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A New Way to Goal-Set for Life and Work in an Abnormal World
We can’t think about time the way we used to
Omicron is here. And Pi, Rho, and Sigma are possibly right around the corner. If the last 20 months have taught us anything, it is that we will have to deal with tectonic change in a way we never expected to: nearly daily. For those of us who don’t like change — or who resist it with every cell in our bodies — this has been an excruciating chapter of our lives and of our careers. It is no longer accurate to call these “pandemic times” (isn’t the worst of it over?) or “post-Covid times” (aren’t we still in it?) We are simply living in abnormal times.
The norm were times in which change was a fixture, but we knew generally when to expect it: when a major life event occurred, like graduating, quitting your job, getting married, having a baby, etc. At those crossroads, we believed we could control the change. The mere concept of “change management” — both at the office and in any number of self-help books — makes the important assumption that we can control change. Or at least control the fallout, results, or consequences that come from it.
The abnormal times have taught us this: we cannot.
As we approach the end of the year, our instinct will be to set goals for the year ahead. That’s what we have always done. That’s what makes us feel some semblance of normality. That’s what makes us feel hopeful about what’s coming. With a vision in place, we know why we are getting up everyday and how to manage our time, energy, and other resources to move life forward. But how do we set goals when the world morphs in massive ways almost every morning? And when much of that change is being brought on by large-scale public health, economic, and planetary events?
The answer that I have come to in my own life and work is that we — I — can no longer plan in units of one year. Thus far, in our lives and in the 20th and 21st century, one year has been the standard goal-setting unit. We make annual new year’s resolutions. We craft five-year goals that break down into one-year goals, that then break down into quarterly goals. We report our income and taxes once every year. Our holidays are annual. Our vacations are annual. Our school calendars are annual.
