As the new year approached, like so many people, I gave some thought to resolutions and made a decision – no more resolutions! Why, I reasoned, would I set myself up for failure? Not a good way to start the year. After doing some research on resolutions and goals, I found evidence to back my decision and to reconsider goal setting as well. What will you choose?

Robert K. Cooper wrote about goals in a book called Getting Out of Your Own Way. Goals can be tricky things. One expert says that the only way to get ahead is to have specific, measurable goals. Another advocates ditching goals altogether. Yet another focuses on intentions. Cooper does a nice job of resolving this issue by setting up a continuum. People don’t get very far, he says, because their goals are too narrow.

Cooper calls the first level of goals “stop goals.” You’re familiar with these – they’re the items that show up on our New Years resolution list – I’m going to stop spending and zero out my credit card balances; I’m going to stop eating unhealthy food. These are limiting because there’s no new state and, most often, no action plan.

SMART goals have outcomes but are still very limiting. If your goal is to save $1,000, what comes next? Even stretch goals that leave you plenty of room to grow, Cooper contends, can still be limiting – get thin … win the marathon … become a multimillionaire …. Again, where’s the plan? What would the outcome look like?

Cooper urges us to set Open Space Goals. These allow room for creativity and growth in many directions. Open Space Goals allow us to create whole new ways of being. What if your goal shifted from becoming a multimillionaire to financial freedom? This would mean that you wouldn’t be limited to the pursuit of money; your goal would also include lifestyle choices. You might decide that riches are less important than quality of life. Or you might want both.

A second book came to mind – Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. Oliver Burkeman reminds us that, assuming that we live to be 80, then 4,000 weeks is what we’ve got.  With this in mind, why not focus on what you want to do – and, equally important, what you don’t want to do – and create space for spontaneity?