Goal setting is a highly useful exercise in practice management, but can be daunting for several reasons. Goal setting is by no means unique to the chiropractic profession; it’s in common use in corporate settings. It just goes by another name: earnings guidance. Large, publicly traded companies have entire departments devoted entirely to creating accurate sales and earnings projections for the coming quarter and year. Stock prices are frequently a measure of the accuracy of the projection, not necessarily by the overall company performance.
Why bother with goals?
For clients who are not goal oriented, the entire exercise can seem like a silly indulgence. “How can you set goals for your business when you don’t know what the future holds?” “ How can you make a reliable estimate when there are so many variables that are not in our control?” “If I set a goal, and make it or don’t make it, life’s pretty much the same.”
These ideas and similar ones along these lines miss the entire point of goals. Goals are about direction and intention, not predicting the future. Yes, there will most certainly be events and circumstances that cannot be predicted, especially if you go further out in time. The operative question to as, however, is, “what direction do I want to drive to?” Powerful statements of direction and desired end results are increasingly rare in our culture and are things to be valued and sought. I have repeatedly seen strong and cohesive goals, clearly articulated, cause a wave of energy that somehow brings other people and opportunities.
Methods
The typical thought process behind goal setting, in both the mega and micro world is as follows:
- What do you want to have?
- What do you have to do to get it?
- What sacrifices do you have to make and what is it going to take in terms of time and resources?
This process leaves out two critical things: the pre-requisites for doing the things you need to do, and the balance between the objective and the subjective. Without these two things, goal setting is going to be a difficult and unfulfilling process.
Pre-requisites pertain to “why”. Another way to think about this is using the simple flow chart: Be>Do> Have. What must you be like in order to do the things you need to do (automatically and skillfully) in order to have the things you want? This is a much more profound and complicated process than just following a simple recipe. The language following this is, “ I am [blank], so therefore, [blank]. It requires self-knowledge and ability to create simple concepts out of complex issues.
Subjective and objective
Goal setting can start on either side of this spectrum. For simple definition purposes, objective items are things that other people (or instruments) can gauge, and subjective items are not externally measurable.
When I ask clients about what they would feel would make a great year, they will sometimes reply with an objective response: I want to see a particular number of patients, I want to save a particular number of dollars, I want to purchase a particular item, I want to reduce my debt to a certain level, etc. These are completely valid and reasonable things to aspire to.
Some clients reply with a more subjective criteria: I want to have a greater sense of security, I want to feel less stressed about money, I want to feel like I’m making a bigger impact in my community, I want to feel freer or safer, etc.
Having it both ways
Both of these entrance points are valid and will tend to drive behavior to get you closer to the desired end result. The key point is that you must have balance between subjective and objective in order to actually reach your goal. It’s actually a simple formula:
- If you start out with a subjective goal, such as I want to have a greater sense of financial security, the Question is “how will you know when you are there?” Or at least closer?
- If you start out with an objective goal, such as I want to earn a particular number of dollars, the Question is: “why do you want that?” A clearly articulated reward system will make this more likely to occur.
The next blog post will give details about how to make this a coherent part of your reality. The critical message is that if the goal is purely subjective or purely objective, you will most likely not feel satisfied, or really move towards achieving your goal.