Should You Change Your Goals Due to Coronavirus?

I am a big goal-setter. Every January 1st, my wife and I have a goal-setting date. We’ve done it for years and years, and we go to the same restaurant every year.

We sit down, and I have this notebook. We go through last year’s goals, this year’s goals, and where we want to be.

And then we do it with the company, as well. We do a company retreat at the beginning of the year and figure out where we want to get to.

And then all of this COVID-19 stuff happened, so we just took all of our goals and threw them away.

Instead, we just watch TV every day…

I’m just kidding.

I feel like a lot of people did, though! Like, “Oh, no! There’s adversity?! I quit.”

But this is why we have goals, right? It’s so when we encounter adversity, we can overcome it.

So, here’s how I’d recommend treating your goals in a changing, often difficult, world.

Stick to the Goals You Set—No Matter What Happens

Don’t change your goals at all. Figure out how—despite COVID-19—you can achieve them. I’m a bigger believer of saying how do I do this despite that?

I think this is where humans are weak. Or maybe it’s just modern-day Americans? Maybe other countries, as well.

They will do things, only as long as it’s easy and prepared for them ahead of time.

Well, I would diet. But they’ve got to send the food to me in the mail, and they have to have a chef come over and cook it for me—then I’ll diet.

Making Adjustments vs. Abandoning It All

Yeah, you may have to alter your plan to achieve whatever goal you set because of the coronavirus or some other disruption. Adversity exists. And that’s the whole point of, again, having the goal or the benchmark.

You can get there different ways.

We, for example, had a goal to raise and invest $10 million by the end of April. We pushed that a month.

We said, “OK, well, let’s take a month off. Nobody’s doing anything right now.”

We want to sit back for a month and see what’s going on. So we pushed that goal back. I think that’s fine.

But I would encourage people not to go and reshape all their goals just because things are hard. Instead, it’s time to use the hardness as a reason to step up and do a better job.

Remember that old quote: “Don’t wish things were easier. Wish you were better.”

This is how we become better.

How will you overcome any adversity you’re facing now?

Share in the comment section below.

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.