The Plan and The Goal

People have tendencies to confuse goals and the plan. When someone says they want to be rich, that isn’t their plan for life, it’s their goal. Whenever anyone says anything about what they want to be, do, or achieve in the future, they are speaking through a goal lens. People say their goals and expect that they have stated their plans. Goals and plans are not the same. Goals are the light at the end of the tunnel you are chasing, the plan is the tunnel you are traveling through. Goals are the ledge at the top of the ladder, the plan is every rung you are grabbing and stepping on during your climb. Goals and the plan to reach them are not the same. Understand the difference and you will change how you shape your life.

Goals work backward from the end result to the beginning of the process. Goals can and will be anything. From building that Lego set in your closet to constructing the tallest skyscraper in the world, goals start from an idea. Once the goal is in mind you have the inspiration for what is desired. In the case of the Lego set, you have an image on the box of what the result will look like. For the world's tallest skyscraper, you have a benchmark of what needs to be beaten. These are goals. Without a plan, they will never be realized.

Plans work from the beginning to the end of the process where the goal is realized. Once your goal is set you map out the steps you must take, one by one, to create the journey that will realize your goal. In the case of the Lego set, it’s laying out the pieces, then sorting them by similar type, then following the instructions, one by one. With building the tallest skyscraper it’s finding a plot of land, bringing architects in to design, hiring engineers to plan and develop, project managers to schedule steps to the build, and workers to do the building. Over time, as each step of the plan is paid attention to and realized your Lego set gets that much closer to being built and your skyscraper slowly grows to be the tallest one floor at a time.

Don’t state a goal and think you have a plan. Don’t devise a plan without an end goal in mind. Plans and goals go hand in hand but are completely different in their purpose and the results they bring. Without a plan your goal is imaginary. Without a goal, your plan has no end. Use them both and achieve what you set out to achieve.