34 Tips for Goal Setting That Actually Work

Contents

What is goal setting?

I have curated 34+ tips for goal setting that have shown to work wonders. Those who know how to set goals are 10x more likely to be successful. However, before we begin, let us understand two things:

Definition of ‘goal’
What is ‘goal setting’?

What are ‘goals’?

A goal is something you wish to achieve. Goals can be a future state, objects, relationship states, social, managerial, or emotional. Essentially, anything that we desire to achieve in the future can be categorized as a goal. It need not be too specific but it has to have a meaningful value for the person visualizing it.

What is ‘goal-setting’?

Goal setting is the proces of visualizing a goal conciously. When you visualize a goal conciously, you not just create a mental picture of future state, you also process and internalize the purpose and benefits. Most importantly, one should also ensure that the goals are measurable and time-bound. This part of the goal setting is often overlooked.

Why Goal setting is important?

The rule of life is simple. Success is hugely dependent on your goals. Very few people who set out without goals succeed. This is true not just for professional success but also for personal. One of the leading researchers in Goal setting, Locke says that “Every person’s life depends on the process of choosing goals to pursue; if you remain passive you are not going to thrive as a human being.”

Every person’s life depends on the process of choosing goals to pursue; if you remain passive you are not going to thrive as a human being.
Locke, 2019

Tips for goal setting: a simple formula for success

Another competing explanation for professional success is ‘motivation.’ Researchers have shown that motivation by itself is a poor predictor of performance. Instead, goal setting has been shown to increase the chances of success by 10 times.

Set a goal ⮕ Convert it into a schedule

Simplest of the tips for setting a goal is to visualize the goal. Let’s say you want to learn a new skill in the next six months. You can simply convert this into a schedule. Firstly, try to find out the number of hours needed for the training. If the course requires 50 hours of training. Also mark the days you would be doing it. Let us say, you would be doing the course on Monday and Friday. Therefore in six months, you have about 48 days to learn. Hence you would need roughly 1 hour every day. In order to help you stay compliant you can also check out our insights on time management and procrastination management.

Tips for goal setting

Goal Philosophy

Set inspirational goals. If you are not motivated about your goals, in the beginning, you can’t be sure you would be later. As you progress towards the goal you will meet roadblocks. Unless you have an inspiring or compelling goal, you will lose steam and get tired.
Your principles should be aligned with your goals. It is very important not to set goals that would benefit you at the cost of your principles. You will pursue it half-heartedly and won’t be totally satisfied even if you succeed in achieving the goal.
Set goals that are under your control. At times we are overoptimistic. We commit ourselves to the impossible. Stretching your limitations is great but never commit to goals that are unreasonable.
Ask yourself ‘why.’ It is critical to ‘believe’ in your goals. When you are crystal clear about ‘why’ you want something, you will figure out the ‘how.’

Goal-setting methods
Split the goals into 2-3 smaller goals. A bigger goal can be easily achieved through a set of smaller and more manageable goals.
Set SMART goals. This is one of the most commonly discussed goal-setting methods. Set up goals that are specific, rather than vague. Secondly, they should be measurable. Thirdly, don’t pursue goals that are not attainable. Fourthly, set up goals that are relevant to you. Finally, always time-bound your goals. A goal without a deadline is just a dream.
Create stretch goals. It really helps to push ourselves to our own limits. This is how we grow. Set a goal that is slightly more than what you can achieve. It will also help you work harder.
Goal-Tree Method. Take a piece of paper, write down your goal. Then below it, write down 3-5 objectives that need to be met for the goal. Next, write down measurable targets for these objectives. This method is especially helpful when you set a goal for solving a problem.
OKR method: A method pioneered by Google where the goal is decomposed into objectives and key results. This method is also similar to the Goal-Tree method. On one hand, where KPI are

Strategically set your goals
Eliminate less important goals – James Clear, a leading author in this field, suggests that we should eliminate the non-important goals “ruthlessly” and pursue only the important ones.
Goals that are both specific and difficult lead to overall improved performance.
Set optimum level of quality – Research suggests that goals set, without quality controls, may lead to the employees focusing on completion of goal at the expense of quality.

Process for setting goals
Write it down. Writing down using a pen and paper is quite helpful. When you write, you spend time inking your idea into words. It has a psychological impact. This also gets imprinted in your brain.
Visualize What You Want – Draw it out, make a scrapbook or create other visual representation that you can review time and again
Don’t set a deadline, set a schedule
Take time to plan – when we spend more time on planning, there is a higher likelihood of success. Additionally, it is also better to spend time in creating an optimum goal than discard it midway because it becomes non-feasible.
Avoid half-hearted goals – It has been shown that low-quality planning leads to lower performance during execution of the goals.
Proactively plan for possible problems and solutions
Create a blueprint for every goal
Leverage emotional intelligence – It has been shown that emotional intelligence can help navigate the problems. It can also keep you motivated.

Tips for goal setting for managers
Involve the team – a goal that is forced by the top may lead to a narrow focus on completion using known solutions. This approach is called ‘tunnel vision.’ It inhibits creativity.
Focus on the process, not the outcome. Being detached from the goals yet mindful is a balancing act. Try to manage things by focusing on the process that leads to the goal. It is better than a mindless pursuit of the goal.
Keep it visible. Put up a poster or a chart with your goal above the workplace. Something that is visible will keep people motivated.
You can also make a habit of writing down your long term goal every morning before the workday and every evening after you come back. Usually, all our focus is on managing the smaller, petty things that come up day after day. This activity can keep a goal orientation at the back of your mind when you pursue other activities to ensure those smaller activities are also aligned with your larger goals.
Flexibility to adapt to the barrier is critical to success. Your goals should include the planning for such adversaries.
Valuing a goal is extremely important. Keeping yourself and your stakeholders updated about the importance of the goal from time to time helps.
Always schedule the reviews for your goals. Very few people use this simple but effective technique. A haphazard review may not be as helpful as a planned and scheduled analysis of your progress, reassessment, and strategic changes.

Managing the goals
It is important to understand the subtle differences in how team-goals and individual-goals are structured. Research has shown that if the manager gives feedback related to individual goals, the focus of the employee would be on maximizing it. On the other hand, if the feedback is given towards the team goal then focus is on fulfilling the team goal.
Never establish goals under the premise of negativity. It is a bad idea to set up a goal with a threat. People may work under the fear of a negative consequence like a bad appraisal. However, it can very soon lead to stress and anxiety.
Always attempt to bring attention to goal-orientation. One of the reasons for failure is that people may establish alternative goals or lose focus from the goal and put in most of their effort in secondary aspects. It is a managerial responsibility to keep the team focussed on the pursuit of the goal.
Encourage an atmosphere for positive reinforcement. Research shows that peer acceptance, as well as social approval, improves the motivation to pursue common goals.
Monitor the progress towards the end goal. You can use any method for goal setting, be it SMART goals or Goal-Tree method. However, periodically meet with the team to understand how they are moving towards the destination. Monitoring the progress is critical to the success of goal setting.
Reward yourself and your team. It is important to celebrate smaller victories.
The last among the tips for goal setting is to embrace ambiguity and dynamism. Sometimes things may rapidly change. It is important to reevaluate the situation and plan accordingly. At times you may have to abandon the pursuit. When that is needed, do that with grace and move on. There will be more opportunities in life.