Can goal setting work?

I hate goal setting

There you are, I’ve said it for you. Setting goals is a waste of time. You set the goal in all good faith and by week two you’re so far off track already it’s just depressing and deeply unmotivating. 

Goal setting doesn’t work

Even if you get the goal level right, the setting of a goal has no major impact on the outcome, so why bother? Funnily enough most people, when I ask them, tell me they have already got goals. They’re just not written down anywhere and anyway they’re all a bit long term (for which read “undefined wish-washy wish list”).

Goal setting is far too “woo-woo”

Yes, if you’re not careful about your goals they can become just very starry-eyed moonshot stuff. Or the setting of goals is so uncomfortable that it’s better to pretend there’s nothing practical or common sense about the process.

Everybody knows the famous Harvard study on written goal setting is fiction.

Trouble is, the Dominican University ran a research project which scientifically endorses that setting goals, writing them down and checking in with an accountability partner every now and again really does mean you are much more likely to hit them and therefore reach whatever it was you had in mind. Unfortunately, therefore, you don’t get to dismiss goal setting so quickly.

The reason you haven’t experienced goal setting working, I’d like to suggest, isn’t because you set too many goals, it’s because you didn’t set enough! 

First, it’s worth realizing that you can’t sensibly have goals for just one part of your life (business for example) because you are likely to run up against competing needs from say family, friends, health and more. So set goals in all areas of your like (I suggest there are 7 areas). 

Then start not with a wish for the next twelve months, start instead with a big, “dream” goal, with a time period as long as you need it to have to sensibly having a chance of hitting it. Make sure that even though it a “dream “ goal it is still “SMART” (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and with a Time target) In fact, it should even be “SMARTER” (add Emotional and Resonating)

Now, wouldn’t that be amazing to hit that goal? You know you could. But it would take some doing. It might need resources.

Next step, set intermediate goals. Maybe 3 to 5 years out from now, in each of those areas. You probably will find these intermediate goals have a bearing on those dream ones you set. Now set the goals for the next twelve months. Again these goals are likely to be switched in the direction of your dream goals and your intermediate goals. 

Make sure the goals don’t clash. If you are determined to spend every hour of the day on business for example, you can’t also set a goal to spend more time with your family. They have to be balanced, working together, not against each other. 

Now look at the matrix you have built. What do you see? 21 goals. 21! You must be able to hit some of those at least, don’t you think? And getting along the road to some of them will give you confidence to try and catch up with goals in other areas of your life. What’s more your dreams, your passion is driving the intermediate goals and even this years’ goals. And this years’ SMARTER goals are rooting your dream goals firmly into reality. They’re no longer a dream- you are on the road to making them a concrete reality. Your whole matrix supports itself. Your tasks for this year, this month, this week, today get driven by your passion. Your shorter term goals make sure that your longer term goals are real and achievable. 

How motivated will you be when you see your goals on a regular basis throughout the next twelve months? This is how you make goals into a practical, motivating document. 

How long will it take to set 21 goals? The first time you do it the answer is hours and hours. Each year after that it gets quicker and quicker. Minutes.

Good luck, have fun setting your goals, and if you are in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire Sussex or Kent, feel free to contact me to ask about those 7 areas of life and some extra tools and techniques!