How Can We Set Effective Goals?

Motivated professionals know that achievement paves the way to success. Of course, that success doesn’t happen overnight. You need to earn it — piece by piece — by achieving your goals. Now, in order for us to have goals, we need to set goals. The simple act of goal setting doesn't necessarily set us up for achievement, though. We need to invest the time in setting goals and then we need to see them through to fruition. When you start out by setting solid, achievable goals, you set yourself up for a more successful process. Fortunately, there are dozens of strategies professionals can use to make setting goals more effective. Here are a few favorites:

Evaluate Often

Setting strong goals requires suitable reflection. Block out some time to think about what it is you’d like to achieve without the pressure of setting any specific goals right away. Ideally, what do you want your life to look like in three years (or 5 or 10)? Which areas of your work do you want to improve? Let whatever comes to mind inform the goals that you set. Beyond an initial evaluation, we should also check-in occasionally as we work towards a goal. Ask yourself: Are my goals still in line with what’s important to me? Am I on track with the progress I’m making? Has my vision for the business changed? Stay open to adjusting your goals and your process when you need to. Once you’re in the habit of regular evaluation, you’ll be better prepared to set new goals each time you complete a current one.

Put It in Writing

There’s something surprisingly effective in writing something down. There could be dozens of vague goals floating around in our minds, but once we’ve put it down in writing, it becomes more concrete. It forces us to articulate exactly what we want to achieve. It gives us a helpful sense of accountability once we’ve fully acknowledged a goal we want to strive for. Sometimes, just putting our goals in a notebook is enough. Other times, we may get an additional boost by displaying these written goals where we can see them. It could be a small reminder on your desk or a Post-It note taped somewhere you’ll see it every day. Bringing your goals to your attention — day after day — can help you stay connected to them.

Take Daily Action

Let’s say you’ve identified an ambitious achievement you’d like to complete in the future, but if you don’t break that down into actions you can take every day, you may have difficulty making progress. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by large goals or procrastinate because there wasn’t a specific task we could put on our list. However large your goal, the only way you’re going to get there is by doing consistent work. It might be as simple as putting in twenty minutes each day on social-media marketing or scheduling one meeting every month with a mentor. The key is pinpointing the actions you can take that will get you where you want to go.

Commemorate Milestones

If you’re going to commemorate milestones, you have to create them first. Once you’ve set your goal, give yourself some progress markers, so you know you’re on track. You might even want to attach dates to ensure you’re keeping within your goal timeframe. Especially in the case of long-term goals, it’s easy to lose motivation if there’s no satisfaction or reward along the way. Milestones give you an opportunity to pause and see how far you’ve come. Celebrating these can give us a motivational boost to keep on with the work.

As we plan out the things we want to achieve, it’s important to take time to establish clear goals that support all the work we’ll need to put in. The key to strong, achievable goals is — almost entirely — in how we set them.

If you’d like to talk more about any of these ideas, or if there’s another issue I can be of assistance with, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m always happy to set aside some time to connect.