Goal Getting:
How to set clear goals and actually achieve them this year
By John Spence
We all understand the importance of setting goals. You need goals for your business, for your professional career and in your personal life. However, many of us struggle to achieve the goals we set. Here are a few ideas to help you establish and implement goals more effectively.
Big Picture
The first step is to create a vivid and compelling vision. What will success look like? How will it be measured? What is the timeframe? Asking questions like this helps you develop a clear picture of what you are trying to achieve. Without this, failure is inevitable. It is very difficult to get to a destination if you are unsure of where you are going.
Break it Down
Next, you must break that long-term vision into a set of goals. Typically, this is an annual goal, quarterly goals, monthly goals, and sometimes, weekly or daily goals. It is absolutely vital that the goals be binary. You either achieved the goal or you did not. No guessing. One of my favorite business phrases is, “Ambiguity breeds mediocrity.”
Check In
Once you have established clear goals, they must be tracked. There are many ways to go about this, but my favorite is simply using a stoplight method.
Green = everything is going great.
Yellow = struggling.
Red = serious issues.
In most situations, people do not like being tracked. They believe that it will be used to punish them if they are not achieving their goals. The key is to create a safe environment where people know that if they slip into yellow, they will not get in trouble; they will get help. Once people understand that tracking leads to support, resistance falls away.
It is crucial that you look at your progress often. If you are not constantly focusing on tracking and reviewing the goals, before you know it, you will look up and see a lot of red. Nobody wants that. This might mean reviewing them weekly or even daily.
Enjoy the Wins
Finally, when things are going great, take time to celebrate. Pursuing goals is hard work. You have to be focused, vigilant and disciplined. You need to have a high level of personal accountability. When things go well, you deserve to take a moment and enjoy your success.
Use this overview to set goals for your organization or yourself to develop and consistently achieve your most important goals.