Stop Setting Shitty Goals
date
Aug 25, 2021
slug
shitty-goals
status
Published
tags
Life
Career
Productivity
summary
What are shit goals? Why do we set them?
type
Post
Watch it folks. Rant incoming.
This month, I'm going to: 'learn react, learn git, learn X or Y'.
I know I was likely guilty of this in the past. In fact, we all must have done this at some point. I see it very frequently, especially with people coming into the industry.
I saw someone say this today. No shame. But I'm here to say that this is a shit goal. It's a shit goal because there is no finite point in which you can say 'goal completed'.
How do you know you have 'learnt React' or anything for that matter?
I have been writing React code for the best part of three years, and I am consistently learning how to do things I haven't been able to do before, or how to write things more effectively or eloquently. It is wrong to view anything that requires learning as something that can be learned or not learned. I am a native English language speaker, and still, there are nuances with my own spoken language I am coming across each day.
Mozart didn't get to the age of 25 and go 'right now lads, I've learnt the keys, whats next'? Learning never stops. Despite how competent you get. Get out of that mindset early.
Maybe a better goal would be to say 'I am going to have built a small project in React by the end of the month', or 'I am going to have finished the tutorial I am watching on Git'. These are achievable. You can say whether you have done them or not. You can pass or fail. It is binary.
Deep breath.
Rant over.
Much love <3