How to Know When to Give Up On a Goal

 

Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here.

*     *     *

Setting goals and sticking to them is important. But you should also occasionally reevaluate your goals.

Quitting isn’t fun, but sometimes it’s necessary.

Here are two warning signs that it might be time to abandon your goal:

•  Your goals have adverse consequences. If you’ve committed to going to the gym every morning but find that you’re too tired to be productive the rest of the day, something needs to give. In these cases, adjust the goal itself or at least how you go about achieving it.

•  Your goals impede other objectives. Most people have several goals — getting healthy, spending time with family, making more sales calls, etc. If one of your goals is preventing you from reaching another one, decide which is more important.

Today’s Management Tip was adapted from “When to Give Up on Your Goals” by Dorie Clark.

To read that article and join the discussion, please click here.

Also, you may wish to check out Management Tips from Harvard Business Review by clicking here.