avoid burnout and maintain a healthy relationship with the work. This concept is supported by insights from academic writing studies, which suggest that writers who make writing a moderately important part of their lives tend to be more productive than those who overly prioritize it. Overall, the episode emphasizes the value of breaking down goals, setting realistic expectations, and finding a balance between ambition and self-care in the pursuit of long-term progress.
Author and journalist Oliver Burkeman says that facing our finitude and how little control we have over our lives is key to living a truly fulfilling and meaningfully productive life. With this in mind, in this snippet Oliver explains how to set better goals.
Listen to the full episode here 👉 https://open.spotify.com/episode/7yCsfUppC0SMZPiVGnLAeQ?si=Smn2l-TIRmuGcsAb1m-5Nw
