Problems of Goal Settings and Importance of Goal Pyramids
While goal setting is extremely important, most people do it in the wrong way, as they do not relate their life mission to their daily actions. To do so in a powerful way it is best to set goals using Goals Pyramids.
1. Problems of Traditional Goal Setting
In traditional goal setting you create a list of goals. This list of goals could either be a list of high level goals (life missions), mid level goals (projects), or lower levels goals (tasks and actions). All of these lists have many problems. So let’s take a look at each kind of list.
1.1. High level goal list (mission)
A high level goal list could look as follows:
● Be happy
● Be healthy
● Have a wonderful family
This kind of goal list gives you some orientation as it defines the ultimate why. However, it does not give you any clarity on how to achieve these goals, because the lower level goal, i.e. the actionable goals, are missing. This can easily result in you working on too many things and becoming defocused as you have not achieved clarity on how to accomplish your goals.
Also, it can lead to demotivation as no specific next step has been defined.
1.2. Low level goal list (tasks)
A low level goal list could look as follows:
● Get an A in the exam on contract law
● Do groceries
● Buy a new Ferrari
This kind of goal list gives you an orientation as it defines the concrete things you want to achieve. However, it does not tell you why to achieve these goals, because the higher level goals, the mission goals, are missing. This easily leads you to a situation where you accomplish a goal and then ask yourself “What was the whole point of it?”. For example, you buy a Ferrari and then after some time realize that you do not really know why you got it, as it does not make you happy.
Also, such a low level goal list can lack motivational power as you likely have hundreds of tasks and it is not clear how these relate to each other.
1.3. Mid level goal list (projects)
Mid level goals are in between mission goals (the ultimate why) and action goals (the specific how). Examples of such goals include:
● Have a work-life balance
● Create a charity to find a cure for AIDS
● Lose weight
Such a list misses both the ultimate why (Why do I want to lose weight?), as well as the specific how (How do I lose weight?).
“Lose weight” is not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal behind “lose weight” might be “be healthy” or “look good”. Also, it is not a specific action goal, which might be “exercise” or “eat healthier”.
So mid level goal lists have both main flaws mentioned above, lack of knowing why you should do them and lack of knowing how to get them done.
1.4. Multi level goal list
A multi level goal list is a combination of different level goals. Such a list could look as follows:
● Be happy (high level)
● Be healthy (high level)
● Get an A in the exam on contract law (low level)
● Buy a Mercedes SLK (low level)
● Create a charity to cure AIDS (mid level)
The list contains some high level goals like:
● Be happy
● Be healthy
These lack the specificity on how to accomplish them.
The list also contains some low level goals like:
● Get an A in the exam on contract law
● Buy a Mercedes SLK
These are very specific and lack the answer to why these things are important.
Thus a multilevel goal list lacks both the answer to the “why” and to the “how”. Moreover, a multilevel goal list is confusing as it combines different levels.
The only way to create both a list with the “why” and with the “how” and combine all goal levels is to create a goal pyramid.
2. What Is a Goal Pyramid?
The solution to the above problem of goal setting is one simple structure called a goal pyramid.
A goal pyramid is a structure that connects:
● Top of pyramid: your long term goals
● Middle of pyramid: your projects to your tasks.
● Bottom of pyramid: your tasks to your subtasks.
To illustrate, let’s look at an example. Let’s imagine that you want to become a lawyer and you are studying in law school:
● In order to become a lawyer you need to get a law degree.
● And in order to get the law degree you need to pass all your exams.
● And in order to pass those exams you need to study.
So the mission goal of becoming a lawyer can be achieved by the action of studying:
● Your studying will lead you to pass the exams,
● which will lead you to get a law degree,
● which will lead you to become a lawyer.
Now that we understand the concept of a goal pyramid, let us look at why it is so important.
3. Importance of Goal Pyramids
Some people say it is important to have big, long term goals. Other people say it is important to have small, actionable goals. In fact, both are important. We need to have clarity on our ultimate mission, but we also need to know how to realize it, by taking actions. So each level of the goal pyramid is important and goal setting that only takes into account one level is flawed.
3.1. Importance of the top level goals, or mission goals
The importance of the mission goal is that it is the ultimate objective behind any goal you have. If this changes, then all lower levels of the goal pyramid change with it.
For example, let’s say that you decide that actually you no longer want to become a lawyer but instead become a medical doctor. Now, you no longer need a law degree, so you no longer need to pass all law exams and you no longer should study law.
Thus, only one change on the top level, changes all goals on the lower level. That impact illustrates the importance of having clarity in your top goals, in order to avoid wasting time working on the wrong things.
3.2. Importance of the actionable subtasks
The importance of the lowest level goals, the tasks and subtasks, is that this is the only level that you can influence by taking action. While it is true that you can pass all subjects in order to become a lawyer, you can only do so by passing all exams! And how do you pass exams? By studying! The action is “studying law”.
So by continuously asking the question “how”, you finally reach an actionable level, which is the only level where you can take actions.
3.3. Importance of the intermediate levels
However, if we only had the top level of the pyramid, becoming a lawyer, and the lower level, studying law, then we might lose our motivation. This is because studying only has an indirect relationship to becoming a lawyer and the amount of studying required is too much, unless we have intermediary goals that show us the way how to get from studying to becoming a lawyer.
From the above we see that goal pyramids and each level of a goal pyramid are very important for accomplishing your goals successfully.
Now the question becomes: how do we best establish a goal pyramid? The answer to this question is given here:
