Having Too Many Goals Is Like Having None

Back when I was a little kid, my aunt and uncle had a chicken farm with two very large chicken houses. On one or two Sundays each month, my parents would take my brother and me to spend time with our relatives where we learned to talk with a very country accent and learned to appreciate air conditioning. In all seriousness, we loved going to visit my great-grandparents, aunts and uncles and other relatives and it’s odd how so many of the little things I learned have stuck with me. Sayings like:

Boy, no one can get your goat unless you tell them where you tie it. –my great-grandfather, Otis Hancock

He was referring to our tendency to get irritated and then be vocal about it!

Have you ever heard the phrase “running around like a chicken with its head cut off?” Once, when I visited my Aunt Hazel and Uncle Spencer’s home, my Aunt went outside to “harvest” a chicken for our Sunday evening meal. Now, nothing tastes as good as Aunt Hazel’s fresh fried chicken, and no chicken was as fresh as hers. On this occasion, she tied the bird to some wire on the fence just outside the kitchen door and proceeded to cut it’s head off and allow the blood to drain (if this is disgusting, remember that we’re far too removed from the realities of where our food comes from). All the other times I had witnessed this event, the bird went through a brief spasm and expired there on the fence, but this time, the wire wasn’t tight enough and, though HEADLESS, the bird escaped the bonds of it’s ankle wires and began running all over the yard with Aunt Hazel and all the grandkids and nephews chasing it. It was pure pandemonium.

After about 40 seconds, the poor bird ran into the road and was hit by a pickup truck. Talk about having a bad day!

When you have too many goals, you’re a lot like that crazy chicken — running all over the place, people chasing you, out of your mind, and probably about to be hit with something big that will stop you in your tracks.

If this describes you, take these steps so you don’t end up as someone’s dinner:

• Slow down and breath.
• Think.
• Choose one clearly articulated goal at a time and focus like a laser on it.
• Bring that one thing to completion (completed tasks rarely come back to bite you).
• Repeat as necessary.

You don’t have to live a crazy life if you take some time to slow down, take a deep breath and work on one thing at a time. After all, you can’t do more than one thing at a time, at least you can’t do more than one thing at a time really well.

One well defined, measurable goal can motivate you to action more than multiple goals with various deadlines and will generate a feeling that hitting your goal is imperative, not merely desirable.

photo credit: hildgrim