The Difference Between Objectives and Goals
I love learning new things and really enjoy teaching others. As a teacher, when you get that “Aha!” moment from a student, it pretty much makes everything you do worthwhile.
I’m pretty sure it was an undergraduate management course at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) sometime in the distant past. I had my own “Aha!” moment when I learned the difference between an objective and a goal.
Attending Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Before we get into this important subject, let me digress to discuss my time at ERAU. I want to do this because there is an important point I want to make, so please stick with me. ERAU is perhaps unique because it specializes in aviation and aerospace. It has many satellite campuses worldwide, often at military bases where military members can attend to earn their degrees. While in the Air Force, I attended one of ERAU’s Worldwide Campus locations at Luke AFB. At the time, all the courses were in the evening, and most of the class was in the Air Force (there were a few civilians) and attending college while working full-time. It was possible, and I did it for several semesters, to attend college full-time while working full-time. A full-time college load is considered at least 12 hours for undergraduates and 9 hours for graduates. At least for me and my job, full-time work typically was 50 to 60 hours a week, working in the Phoenix heat on a concrete parking apron. I remember it got so hot you could not touch the airplanes without gloves. It was hard. Even when I worked the afternoon shift, I would occasionally sit outside when I got home after midnight to enjoy the relatively cooler air. The concrete on the driveway was still so hot you could not stand barefoot. During this time, there were periods when I only got about four hours of sleep a night while having a family with two children. Weekends? Well, they were for study and catching up. Good thing I was in my 20s.
An exciting thing about attending college this way is that all the professors are adjuncts. They are not full-time employees of the college but teach part-time after they work their full-time jobs. The beauty of this arrangement is that you receive instruction from professionals doing the work they are teaching. For example, in aviation law, my professor was an attorney who practiced aviation law. Aircraft Accident Investigation? An Air Force accident investigator. In one of my management classes, the one I had the “Aha!” moment in, I believe the professor’s name was Mildred Jones, and I think she worked for the City of Phoenix. She was a pistol! I liked her and learned so much from her. I’ve tried to look her up. I’d love to tell her the positive impact she had on me, but it’s been forty years now, and that’s a long time.
Here are the points for those tangents I just went off on. Attending college in the evening for seven years requires dedication, determination, and grit. The other point is that instructors can transfer a great deal of knowledge in nontraditional ways. I believe my education, part-time the hard way, was better than a traditional education due to the quality of the instructors and my determination to better myself. Also, because I went to work every day, I got to put into practice many of the lessons I had learned the night before. I don’t state this to brag but to make the point that no matter where you are, you can find a way to improve yourself. That’s precisely why I developed Afterburner Success Partners for people who need to learn in nontraditional ways. OK, let’s move on to the topic of this post.
The difference between an objective and a goal
What would you say if someone asked you the difference between an objective and a goal? Now, this seems like an innocent enough question, but to tell you the truth, I’m not sure how many people know the difference. Here are my definitions and then some examples:
Objectives are not defined. Some examples include:
“Read more”
“Become healthier”
“Earn more”
“Eat less”
Goals are defined and time-bound. Here are a few examples:
“Read two chapters of a book daily.”
“Exercise 30 minutes a day.”
“Get promoted to Supervisor by June 1 and earn $3,000 more yearly.”
“Lose 20 pounds in one year.”
When you hear a company scream, “We want to be the industry leader in reducing factory emissions!” Then you hear one say, “By the year 2028, we will reduce our factory emissions by 60%,” you can tell the difference between an objective and a goal. When you hear someone yelling at the top of their lungs, “We will be the industry leader in making delicious hamburgers,” you know it’s nonsense. When you hear a company say, “We will sell 32 million chicken sandwiches by year-end 2027, " you know they have driven a stake in the ground and are accountable and committed. They are not just interested.
Let me give you an excellent example of what I mean. If you were an adult in 2007, you may remember Walmart had a slogan “Always low prices. Always,” and they changed it to the current slogan “Save Money. Live Better.” (Note 1). To me, this was a goal. They always have the low(est) prices. It’s measurable. You can shop anywhere; no matter where you go, you will not find a lower price on an identical product than Walmart. Do you agree?
Now, let me state right up front that I am a big fan of Walmart. Not everyone is, I get that, and they all have their reasons. No one can deny their success, however. They are a massive employer, pay their people well, and provide fantastic opportunities to folks who may need a second chance. I recently read an article that said that Walmart store managers can clear $400,000 annually. Yikes! That’s a lot of coin! Of course, I love to hate them at the same time. I can never get everything on my shopping list because they are always out of something I need. Grrrrr…
Back to the story. “Always low prices. Always” first appeared in 1962. In 1988, they changed the slogan to “Always the Low Price. Always. Note the word “the”. To the average person, me included, you can expect to always get the best price at Walmart, just like we mentioned above. Don’t you agree? Then, in 1994, because of a complaint to the National Advertising Review Board, the Board suggested the slogan was deceptive, essentially agreeing that it suggested that Walmart would always have the lowest prices on every item in their store at all times. This caused a change in 1996 to “Better Everyday Low Prices! Always.” The slogan changed back in 1999 to the 1988 slogan, and that remained until the 2007 change of “Save Money. Live Better.”
As I mentioned, I’m a big fan of Walmart, but it seems they danced right on the edge for many years to the point of ALMOST saying they always had the best prices. They generally have excellent prices, but you can see where this could get one in trouble. So whether they intended it to or not, in 1962, they had a goal: “Always.” I’m pretty sure they were not trying to trick anyone, but I’ll bet due to their volume and business model, their prices were hard to beat. Then someone, probably correctly, technically, called them out, and they were forced to change their slogan. The retail world has changed since 1962, and as a rule, I believe Walmart still has excellent prices. However, with the entry of Amazon and other online retailers like them, the word “Always” probably does not have a place in their slogan. So, they now have an objective, “Save Money.” They are somewhat squishy but still point out that they typically have low prices.
SMART goals
My point is this. If you hope to achieve your dreams and live your best life, you will have to drive a stake in the ground and set very quantifiable, time-bound goals that can be measured at any given moment to determine your path to success. Then, you will have to stick with it through thick and thin. I always recommend you use SMART goals. What are SMART goals? SMART goals are:
Specific- Very well defined so that anyone understands them. “I will buy blueberries.”
Measurable- Anyone can tell if you achieved your goal- “I will buy a pint of blueberries.”
Achievable- Are you able to meet your goal? “Blueberries are in season and in stock at the store.”
Relevant -Are your goals something you want to do? “Everyone likes blueberries.”
Timebound -Always, always ensure your goals have a completion date. “I will buy blueberries today.”
If you already know the difference between objectives and goals, then I’m sure you hold yourself and others accountable. When someone says, “I have a goal of losing weight next year,” you would not accept that; you would ask, “How many pounds will you lose by December 31 next year?”
If you did not know the difference between a goal and an objective and, as a result of reading this post, had an “Aha!” moment, then, along with learning what SMART goals are, you have some new tools in your toolbox. So you can achieve your dreams. And live your best life! In either case, you learned a little about Walmart today!
What’s in it for Me
You now know the difference between an objective whose nature is ambiguous and a quantifiable and time-bound goal. By virtue of this knowledge, you are better prepared to achieve your dreams by setting and achieving goals that really make a difference in your life.
Call to Action
Be sure your notes contain the definitions of Objectives and Goals. Be sure your notes define SMART goals. You will need this information later as you define your life goals. If you have not already signed up for the course, do that today!
Recommended Resources
Purchase and read Zig Ziglar's book Goals: How to Get the Most out of Your Life. See Note 2.
Up Next
The priority matrix.
Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
Walmart always low prices shelved: https://www.8thandwalton.com/blog/walmart-slogan/
Goals: How to get the most out of your life by Zig Ziglar: https://www.amazon.com/Goals-How-Most-Your-Life/dp/1640950907