When it comes to setting a course for yourself and your development, a broad statement is better than a specific and here’s why:

  1. A broad statement allows room to adapt to change when change comes, as it always does.
  2. A broad statement lets you achieve more if more is available and doesn’t make you feel bad if you achieve a little less.
  3. A broad statement allows all manner of help to come to you when needed and sometimes brings you what you didn’t know you needed.

 

Here’s an example:

I want to provide my value to more people, while maintaining a balance of time and effort that I enjoy.

Vs.

I want to generate $500,000 in revenue next fiscal year

 

The second makes it almost impossible to feel good if you earn $450K, makes you focus on tactics, not on the big picture and says nothing about the journey. The first makes it easy to accept opportunities, get creative about ways to provide value and to keep everything in perspective while you get there.

 

A sailor doesn’t focus on keeping the nose of the boat pointed right at a single target all the time, they will instead tack back and forth according to the wind, sail around obstacles and generally keep heading in the direction they need to go. Like that sailor, you need to worry less about the specific end point and focus more on your general direction. From there, you can get specific about the one thing you’ll do each day to keep yourself on track, but in the beginning, keep it general and whatever you do, keep sailing.