The Clear-path Goals vs. Vague-path Goals and the Secrets to Reaching Both
Most of our goals fall into two main categories: the clear-path goals and the vague-path goals. To reach both types of goals, we need to adopt different strategies.
Firstly, what is a clear-path goal?
A clear-path goal is a goal that you know full well what you need to do, what steps to take, what tasks to complete, to reach your goal. For example, running 365 km in a year is a clear path goal. There is nothing ambiguous about it. You know what you need to do, which is basically just to run. Everything else is secondary. The path to reaching that number is clear and obvious.
Here are examples of other clear-path goals:
- Read 30 books in a year
- Work out 3 times per week
- Make 20 sales calls per month
- Write 500 words per day
Now what is a vague-path goal?
Unlike a clear-path goal, a vague-path goal is a goal that you are not very sure about what you need to do or what needs to happen to achieve your goal. For example, to make $1 million in 5 years, that is a vague path goal. You don’t know what you should do to make it happen. You may have a few options, but none of them may look like a sure path to your end goal.
Other vague-path goals may include:
- Get a promotion at work
- Lose 20 lbs in 3 years
- Start my own business
- Retire in 5 years or less
What are the keys to reaching both types of goals?
A lot of people aren’t aware of the difference between these two types of goals. They often tend to use the same method to reach them. The result is often hit and miss. But if we understand the key factor in dealing with each type of goals, our success rate will very likely improve.
Key to reaching clear-path goals: fixed time and routine
To accomplish any kind of goals, it all comes down to taking action. With clear-path goals, because we already know what we need to do, the key becomes whether we actually do it. The best way to ensure that we put in consistent effort into taking action and making progress is to simply set up a fixed time in your calendar and stick to a routine for the goal.
For example, if you want to write a book, plan a time of day, say in the early morning, and sit down to write 30 minutes every weekday except for weekends.
The more static and inflexible your routine, the better you will stick to it. Having a fixed time and routine will help you make progress on your goal regardless whether you feel motivated or not. You will just go through the motion and keep doing what is needed to do. Sooner or later you’ll arrive at your goal.
Key to reaching vague-path goals: keep trying new things
With vague-path goals, because you are not sure what you should do for your goal, simply having a routine or habit to work on your goal is not enough, nor is it the most important thing. What’s the key for this type of goal is to make a commitment to yourself that you will keep trying new things or new ways of doing things no matter how many times you will fail.
Since the path to your end goal is not clear, you won’t be sure if doing one particular thing will always work. It may work at first, but does not work after a while. So to reach your goal, or really to forge a clearer path, you will have to try many many new things or try doing the same thing in many different ways.
For example, your goal is to start an online business. That’s a typical vague-path goal. Of course you need to find time to work on it as much as you can, but more importantly, you will need to test out different ideas, different products, different people, different processes, or different markets etc. Your path to success will only become clearer as you keep exploring these different directions.
When it comes to goal setting, we are all different. Some of us are naturally better at clear-path goals, others are more successful with vague-path goals. No matter which group we belong to, if we remember the secret keys to both kinds of goals, we can all be more successful in achieving them.
