Marine Explains To Fortune 500 Execs Why Goal Setting Is A Waste Of Time
— Updated on 15 June 2021

Marine Explains To Fortune 500 Execs Why Goal Setting Is A Waste Of Time

— Updated on 15 June 2021
Garry Lu
WORDS BY
Garry Lu

They say military service prepares people for any professional scenario. Former Marine infantry and combat veteran, Andrew Wittman, has lived quite the lift post-discharge. As well as being the author of “Ground Zero Leadership: CEO of You”, Wittman now coaches and advises CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, and high ranking executives of numerous other companies alike. The following is an excerpt from a video transcript where Wittman explains why goal setting is a counter-productive use of time, and how it can be better utilised in achieving your objectives:

Setting goals is the biggest waste of time on planet Earth. People are shocked when I say that. Setting goals is a complete waste of time if you don’t have a target destination. So I say it like this: Have you ever gone on a vacation and you didn’t know where you were going? And if that ever happened, how did you pack?

So I don’t know where I’m going. Here’s my goals. I’m going to set goals of getting a surfboard, getting skis, getting hunting rifles, getting fishing rods. OK, all those took time to research, I spent resources, I got them, “Yay, I accomplished my goals.” “Where you going?” “We’re going rock climbing.” Right? So, these goals did not help me.

In fact, I wasted valuable hours of my life and valuable resources I could have spent getting me to my destination on stuff that was a complete waste. So now think of it like this: If I said, “We’re going to Rome in 2 weeks.” All the goals self-populate.

What do we need to do? We’ve got to get our passport and visa. We’ve got to get plane tickets. We’ve got to get a hotel. We’ve got to figure out where we’re going to eat — and what we’re going to go see. So the goals self-populate. So stop wasting time trying to come up with goals. Just come up with a destination and a target of where you want to be and all your goals will self-populate.

Original video via Business Insider.

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Garry Lu
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After stretching his legs with companies such as The Motley Fool and the odd marketing agency, Garry joined Boss Hunting in 2019 as a fully-fledged Content Specialist. In 2021, he was promoted to News Editor. Garry proudly retains a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, black bruises from Muay Thai, as well as a black belt in all things pop culture. Drop him a line at [email protected]

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