Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • March 2014
03

Mission impossible

Open-access content Monday 3rd March 2014 — updated 5.13pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

What would happen if you set completely unrealistic goals? Simon Hartley, author of Could I Do That?, says that is exactly what high achievers do

2

Do you sit down and systematically set goals? Over the years I have read a plethora of books and heard countless personal development 'gurus' explaining the importance of goal setting. Conventional wisdom suggests that successful people set goals and that if we want to be successful, we ought to set some too.

During my early years practising as a sport psychologist, I used to help athletes and teams set goals too. Having read the textbooks, I followed the principle of setting 'SMARTER' goals. There are several versions of the acronym. One of the more common suggests that goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-Bound, Evaluate-able and Relevant. On the face of it, that all sounds very reasonable. But, is that the way that the world's best actually set goals? If you were planning to take on an enormous challenge, would SMARTER goals really help? What if you were setting out to attempt something that nobody had 

done before?

—

Dreams accomplished

I've just finished writing a book that describes the way people take on challenges. I interviewed some incredible people who have taken on some astonishing challenges. Steve Williams, for example, took the challenge of becoming an Olympic rower. Interestingly, he showed relatively little sporting talent at school, finishing either last or second from last in the cross country. He's also considerably shorter than most elite rowers at just over six feet tall. Despite these apparent disadvantages, Steve won two gold medals for Great Britain in the men's coxless four crew, in Athens and Beijing. After retiring from rowing, and to stop him getting bored, he also skied to the North Pole and reached the summit of Everest in back-to-back expeditions. 

Andy Reid's challenge was very different. His challenge began when he was severely injured by a Taliban IED in Helmand Province. Andy not only had to learn to walk again, he also had to rebuild a life. Robyn Benincasa, on the other hand, set out 

with a pretty audacious challenge to break 

the 24-hour kayak world record on the 

Yukon. These are all undoubtedly extraordinary challenges.  

There are some challenges that might actually appear to be impossible by conventional standards. For example, in 2007, Lewis Pugh swam a kilometre in the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole. It took him 18 minutes and 50 seconds. Conventional wisdom tells us that hypothermia takes effect when our body temperature drops below 35 degrees Celsius. The water temperature at the North Pole for Lewis' swim was 1.7 degrees below zero! That's impossible, right? If you think that sounds bizarre, John Evans balanced a car (yes, a real live 159kg Mini Cooper) on his head for 33 seconds; no hands. Amazingly, it's a Guinness World Record, not an April Fool. On 30 April 2008, David Blaine held his breath underwater for a world record breaking 17 minutes and 4.4 seconds, live on the Oprah Show. Wow!

I wonder how many of the world's great inventors or creators have heard the words, "it simply can't be done", or "that's impossible, you'll never do it, you're wasting your time". Did anyone ever tell Thomas Edison that perhaps, after 9,000 failed attempts, he ought to give up on this daft 'light bulb idea' of his? The history of the world shows us countless examples of people who have been the first to break new ground. These people have turned the 'impossible' into the 'possible'. I am sure that they were also told they were insane for attempting their harebrained schemes.

It's tempting to think the people that achieve these things are in some way innately different from us. Maybe they are supremely talented or were born with unique abilities that we don't have. Are they immune to pain, fatigue and discomfort? Perhaps they have a rare form of super-fuel coursing through their veins? Or, maybe they simply think differently to us. Is it possible that they also set goals differently to most people?


Dumb and dumber

While listening to them, it struck me that they don't start out by setting SMARTER goals at all. In fact, I suspect that they probably set DUMBER goals: Daft, Unrealistic, Mental, Bonkers, Exciting, Ridiculous. I wonder if Walt Disney followed SMARTER principles when he conceived of the idea to build the Disney World theme park. He decided to take a swamp, several miles outside of Orlando, and invested millions of dollars building a giant fairy-tale princess castle on it. Imagine the conversations that he must have had when he positioned the idea with his bank manager. Apparently he was rejected 302 times when he attempted to secure a loan for Disney World. Does his idea appear SMART? How many people would have described it as 'attainable' or 'realistic'?

The same could be asked about President Kennedy's goal to put a man on the moon, or Martin Luther-King's goal of equality for black Americans. But the mind-set doesn't just apply to globally historic events. Which of our genuinely life-changing goals are SMART and which are a little DUMB? 

Just for interest, which one sounds more engaging to you? Which one is more likely to ignite your passion?


Smart processes

I have also reflected on my own thought process while taking on a significant challenge. Interestingly, I found a pattern when I attempted a challenge that seemed 'mammoth' and 'daunting'. Ironically, it struck me that I was engaged in a form of 'SMART' goal setting. I was breaking down my challenge into 'specific', 'measurable', 'achievable' and 'realistic' chunks. Maybe I had been too hasty in judging those SMART goals after all. Perhaps there is a place for both the DUMBER and the SMARTER processes. 

Is it possible for SMARTER and DUMBER goal setting to live happily together? Can we have 'daft'. 'bonkers' and 'unrealistic' goals as well as 'specific', 'measurable' and 'achievable'? 

What if our 'why' was based on DUMBER goals? What if our imagination was allowed to run wild, in the way that Walt Disney's mind did when he conceived the idea for his fairy-tale princess castle in the middle of a swamp? If we let our mind run free, without the need for sensible, SMART thinking, what would we dream up? How exciting would that be? Once we have our DUMBER goals, we need to find a way to help us get there. Maybe this is where those SMARTER goals could come in handy. Maybe they help us with the 'how'. 

SMARTER goals might be a way of helping us to understand each of the steps takes us towards achieving our aspirations. 

DUMBER goals may be the way to make sure we have dreams worth achieving.

This article appeared in our March 2014 issue of The Actuary .
Click here to view this issue

You may also be interested in...

ta

Rejoice, the battle is won!

Will Solvency II kill traditional corporate bond management for insurers, asks Scott Eason
Tuesday 4th March 2014
Open-access content
ta

Is regulation still good for us?

Simon Carne asks whether current regulatory proposals by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and the Financial Reporting Council go too far?
Tuesday 4th March 2014
Open-access content
2

A catastrophe risk revolution

Trevor Maynard addresses the importance of a new open framework for modelling catastrophe risks
Tuesday 4th March 2014
Open-access content
ta

Reasons to join the risk community

The Risk Board's aims are: to generate a sense of community for all actuaries working in risk management, whether in the context of life insurance, general insurance, pensions or wider fields; to ensure CPD and education meet the requirements of that community; to take part in consultations and actively engage in public affairs; and to make sure that suitable conferences and research move the profession's involvement forward in Enterprise Risk Management.
Monday 24th February 2014
Open-access content
2

Regulation: Winds of change

Dr Yulong Zhao talked to Haijing Wang and Wen Li on the background, progress and far-reaching significance of China’s Risk Oriented Solvency System (C-ROSS) on the Chinese insurance industry
Wednesday 26th March 2014
Open-access content
ta

Risk: Taken to extremes

Extreme risks, of the type that can wipe out an insurance business, are notoriously hard to identify and mitigate. But that doesn't make keeping assessments up-to-date any less important, says Graham Fulcher
Wednesday 5th February 2014
Open-access content

Latest from Risk & ERM

KV

Liability-driven investments: new landscape

What now for liability-driven investments, after last year’s crash in the market? Pensions experts Rakesh Girdharlal and Moiz Khan say it should lead to a more balanced approach
Wednesday 1st February 2023
Open-access content
cj

Natural capital investing

Chris Howells and Andrew Dreaneen discuss how today’s investments in natural capital profit portfolios as well as the planet and humanity
Wednesday 1st February 2023
Open-access content
bl

'Takaful' models of Islamic insurance

Ethical, varied and a growing market – ‘takaful’ Islamic insurance is worth knowing about, wherever you’re from and whatever your beliefs, says Ali Asghar Bhuriwala
Wednesday 1st February 2023
Open-access content

Latest from Position

TPR publishes coronavirus guidance

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published guidance to help UK pension trustees, employers and administrators deal with the financial and regulatory risks posed by coronavirus.
Monday 23rd March 2020
Open-access content
2

Expert advice

This edition of the magazine focuses on data science and its applications, which will be a recurring theme for the IFoA.
Friday 28th February 2020
Open-access content
2

Tesla sparks fears of insurance market overhaul

That is according to a new report from Moody's, which highlights how Tesla has already started offering premiums that are up to 30% cheaper than those of mainstream insurers.
Friday 14th February 2020
Open-access content

Latest from March 2014

2

European insurers 'ready for Solvency II'

Almost 80% of European insurers expect to fully meet all Solvency II requirements before the January 2016 deadline, according to financial consultants EY.
Monday 14th April 2014
Open-access content
ta

BRICs countries 'face heightened political risk'

All five of the emerging-market BRIC countries will face increased political risks this year, according to analysis by Aon Risk Solution.
Friday 11th April 2014
Open-access content

DWP halves auto-enrolment opt-out forecast

The Department for Work and Pensions has slashed its forecast of how many people it expects to opt out of auto-enrolment by half.
Friday 11th April 2014
Open-access content

Latest from 03

2

Interview: Nick Hewer

Famed for his caustic comments on The Apprentice, Nick Hewer is on a charm offensive when The Actuary catches up with him. In a wide-ranging interview, he tells Deepak Jobanputra why actuaries should be everywhere
Monday 3rd March 2014
Open-access content
2

Coining a new phase

The decentralised virtual currency Bitcoin could revolutionise finance, says UK life insurance actuary Peter McCrudden
Monday 3rd March 2014
Open-access content
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Senior Pricing Associate

Scotland / England, London
Up to £60000 per annum
Reference
149081

Outside IR35 - Reserving Contract - 6-8 months

London (Central)
Daily rate contract - outside IR35
Reference
149079

Actuarial Analyst - Longevity Reinsurance

England, London
Up to £55000 per annum
Reference
149080
See all jobs »
 
 
 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ