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How to Set and Achieve Goals

With the new year now upon us, most likely many of you have set New Year's resolutions for personal or organizational goals. And, most likely, you've done this in the past with little or no success. In this article, I'll explain why goals are most often not met and I'll present a proven goal-setting methodology that can significantly increase the likelihood that you'll accomplish your goals. As a bonus, included are some downloadable forms and a link to an article called "How to Increase Commissions by 50%!" that applies these principles to a real-life goal.

"Have you ever set a goal and not achieved it?" Why?

One reason could be that the goal did not fulfill a need or was incongruent with your personal or organizational value system and, thus, motivation was lacking. However, goals can meet all of the prerequisites for success, but still not be achieved.

One of the problems is that many of us equate dreams with goals. Dreams, wishful thinking, aspirations, and imagination are all essential if we want to more than reactively respond to external conditions and forces...they are essential elements of an overall vision or mission. However, dreams alone are not enough to effect action that will lead to achievement. As 18th century English poet William Cowper observed, "Dream after dream ensues, and still they dream that they shall still succeed, and still are disappointed." So, the first goal of this article is to identify additional criteria that must be met in order for a goal to be achievable.

Goals give direction and provide points of reference when they are “anchored” by a value or group of related values. Regardless of how you define "success," without specific goals, success is almost certainly unattainable. In contrast, the probability for success is greatly enhanced when you pursue specific goals.

Goals provide direction by determining how you should best be spending your available time. Value-based goals are the points of reference on which all "time management" decisions are most effectively based. For example, if your goal was to invest 20% of your gross income annually, you could potentially be financially independent (depending on the rate of return) in as little as 20 years...it’s not so much the amount of money or principal that’s important, but how effectively you invest it and to what use you put it. Similarly, the financial principle of compound interest can be applied to time as well...by investing only 1-3% of your time in goal-setting and planning, you can reap a return much greater than the initial time invested.

Motivational expert Zig Ziglar says that "A goal is a dream with a deadline." With that in mind, let's examine how we can convert our dreams into achievable goals.

Criteria of Achievable Goals

Worthy and achievable goals must be...

1. Motivational

Positive...to be important enough to pursue, a goal must be expressed in a positive manner and represent what you really want, what is really important to you, as reflected by your value system.

Value-anchored...if a goal is inconsistent with your values, your subconscious either will prevent you from reaching it or will make you feel guilty if you do.

Need-fulfilling...if a goal does not satisfy a need either you will not be motivated to achieve it or you will feel no benefit when you do.

Personal...if a goal is not personally meaningful and internalized, it will not motivate persistent, habitual action; goals cannot be "assigned" nor can a person be externally motivated...the door is locked from the inside.

2. Attainable

According to Earl Nightingale, "What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve." However, there are potentially internal and external limitations that must be considered. Although a goal should be challenging in order to foster enthusiasm and make the pursuit enjoyable and worthwhile, if goals are not realistic and consistent with one's abilities, if they cannot be achieved through reasonable, persistent effort, then successive failures will lead to discouragement and despair.

3. Clear

A goal must be understandable, concrete and specific...it must be tangible or be able to be perceived to be so. Unless you are able to visualize the goal (see it, hear it, smell it, feel it, etc.), it is difficult to internalize the goal and establish the clarity of purpose necessary to sustain the motivation during the pursuit.

4. Measurable

It is impossible to determine when you have reached your "destination" unless you can establish performance indicators that are reasonably quantifiable.

5. Time-constrained

Target dates (both starting dates and completion deadlines) must be established for the goal, and each of its sub-objectives, in order to prevent procrastination, serve as a scheduling mechanism, enable monitoring and performance appraisal, and facilitate swift remedial action when warranted. In addition, target dates provide tangible evidence of your commitment to action.

6. Written

An unwritten goal will continue to be just a dream. Written goals are more likely to generate commitment; they enable measurement and progress charting to keep you on course; and they facilitate reinforcement. Goals and their accompanying action plans should be written in a positive, action-oriented tone that distills, crystallizes and clarifies visualized thought.

As a valuable adjunct to the goal itself, you should also consider reinforcing the goal with a written "visualization" and an "affirmation" that tangibly express your mental picture of the results, benefits and commitment to attaining the goal.

According to the 19th century writer Thomas Carlyle, "The end of man is action, and not thought, though it be of the noblest." Keep in mind that all of the above criteria are just additional prerequisites for the achievement of any goal...none is a substitute for ACTION. But, with these solid, foundational elements in place, the resulting motivation, coupled with the proper attitude and enthusiasm, should ensure the consistent achievement of your goals.

A Goal-Setting Methodology

If you have never put into practice a formal, comprehensive goal-setting methodology, it is suggested that you start with the essential foundational principles. If you have established your interdependent relationships and roles, determined your needs, and identified your values, then you may proceed directly to the specific goal-setting process. Otherwise, let's assume that you are, for the first time, initiating a goal-setting program for the coming year.

Step 1: Establish Foundational Prerequisites

Determine your existing roles and relationships within the four categories of personal, career, family, and social (e.g., spouse, parent, child, friend, hobbyist, Sunday School teacher, customer service representative, etc.). In addition, if there are roles that you want to assume or relationships that you want to establish (e.g., you want to establish goals to become a supervisor rather than a CSR), identify those as well.
Write a brief mission statement for each role or relationship that reflects your personal value system.
Develop several continuing objectives for each mission statement that provide a general direction for meeting the existing and anticipated needs within each role or relationship.

Step 2: Set Goals

For each role/relationship, and each continuing objective within that role, determine what goals you want to accomplish during the subject time frame. Make sure that you maintain the appropriate balance between roles.
Outline each goal and determine if each is needs-motivated, congruent with applicable values, and meets all criteria of an achievable goal. If not, re-evaluate and/or reword the goal so that it is in compliance.

Step 3: Evaluate Goals

For each goal, determine a starting date and a deadline.
Evaluate anticipated resources and strengths needed to accomplish the goal and the expected rewards or benefits of achievement.
Evaluate obstacles or costs or weaknesses that may prevent achievement (e.g., money, people, lack of knowledge, etc.).
Express your visualization of the results of achieving the goal in writing.
Express your commitment to the goal by written affirmations, positive motivational statements in the present or future tense that outline the reasons you will accomplish the goal, how you'll overcome obstacles, etc.

Step 4: Formulate an Action Plan

Brainstorm the specific objectives, and their associated actions and activities, that are necessary to accomplish the goal.
Establish, prioritize and sequence specific objectives.
Determine the most effective action or activity necessary to accomplish each objective.
Establish realistic, but challenging, deadlines for each objective.

Step 5: Implement the Action Plan

Commit and schedule time to perform each goal-related activity.
Indicate the results of each activity or action.
Monitor progress on an on-going basis...evaluate delays or other problems and adjust schedule or revise objectives or goals as warranted.

By taking a more methodical approach to goal setting, you should find that your success in accomplishing your goals will be greatly enhanced. For an example of how to adapt this process for your producers, check out our article, "How to Increase Commissions by 50%!"

Also, you might find the following forms helpful in getting started:

Goal Planning Sheet
Action Planning Sheet