As a leader, mentor, coach and manager, I constantly encourage my team and others to be very clear about setting their own goals and developing action plans around them to achieve them. If you establish clear goals from the get-go, then you’re on a focused track to achieving them.
Are you thinking this is easier said than done? Do you struggle with goal setting? If so, then my top 10 tips and tricks for you!
1. SMART or SMARTER?
S - Specific: Make the goal as clearly defined as possible
M - Measurable: Develop a target so you know if you’re making progress and if you are on track or not
A - Attainable: It’s healthy to stretch but make sure your goal is within reach
R - Realistic: Create goals that are challenging enough but that you feel you can accomplish
T - Time Bound: Assign deadlines to goals in order to create a sense of urgency, which fosters achievement and keeps you on track
E - Engaging: If the goal does not appeal to you, you will lose interest and the chances of you achieving it reduce
R - Relevant: Create a goal that is relevant to something you are working on, or you life in general
2. Reflect. Look at past data and gather information in order to help you create goals. What worked previously and what did not and why?
3. Sads & Glads. What you can gain by achieving this goal or lose from not achieving your goal. These factors can be powerful motivators. Be honest with yourself. If you genuinely care about it, you’ll make it happen!
4. Barriers/Bottlenecks. By clearly identifying what’s in your way from achieving your goals, you can minimize uncertainty and increase confidence. If roadblocks are identified, you can make plans to overcome them. Easy right?
5. Ideation. If you think through multiple ways to remove obstacles, barriers or bottlenecks, you’ll be able to select an effective solution to overcome them.
6. Do It. Once you determine the most effective solution, identify the actions you need to take to achieve your goals. Establish deadlines for the actions and determine if you can delegate the task to someone else.
7. Understand the Why? Getting people to understand the why behind your goals is an important step in being able to achieve them. If people can get behind your motivations and your thinking, they will offer you support and this will aid goal accomplishment if and when needed.
8. Check Ins. Schedule to revisit your goals on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. How are you trending toward achieving them? Do you need to course correct?
9. Celebrate Success. We need to be kind to ourselves and others and take the time to acknowledge that we’re on the right track. This helps us to continue on the path of motivation, energy, confidence and positive goal setting.
10. Say No. The important thing is to allow your goals to focus you, and to ask yourself if this new item is in line with your goals. Don’t let anything distract you from what’s most important.
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