Setting and Reaching Goals: What Works For You?

What can the world of work learn from the success at Wimbledon of British tennis sensation, Johanna Konta? One thing that strikes me is about reaching a goal. It's pretty clear what Johanna's goal is here and that's to be Wimbledon champion. She may have higher ambitions with longer-terms goals like being No. 1 in the world. Yet, how she achieves them, and how each of us reaches goals in our job and career, will vary. Setting goals are not the same as how you get there. This post takes a closer look, suggests that psychology plays an important role and offers ways of dealing with goals.

Shifting sands

Setting a goal can be aspirational and inspirational. Many organizations and individuals follow the well-worn path of having a clear purpose, a vision of where they want to be, and how they are going to get there. More often than not, employees have targets to reach goals and achieve success. Then stuff happens, unexpectedly and rapidly. Things change overnight and plans get revised or shelved. The Conservative Party manifesto after the recent UK general election comes to mind. Without agile learning, unlearning and relearning, that's increasingly a challenge in our volatile and uncertain world.

A useful approach for getting out of this type of bind is to stand back and look at the relationship between Goals, Methods, and Resources. If you change any one of these, revisit the other two and revise accordingly. In career terms, for example, my goal might be to get promoted within a year. What can I do if my methods are not working?

• Reset the goal (I'll change my self-imposed deadline; I'll leave and get to my goal with another employer; I'll revisit why I want to get promoted);
• Change the methods (research/networking/seize different opportunities);
• Revise the resources (get a mentor/coach, allocate more time, give more focused attention).

Constraints

The intentions behind setting targets and goals are often about monitoring and measuring progress, as well as varying degrees of carrot and stick motivation. It never worked for me as an employee. Aspirational goals can become wish lists and targets can become finger-in-the-air exercises. Even worse if they result in perverse and unethical behaviours with the ends justifying dodgy means. Neuroscience backs this up.

Your attitude to goals may depend on whether they are imposed by others or you have the freedom to set them for yourself. The goal may be inspiring but the target demoralising. SMART goals can be too restricting, stretch goals too demanding.

Goal-setting is also prevalent in the world of coaching. Every coach is familiar with the GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Will). Yet, what once seemed logical in more stable times is being questioned as too narrow and prescriptive. Initial goals presented by clients can be premature or inaccurate, a case of moving goalposts. They often evolve or emerge in light of growing self-awareness and changing external circumstances.

Systems thinking

Adam Alter of Big Think has an insightful video on the inherent weakness of goal-setting ("a broken process"). In essence, you're in a state of failure until you reach your goal and it's an anti-climax when you get there. Eyes on the prize grow weary. Fear of failure replaces hope of success. Repeat endlessly and you run the risk of diminishing your personal resources in a series of escalating and unfulfilling goals.

Alter's alternative is to focus on the journey rather than the destination. In practice, you focus on what is achievable and fulfilling using personal systems. The Pomodoro technique is a good example where you give focused attention on a single issue for 25 minutes with no distractions followed by 5 minutes break to rest and re-energise. Bit by bit you reach your goal without over-fixating on it and getting ahead of yourself. Incremental successful steps build sustainable confidence.

In a similar way, Johanna Konta talks about the importance of process in her tennis success. What she means is that, if you focus on your technique for each point of each game, the outcome will take care of itself. She has a system of playing that works for her. Every football manager has a goal (sic) for the season, but they talk about only concentrating on the game in hand. Staying in the present, not allowing the disappointment or success of the past to affect today's performance. It's no surprise that mindfulness and meditation techniques are being adopted in the workplace.

The systems mindset is an effective antidote to the imposed and self-imposed pressure of setting and reaching goals. Try it if you struggle with the relentless demands of the workplace and if your motivation wanes in finding a career direction.

What are your tips on setting and reaching goals in your job and career?

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David (@David_Shindler) is an independent career coach, author, blogger, speaker, and associate with several consultancies. Check out his online courses at Career Navigating for Young Professionals. He is the author of Learning to Leap: a guide to being more employable, and co-author with Mark Babbitt of 21st Century Internships (over 200,000 downloads worldwide). His commitment and energy are in promoting lifelong personal and professional development and in tackling youth unemployment. He works with young people and professionals in education and business.

Visit the Learning to Leap blog to read more of his work and check out his other published articles on LinkedIn:

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