How Unrealistic Goals Help You Grow

Have you ever set a totally unrealistic goal for yourself? You know the kind… the kind of goal that most people would say there’s no way you can achieve. The kind that when people hear about it they cite statistics just to let you know that you probably won’t be successful because so few people usually are.

Well, one person who set totally unrealistic goals for himself is Tom Rath. In a podcast interview with Whitney Johnson, Tom Rath explains that when he was 16 years old, he was diagnosed with Von Hippel–Lindau disease, a rare disorder that causes cancer cells to appear at various places in his body. Upon diagnosis, his doctors told him he would probably live until 30 or 40 years old. After that news, Tom Rath decided that he needed to fit a whole career and entire life into his first 40 years.

Tom Rath has just turned 40 and in that time he has had a full career, including publishing almost a dozen well-known books, including the bestselling StrengthFinder. He has also had multiple surgeries and cancer treatments. In his interview, he talks about having to really think about what his goals will be now that he has achieved his seemingly unrealistic goal of fitting a whole career and whole life into 40 years. His recent book, Life’s Great Question, focuses on how to make your work and life meaningful and how you can contribute to a better world. I can’t wait to read it!

Tom Rath may not have framed his goal-setting in the same way that I have but many people would have thought that achieving all that he has by age 40 is unrealistic. His life circumstances, however, propelled him to become a highly respected author whose book continues to be used in leadership courses worldwide. Tom Rath’s influence and reach is enormous. And he’s deliberate about wanting to leave a legacy that makes a valuable contribution to other people’s lives and to the world. So we can all thank Tom Rath for setting that unrealistic goal because he has achieved so much and benefited so many of us

On Setting and Achieving Unrealistic Goals

Well, I’m a big fan of setting big, audacious, unrealistic goals for myself. When I was 13, I decided I would become a lawyer. When I was in my 20s, I set my sights on representing Canada in the summer Olympics for beach volleyball. And right now, my big goal is to publish a best-selling young adult novel.

As I reflect on my life so far, I’m more and more convinced of the benefits of setting unrealistic goals. Each time I have set out to achieve one of these unrealistic goals, I have benefitted in more ways than I could ever have anticipated. I set the goal to become a lawyer when I was in my teens, and I managed to complete my law degree, get called to the bar and then I continued to finish both my Masters and PhD in law. This has benefitted me tremendously in my work as a lawyer and I’m able to draw on my deep knowledge of Aboriginal law, extensive experience researching and writing, and my intensive teaching experiences in my current role.

There’s Value in the Effort

So what about those unrealistic goals we don’t achieve?   Well, I never did qualify for the Olympics in beach volleyball. But even in the failures, there are amazing, unanticipated benefits.  If I hadn’t set that big, unrealistic goal I would have missed out on a whole bunch of amazing experiences, including:

• travelling all over the world with my sister and beach volleyball partner, Rachel;
• representing Canada at 13 World Tour events;
• winning a Satellite FIVB World Tour event in South Korea with Rachel;
• winning two Canadian National Beach Volleyball Championships with another amazing beach volleyball partner, Tricia;
• making friends with beach volleyball players from all over the world; and
• developing skills in teamwork, focus, perseverance, and having a thick skin that continue to serve me well in my life and my career.

So setting my sights on the Olympics, even though I didn’t make it, taught me both the value and the unanticipated benefits that result from attempting to achieve seemingly unrealistic goals.

Break Down Your Unrealistic Goal into Smaller Goals to Build Momentum

Once you have set your big, audacious, unrealistic goals, then it’s time to break them down into smaller goals. Think about smaller goals that will continue to propel you along the way towards your big, unrealistic goal. Aim your focus a little bit higher than you normally would and think about how you can push yourself to improve at a pace that is faster than most.

Here’s a quick example: while competing on a Professional Indoor Volleyball team in the Netherlands, I joined karate, which is something I had always wanted to do. I attended weekly classes instructed by a former Judo Olympian who gave me the nickname “Kampioen” (“Champion” in Dutch). After each weekly class, I would write down the various exercises we did and then would practice all the exercises for at least an hour every day. By doing this, I got six times the practice that other students got. By the end of the 8-month period, I was the only student in the class who advanced to my yellow belt. Dedicating that extra time each day helped me improve exponentially and achieve my goal.

Once you start to achieve small goals that are just out of reach, then you can continue to build on your success and momentum. Setting shorter-term goals that stretch you out of your comfort zone pushes you into your learning zone. Soon enough, you’ll notice just how much closer you are to achieving your big, audacious, unrealistic goal!

So set unrealistic goals for yourself – because you never know what amazing experiences you’ll have and lessons you’ll learn along the way! Like Tom Rath, you just might blow your goals out the water and at age 40 ask: “So what am I going to do next?”

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