Realistic:  Of or relating to the representation of objects, actions, or social conditions as they actually are.  (American Heritage Dictionary, 2000)

Truly abundant goals are realistic goals.  What does that mean?  To implement goals and get the results we want, we have to first carefully consider what we want.  A realistic goal is based who we are -- not who our boss, parents, spouse or any other external driver thinks we are.  The most successful goals are based on intentions that are in alignment with our values, our vision, and our capacity. I may have a big audacious goal to be a millionaire by the end of 2006.  However, if I am not even making $20,000 and I'm not taking specific, actionable steps to change my reality, this is an unrealistic goal.

I've seen a lot of unrealistic goal setting in business people.  It's great to dream big and everyone can benefit by creating a big vision, but if that vision is not grounded in practical, tangible ways, it is unrealistic.

So why do so many people recycle unrealistic goals year after year?  I believe it's related to the Illusion of Struggle and the Illusion of Control.  A lot of us have a love affair with struggle, don't we?  We identify with struggle.  We think it shows us the boundaries of who we are.  When things are hard, they may be more familiar.  By always striving, we negate who we are by buying into the idea that we're incomplete, less than, not enough.  When we create goals that are ungrounded and always out of our reach, it's a way to keep things safe, predictable. We can stay in control of our lives, because we can predict how it's going to turn out.

Unrealistic goals are like the tug of war you played at those family picnics as a kid.  There's a lot of effort back and forth, struggling to win, but in the end, there's only one winner.  When a person creates unrealistic goals, they're not the winner - complacency is.  Unrealistic goals set us up for failure and more struggle.  They're mighty convenient that way.  They keep us playing small.  They keep us from living into our greatness and being abundant.

Could you benefit from a little reality in your goal setting?