To Reflect: Are You Trying To Be Great At Everything?

Due to a mix of philosophy, opportunity and experience – my wife and I are lucky enough to be home schooling our children. Well, this week formed the submission date for our eldest daughter’s kindergarten education plan. As I was working through the many syllabus outcomes that we have to make sure we cover – I noticed something.

The school curriculum focuses on creating ‘generalists’ of our children (and likely necessarily so). Yet, when assessing my own little girl, it’s clear that she is already un-intentionally specialising in natural science. She is encroaching on outcomes listed for grades 3-4 in that area, but hitting all the standard areas across the rest of the curriculum. (To give you a sense here, she dissects mushrooms for explorative fun, and can name every component of a mushroom’s anatomy).

Through this, I couldn’t help but reflect on how we are so often coached to set goals – especially at this time of year.

This idea that ‘We can be awesome at everything!’. A great parent & partner, a superstar leader, unbelievably wealthy, the life of the party, a reliable friend, ‘spiritually in-tune’, attractive, wise – and all while staying healthy and with enough sleep. (…I can’t be the only one that desires all those right?.)

Now if you’ve found a way to achieve and maintain all of that, I’d love to chat with you to learn how. In the meantime, I’m going to set goals in just a few areas. Trying to be excellent at everything just leads to Goal-Guilt. (That guilt we feel when we don’t hit our own personal targets).

How are you setting goals for yourself and your organisation in the new year?

Are you tactically specific or are you trying to be super-human?