658 | Why You Shouldn’t Set Goals Alone

You've got big goals and you cannot lie. You've got big goals, but if you're setting them alone, you're already at a disadvantage.

Today we're talking about how leaders build goals with people who sharpen them, support them and push them forward. That is coming up next.

Welcome to The Chris LoCurto Show, where we discuss, discuss leadership and life and discover that business is what you do, not who you are.

Welcome to the show, folks. I hope you're having a fabulous day wherever you are.

Today, we are talking about your big goals. And if you've got big goals and you cannot lie, well, guess what? You should not be setting them alone.

This is something that you should be doing with support. Let's be honest, when you set goals in isolation, you're missing some of the best parts. Clarity, challenge, encouragement, accountability.

Which is huge. Right. So this episode is going to walk you through why going solo isn't your best option. Can you do it? Yes, you can. Have I done it? Absolutely.

But I am somebody who always, as I'm setting goals, I'm always looking for more perspective. I really rarely ever set goals alone. It's just in my mind, it's pointless.

Again, I'm not saying you can't do it, and I'm not saying it's not good for you to get out there and spend some time thinking through.

But before you finalize any goals, there's five points I want to walk through that I think you should do. And I think it's really important.

Alone, you get tunnel vision. With others, you get clarity. (00:01:50)

The first one is alone, you get tunnel vision. With others, you get clarity.

So let's say you're a business owner who's convinced that you need to double your revenue this upcoming year, right?

That's great. But when you talk through with somebody like maybe a Mastermind member or a coach or advisor, then you realize that what you actually need is more profitability, not necessarily more revenue.

Somebody being able to point this out. Now, I'll tell you, I have done this countless times with folks that, you know, there's this big fallacy out there.

We always as business owners think we need more top line. More top line. More top line. And I will tell you, that's not always your best bet. That's not always your best goal. Many times it is. Many times it works out fantastically.

But if you don't critically think your way through this process, then what you may discover is more top line decreases your bottom line.

Let me explain that. Sometimes adding more business to you, if it is not done well, if it is not Done correctly actually creates more expense in the process.

So doubling your revenue might cause you to run out of brick and mortar space. It may cause you to run out of equipment that you have.

It may cause you to run out of whatever, you know, people. Obviously you're probably going to be hiring a lot if you're going to double your revenue.

Hopefully you're not sitting on plenty of people for twice the amount of revenue, because then we have a different problem.

But I can't tell you how many times I've helped people to look at their process and dig in deeper and go, hey, listen, you're actually making more profitability on less revenue at this point.

You need to jump all the way up to here for you to clear all these expenses to get more net profit by adding the revenue.

So there are times I've helped businesses that were making, I don't know, 11, 12, 15, $20 million, go, hey, if you'll drop $3 million of work and effort and people and payroll and all the other expenses that in stress, you will actually increase your bottom line.

Now, as I say that, there's plenty of people out there that are going, oh, but why would I drop down that much revenue? Well, because isn't the goal at the end of the day to make more money that you take home? It should be.

I hope that your goal isn't to have higher topline revenue and less money. Right. Because then what that means is that it's all about our pride.

It's all about our ego. And I have helped a lot of folks who it wasn't about their pride.

They just didn't recognize, they didn't realize that they were in a spot, that they either had to dramatically increase revenue or if they just dropped a little bit, they could remove an incredible amount of stress and increase their net profit.

When you are speaking to somebody who can, you know, you're not setting that goal alone and you're talking with somebody who can critically think through this, process, through this with you and guide, direct you through this.

And I'm not saying everybody out there who wants to increase their revenue is going the wrong direction. That's not what I'm saying.

What I'm saying is, is what if you don't have all of the clarity you need? Having somebody sit down with you and walk through that can be exactly what you need to get the right goals.

You’re emotionally biased toward comfort. Others push for growth. (00:05:28)

Number two, some folks are emotionally biased towards comfort. Others push for growth.

So let's say you've got a team leader who's set safe goals because they're afraid of failing, right? And maybe they failed before and they're afraid of doing it again.

A mentor, a coach, you know, somebody who knows what they're talking about can see that fear. They can call it out. They can help reframe that, right? Reframe it so that it's not about fear, it's not about failure, it's not about defeat.

Right? They can reframe the failure as information. I will tell you, I am huge on understanding that fear is pointless. Most fear is imagined.

Almost all fear is imagined. It's the what could happen? What if that does happen? It's not the, hey, a lion is chasing me right now. This is impending doom. It's imagined fear. So for me, failure is not a terrible thing as long as it's not a fatal failure.

I actually use failure as a teacher. Failure is a great teacher for the person who's ready to receive it. So if all you're thinking about is failure is so horrible, I don't want to fail. I don't want to screw up.

I don't want to mess things up, then I can promise you you are not going to set goals big enough. You're not going to set goals that you can stretch yourself to attain.

You're gonna set goals that are safe. Having the right person with you set those goals, or at least read through those and work on them can help you to see where you're playing it too safe. Right?

You don't want to play it too safe and can probably point out how to stretch yourself a little bit more. But more importantly, the conversation that needs to happen is, why are you looking at not reaching this goal as a colossal failure?

Right? What if we set a stretch goal and you get close to it, but you don't hit it? Well, it's more than you probably would have set in the first place.

You don't have to nail a stretch goal 100%. Our goal is to shoot for it. Our bigger goal should be to put together a phenomenal strategy on how we're going to get to it. But what if you just miss it?

Did you do more than you were going to? Yes. And having a solid person get in there and help you not only can help you to stretch yourself, but they could probably also help you put together the strategy to actually execute.

You’ll quit easier without accountability. (00:08:07)

Number three, you'll quit easier without accountability, folks. This is one you just need to kind of smack your own self upside the head on, right?

Let's say you write down goals in a journal, close the book, throw it In a top drawer somewhere, whatever, that's it.

By February, you've drifted. March, you're probably considerably off course. But when you've got a mastermind, when you've got a leadership community checking in, then your motivation stays strong.

And the great thing is that your follow through multiplies.

When you don't have to look at that goal that you wrote down, when you don't have to focus on that, then you'll come back to it months later and go, ah, well, that didn't work out, so I might as well just stick to keep doing what I'm doing.

When you have somebody working with you and they can gently push on you and they can remember that you need to be motivated to take a hard look at the goal that you're setting and is this the direction you want to go in, and is it the smartest way to go, then that accountability helps you to not quit.

It helps you to not get off course, it helps you to prioritize correctly, it helps you to accomplish it.

So accountability makes goals sticky. And that's exactly what you need. You need that goal to be sticky. It needs to be something that you're consistently looking at, consistently trying to accomplish.

You’ll plan short-term when you don’t have perspective. (00:09:33 )

Number four, you'll plan short term when you don't have quality perspective.

So imagine you're a solopreneur who plans quarter to quarter because everything feels super urgent, right? And you should be planning quarter to quarter. I'm not saying that's a bad thing.

What I'm saying is, is what if everything is so urgent, but somebody outside of your day to day helps you to kind of zoom out, to help you to kind of look at scalability, sustainability, you know, not just surviving, not just making it quarter to quarter.

But instead, what does it look like to focus on giving a little extra effort or be more proactive and making sure that scale happens?

Making sure that you're making right decisions instead of just what's right in front of you, what if it helps you to create a much better proactive strategic goal instead of a reactive one?

Perspective turns reactive goals into strategic ones. So having that kind of perspective in your life, looking at what you're trying to accomplish, looking at what you're trying to do and helping you to push forward on that.

But, but giving you the right direction, helping you to see, you know, like I said, zoom out and take a look at it from a different level, can help you to make much better goals.

You can’t see what’s blocking you like others can. (00:10:56)

Number five, you can't see what's blocking you like others can. So let's say you're a high achiever, but maybe you've got a blind spot, maybe you micromanage your team, but you call it being thorough.

A peer in your leadership circle spots this and says, hey, this is costing you trust, this is costing you loyalty. This is costing you good people. Boom.

That kind of insight can help you in the moment to unlock better goals and to absolutely create stronger leadership processes.

If you don't recognize that you're actually doing something that's affecting your team in a negative way or affecting champions in a negative way...

By having somebody look in and see what you're doing and point it out and guide and direct and give direction on things you can change and things you can implement and how to lift up those other people, how to get out of your own way, that is powerful.

Is it difficult? Sure.

Many times it's. It's really hard to hear what somebody's saying about your leadership. I. I get it. I understand. That's why we do our processes.

The way that we do is to help people see what's going on and then implement processes that work, that, you know, support what they're trying to accomplish.

But if you don't have somebody who can see what you're doing or some of those things that are affecting your team as you're processing through goals or what it's going to do to your team...

Then you might run straightforward into this great, phenomenal, awesome idea that you have only to find out three, six months later, you've tanked your team, you've tanked morale, you've tanked culture.

So by having somebody just look through, comment on, guide and direct, it might be the exact thing you need to set up the right goals and the right processes.

So the great thing is, is that real transformation needs outside truth. Right? You don't want to be focused on only you being the one that has the information. Like I said, all the time, I am constantly turning to my wife.

I'm constantly turning to our leadership team. I'm constantly looking at something and saying, hey, take a look at this. This is what I'm thinking.

This is what I'm processing. This is what I'm focused on. Rip it apart. I don't have a problem. It's funny, I've been. That's been pointed out to me in the past that I just don't seem to have a problem with people ripping apart my stuff.

I don't. Why? Because I want it to be the best it possibly can be. If you're struggling with somebody going, hey, I see a problem. I see, you know, something that needs to change. I see whatever.

If you're struggling with that, then guess what, you're holding on way too tight. Way too tight. You're getting way too much worth, way too much identity from what you do. Listen, business is something that you do.

It is not the entirety of you. You have to remember that, right? There's so much more to you than just what you do for a living. So don't hold on to it too tightly.

Instead, utilize that in a way where you can have people jump in, point things out, call things out, and then, boom, you get to implement those pieces and make sure you're not shutting down team members or changing morale or anything like that.

So some takeaways. The most powerful goals are built with people, not in isolation.

So whether you're a leader, a business owner, a team builder, community, challenge and clarity make all of the difference as you're setting your goals.

Action Items (00:14:55)

So here's some action items I want for you to do.

Number one, how's your current goal setting process going? Are you doing it alone?

Who challenges your thinking? Who takes a look at what you're doing? Who confirms that you're doing the right stuff? Who's able to hold you accountable?

Number two, identify at least one to two people who you trust to speak into your goals.

Do not put the person that you like, but they're also going to be the person who doesn't know what they're talking about or, you know, they, they've never been in your shoes before. They're not beyond where you are.

They're not experiencing, you know, leadership or ownership or any of that kind of stuff. Don't put somebody in there that doesn't know what they're talking about because they could terribly mislead you. Right?

Also, don't put the person in place that wants to take a shot at you. That happens as well. So make sure that you're not doing that. Instead, one to two people that you trust that could be a coach, a mentor, a Mastermind group.

Get the right people to be able to speak into your goals.

Number three, schedule time this week, this week to review your goals with someone else. Don't just plan. A plan is not a strategy, folks. A plan is not, you know, a goal.

Without a strategy to, it really doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot. You need a process. So have it reviewed with somebody this week. Make it happen.

Number four, if you're already in a leadership circle, go deeper. Don't just share your goals. Ask for feedback. I will tell you some of the most successful leaders that I mentor and coach and train are the ones who are not afraid to get feedback.

They're asking for feedback. I have an amazing person that I have coached for a very long time is like, hey, you just watched me with my daughter over there for the last 30 minutes.

Any insight, any things you see, I mean, it's just no fear, literally looking for the absolute best, best in their life, right? How can I be a better father?

How can I be a better husband? How can I be a better, you know, whatever. Fill in the blank. So don't be somebody who's afraid to get feedback. You don't have to take the feedback.

And if you've got the right group, if you're in the right room, then it's people who support and love you anyways, right?

This is why you hear me say a lot. Don't get your cousin Frank in there who doesn't know what the crap he's talking about, right?

You have great people that you love in your family, but they may not be the people who need to speak into what you're doing with your leadership or with your business.

Number five, commit to collaborative clarity as your 2026 standard. It changes everything.

Make sure that you're collaborating with people to make it happen.

Conclusion (00:17:57)

Now, as we wrap up the year, let me say this. You're not weak for needing others. If that is something that somebody has convinced you or taught you or told you they are weak. Right?

Because the truth is you are wise. You are not meant to lead in isolation. So don't carry the weight of next year's goals alone.

Right? And if you're ready to set the right goals with the right support, join us at the Next-Level Leadership LIVE event.

You won't just write down goals, you'll build a strategic plan with a room full of growth minded leaders and proven frameworks that help you implement. Not just imagine.

You do it here, you do it at the event. You don't get a bunch of information, then have to go home and then try to find some time to wedge it in.

You get to work through this stuff here. So you're not just planning your next year, you're literally building it now. Early registration for the Next Level Leadership LIVE event ends soon and you'll miss your 500 if you don't commit early to your 2026 goals.

Head over to chrislocurto.com/liveevents and lock in your spot. Let's finish strong and start even stronger.

Well, folks, that's all the time that I have today.

I hope this has blessed you. I hope you take this information, you change your leadership, change your business, change your life. And join us on the next episode.