As the pressure builds on Prime Minister Gordon Brown, following high profile resignations and poor results in the local and European elections, he must be wondering where it all went wrong. It’s no secret that Gordon Brown waited for over ten years for his chance to take on his dream job – that of Prime Minister – and that must have involved a lot of thinking, anticipation and building up expectations about what it would be like. I wonder whether the experience of the last year or so has lived up to those expectations. Has he actually enjoyed the experience, and has it fulfilled him in the way that he perhaps thought it would?
There may be a lesson for us all here about getting very single-minded and determined about our goals. No one is saying there’s anything wrong with having clear goals, and being determined about hitting them, but I think some balance is required here. Having a rigid life plan (‘I must be doing this by then’) seldom pans out the way we think, and it’s important that we maintain some flexibility and, maybe more importantly, some realism about our goals.
There is also value in having a broad range of goals – having several objectives that are important to you, stops one becoming too dominant and blinkering your view of the world. It reminds you that other things and people matter, helping you to maintain balance in your life. It also means that you are likely to be interacting with a broad range of people, rather than being confined within a tight circle dedicated to a single mission. This gives you access to more perspectives, and more sources of support to draw on when times are tough. There are certainly parallels with Gordon Brown’s current situation here – he must be suffering, as the wider party start to desert him and his platform of support starts to appear too narrow to sustain his position.
So, yes, aim high; set ambitious life and career goals for yourself – but tinge them with realism, see the bigger picture and don’t make the mistake of making your life about just one achievement!
