Align Explicit and Implicit Goals
Scott Miker
The other day I was chatting with an old friend. He explained that his company just hired a new executive. The new executive was brilliant and innovative. But she was also a complete jerk.
He said that the previous executive in that position was fired for being a jerk. She would treat her employees like dirt and would create drama with her intense interactions. The company vowed to find a better fit but brought up someone that seemed identical.
His frustration with the situation was understandable. But as we talked about it we started to see that this happens a lot, and not just when hiring employees for a company.
This represents the difference between implicit goals and explicit goals. We often set explicit goals that state what we want but then take action steps in the opposite direction. We do this because our subconscious goals control our actions. We call these implicit goals.
Someone may state they are going to diet and lose weight. That is his explicit goals. But then he orders the double bacon cheeseburger at a restaurant because his implicit goal is to eat food that he enjoys and gets pleasure from.
We all do this. We may say we want world peace but then vote for the candidate that will boost the economy for our country. Our explicit goal of world peace becomes secondary to our implicit goal of financial abundance.
This isn’t typically a problem but does explain many missed goals. James Clear, in his book, Atomic Habits, said, “We don’t rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our systems.”
Our systems and habits are often formed from implicit goals. Unless we deliberately designed them, they likely formed by decision and after decision following those implicit goals.
So, if you are off track and missing goals that you state are important, check to see if there are conflicting implicit goals. Until those are addressed, they will continue to sabotage your efforts. They will undermine your attempts to change.
If you identify this and truly want to reach your explicit goal, learn how to adjust your systems and habits. You can begin to develop the right daily actions that will take you where you want to go.