Do you like to check things off your list? Yesterday I stared at the third-quarter goals plastered on my whiteboard… almost two months into the quarter, and not one of them was crossed off. The whiteboard stood there, mocking me. Of my seven Q3 goals, five are in various stages of completion, but the satisfaction of drawing a line through even one of them eludes me.

I’m a firm believer in planning: 10-year picture; 3-year goal; 1-year goal; quarterly goals; and a weekly action list—these are defined and in place. Reaching a target brings a great sense of satisfaction. To me, a task list represents beauty. But sometimes… a task list becomes a beast. A dark side to achievement lurks:

Feeling like a failure

If your whiteboard is full of items that are not crossed off, it’s easy to beat yourself up. Somehow our sense of value gets wrapped up in ink on a white plastic board. If you didn’t cross off everything on your list this week, it could simply be your fault, right? Or maybe… your goals were too aggressive… or poorly thought out. Maybe life just got in the way. Maybe people you depend on failed to meet their commitments to you. Stuff happens. Remember your list doesn’t equal your value as a person.

Forgetting about relationships

Relationships trump accomplishments. I’m not saying accomplishments don’t matter… they do. But people matter more. And in our rush to achieve, sometimes we run over people. Or neglect them. Or forget them altogether. The dark side of achievement can even tempt us to leave God out of our work. When we get to the end of our lives, I suspect we’ll care more about our relationships than our achievements.

Fearing the unknown

Let’s face it, our task list can be a security blanket. As long as we “check things off the whiteboard” we feel productive and successful. The task list feels safe. But if we’re married to it and never venture beyond the list, it can prevent us from thinking creatively, strategically, or outside the box… behaviors we need to be successful long-term.

Task-orientation is hard-wired in my personality. It would be foolish to try and undo what God has built into me. Planning, organizing, and executing will be my lifelong friends.  I will always appreciate the beauty of a well-thought-out and well-executed list. If you are wired the same way, don’t fight it. Just be aware of the beast… beating yourself up, ignoring others, and getting stuck in safe-mode. Don’t allow the dark side of achievement swallow you up and run (ruin?) your life.