How to Set Goals During Uncertain Times

If you clicked on this post, there’s a high chance that you’re feeling stressed right now. Perhaps you’re uncertain of what to do in a post-pandemic world. Or maybe you’re overwhelmed trying to figure out longterm strategies for the fight for justice. Perhaps you’ve recently been diagnosed with depression or you’ve transitioned to a new career, new home, new parenthood, or new understanding of yourself. Maybe you feel like you should be doing more. Maybe you’re burnt out and exhausted. You’ve tried to set goals, but it feels like nothing is going your way. Well, take a deep breath my friend. Seriously. Pause right now and take a good long breath in and out. You will be just fine. I’ve got you, and we will take this step by step in learning how to set goals during uncertain times.  

If you’d like to watch the video version of this post, click here to watch it on YouTube.

Cut Yourself Some Slack

If you’re an overly ambitious, recovering perfectionist like I am, then this is THE most important thing you can take from this post today. My friend, these are UNCERTAIN times. So you cannot measure yourself by the productivity levels you had during more certain times. That is unfair and unrealistic.

You wouldn’t expect an athlete with a broken leg to still compete in her race. She’s gotta take time to heal, and then ease herself back in. She will have to skip out on at least a few of her originally planned races and later assess herself and decide if she’ll return to racing the way she used to or pivot to something else.

Whether it’s a change in health (mental or physical), life circumstances, or global circumstances, something has changed. So our methods and, perhaps even our goals, must change in this season as well.  

 

But Don’t Give Up Completely

There may be seasons in your life when you do need to completely change your goals to handle the crisis or situation at hand, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on them forever. And more often you just might need a temporary pivot or change of pace.

Don’t use uncertain times or a change in your routine as an excuse to give up on your workouts, writing that book, or whatever goal you had set out to achieve. You can still make progress. The key here is to not put too much pressure on yourself or to strictly hold yourself to old methods and timeframes. You can set looser goals until things stabilize again, which we’ll talk about more later.

It’s also important to note that there’s a difference between intentionally giving yourself grace and becoming lazy.

I know many fellow perfectionists read my blog, so I want to make it clear that if you’re known to overwork yourself…you likely aren’t the one to become lazy. So I think it’s safe to say you can give yourself more breaks than what feels comfortable to you. Pivoting, slowing your pace, and resting more doesn’t make you any less of a productive person. It makes you a WISE person.

Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint. After heavy workouts you first have to rest your muscles before they can heal and grow stronger, or else you’re only breaking them down.  

 

Zoom Out, Then Zoom Back In

With that in mind, now it’s time to get into the practical steps you can take.

The first step is to zoom out to look at what’s going on in the world. If your country is going through some kind of crisis, then you need to be paying attention to that instead of keeping your blinders up. It may call for adapting to the times, putting your goals on hold, or to keep pushing forward. But you won’t know until you take a step back from your own little world to look at the bigger picture.

And then you can zoom back in. What’s going on in YOUR life? How does what’s going on affect your community, your family, and you as an individual? Are there any more pressing needs that have come up? Are your goals still relevant? Do you need to adapt or change any of your original goals?

Zooming out can often be overwhelming because, let’s be honest, there is a whole lot of pain and chaos in the world. It’s great we have the news and social media…but sometimes it overwhelms us into doing nothing because we no longer just see our little village but the problems of the ENTIRE WORLD. It’s important to have an eye on what’s happening, but it’s also important to remember that you’re not meant to solve every problem. 

You are positioned and equipped with specific passions and skills to make you a good fit in just a few of those areas. On my blog and YouTube channel I will soon be covering Deepa Iyer’s Roles in a Social Change Ecosystem where I’ll define 10 different roles and help you find where you fit in this season of your life. 

 

Review & Renew Your Priorities

The next step is to spend some time thinking about your priorities. It’s ok if they don’t change, but it’s important to check back in. Different seasons and situations may call for different priorities.

For example, perhaps you had made healthy eating and cooking from home a priority, but now there’s a pandemic and you needed to cut your grocery shopping trips in half and want to support your local businesses to help them stay in business. Plus it’s just a stressful time so meal prepping is the furthest thing from your mind. You don’t necessarily have to completely drop the priority, but perhaps lower it and make something more manageable your goal. Perhaps you have to simplify it to making “eating 3 meals a day” your goal.

Or perhaps saving money was one of your priorities, but now there’s a movement that you feel called to support as much as you can through financial donations. You might temporarily shift those priorities. Right now supporting the cause needs to be your higher priority. 

Maybe your highest priority was growing your business, but now your friend has cancer so you need to shift around your priorities to make sure you can be there for her.

 

Get External Feedback

If you’re struggling to know what to do, then talk it out with some trusted friends or family. Perhaps even see a counselor or coach to help you navigate the current uncertainties. 

When we’re feeling overwhelmed, it can be incredibly helpful to get someone else’s perspective.

 

Adapt Your Current Goals

The next step is to adapt your goals where you see things need to change based on what you’ve observed around you, your new or renewed priorities, and the wise counsel of others. 

And in that I also just to remind you to be present. Don’t be so focused on moving forward that you forget to pay attention to the here and now. Even if your circumstances are bad, there are still lessons to be learned. Open your eyes to opportunities that are unique to this season.

 

Rethink Deadlines 

What do you do if you can’t set deadlines because the future is uncertain?

Use lifelines, not deadlines.

If you’re already in a period of extra stress, the last thing you need to do is set strict deadlines (I mean, the word even sounds scary—DEADlines).

Now this is where you’re going to need to assess yourself and what you think will be best for you right now because it will be different for everyone. In times of uncertainty, some people will benefit from having something to hold onto to feel a sense of control in the midst of chaos. Some people will need to just lay off setting end-dates completely for right now because they will benefit from and/or need to learn how to go with the flow.

Remember that wherever you fall in that spectrum, you always need to be able to hold onto your end-dates with a loose grip or you will go insane when it’s taken from you once again.

The goal here is not to get things done. The goal is for you to be the healthiest you can be and doing your best with what you have. That latter part is the shifty little part we need to remember most so we’re not too hard on ourselves.  

 

Shift Your Mindset Around the Word Goal

A good way to think of this is to consider your goal as an “aim” more than a strict target. Where it’s less hit or miss–success or failure—but rather focused on the direction and the journey. Something you’re moving in the direction of but free of pressure or guilt that damages your mental health or blinds you from the changes around you that might call for more adapting.

Through the duration of these uncertain times, be open to the idea that it’s likely you might have to adapt again. 

 

Remember You’re Not Alone

You are not the only person who has gone through this. You’re not even the only person going through it RIGHT THIS SECOND.

 

GIVE YOURSELF GRACE

I said it in the beginning of this post, and I will say it again! Now that you have some newly assessed goals for the present, remember that things can still change. Either your circumstances or perhaps your understanding of your current circumstances.

Goals aren’t meant to be these strict nonnegotiable killers, literally stealing days from your life. No! They’re to BENEFIT you. And sometimes we may discover later on that a certain goal we set no longer serves us. It’s ok to pivot or scrap the goal completely and replace it with something that’s a better fit for you in the longterm and for this season of your life. 

And that’s not just during uncertain times. This is true even for more “regular” times.

Don’t work for your goals; make your goals work for YOU. Because that’s what goals are supposed to be—they’re supposed to be FOR you.

 

Now let’s put it all together

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
1. What is happening in the world right now?  
2. What is happening in your communities and family?  
3. What’s currently going on in your life? What has changed? How is that affecting other areas of your life?
4. What were your main priorities? Do any of them need to shift or change during this season?
5. Who can you talk to about all of this to get feedback?
6. Do any of your goals need to adapt so you can meet more pressing needs or adjust to changes in your life that affect your goals?
7. What are lessons to be learned during this season?
8. Are there any opportunities unique to this season? How can you act upon these opportunities in a way that matches with your new (or renewed) priorities and longterm goals?
9. How are the current times or your current situation affecting your ability to know when you should set end-dates to your goals?
10. Do you need to adapt, loosen, or completely scrap deadlines during this season? How can you healthily keep making progress toward your goals without putting too much of the harmful kind of pressure on yourself?
11. Are you giving yourself enough grace or are you still beating yourself up? 
12. Are your goals truly serving you?

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Several times in this post I mentioned the need for assessing yourself because we are not cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all people. If you’re in the beginning stages of learning more about who you are, it can seem like a rather daunting mountain to climb. But don’t worry, my friend. Just take it one step at a time. And I’m here to help guide you along the way.

I have a bunch of FREE content here about personality and applying what you learn about yourself. I’m also coming out with some new personalized resources, so make sure to subscribe to my email list to get a monthly email with my latest posts, free resources, and updates on the launch of new products or services.