20 Mar Thought Leadership: How to Set and Achieve Goals That Last

Remember the beginning of January when the year spread out before you, empty calendar pages just waiting to be filled?

Did you set goals for all the things you were going to accomplish both personally and professionally?

Are you on track to reach those goals or are you wondering where your motivation went?  It’s March.  Is anyone still talking about New Year’s resolutions?

According to a 2023 study, out of 999 participants who set goals in January, only 53 were still sticking to their goals in June. While goals are a great way to accomplish new things or increase your success, they only work if they’re the right kind of goals.

Goal Theory

But what are the right goals? How can you set goals that will last?

I recently read this article on Forbes.com about Locke and Latham’s goal-setting theory, and as we hit the spring slump when many people give up on the goals they set at the beginning of the year, I thought it would be a great time to take a look at the best ways to achieve those goals.

Locke and Latham found that for goals to be achievable they need five elements.

1. Goals must be clear and specific.

Vague goals like, “I want to get fit” are not clear or specific. What does it mean to get fit? What does achieving this goal look like? A clear and specific goal would be “I want to be able to run 5 miles in an hour and squat 200 pounds by the end of the year.”

2. Goals must be challenging (Refer to #1!).

Locke and Latham found that for people to want to strive to meet their goals, the goal must be challenging in some way. If you’re a salesperson and you’re already bringing in $100,000 in business, setting a goal to bring in $105,000 isn’t that challenging. Goals should try to hit the mark between too easy to meet and unachievable. It’s great to have aspirations, but goals should be something that you can achieve. It shouldn’t be super easy to get there.

3. Goals must include commitment.

Setting goals that are not interesting or motivating to you is the fastest way to fail to meet them. Reaching your goals takes commitment, so it’s important to choose goals that you’re motivated to meet. Managers should also keep this in mind when helping employees to set goals. If a person is not motivated by the goal, no amount of encouragement will be enough to get them to meet it.

4. Goals must have a mechanism for feedback.

Being able to see progress, or lack of progress, toward your goal is a key to being able to meet it and adjust tactics accordingly. Whether that means tracking key metrics, keeping a log of your activities, or some other method depends on your preference and the goal you’re trying to achieve. The important point is to be able to see your progress and adapt.

5. Goals need to have complexity.

Complexity refers to how intricate and demanding a goal is.  Is training or professional development required? Is step-by-step planning needed?  While complexity is important, beware of the potential that the increased stress of complex goals can become overwhelming. Ample and ongoing feedback, as well as access to resources, can help keep motivation high for those working to achieve complex goals.

From Theory to Practice

Goal theory is great, but it only works if put into practice…just like those fitness goals! A great way to start implementing goal theory into your life is with a personal goal with meaning for you to achieve. Create a goal that is clear and specific, challenging, something you can commit to, has a feedback mechanism, and has complexity based around something in your personal life.

For example, say your goal is to read more. A goal that fits the goal theory method might be: “In the next six months, I want to read 10 books. I will log my reading in a tracking app.”

This goal includes all of the elements of goal theory:

1. Clear and specific – The goal has both a number of books and a deadline.
2. Challenging – Ten books in six months is challenging if you only read two or three books every six months.
3. Commitment – If this is a goal you are setting, presumably you are highly interested in reading more books.
4. Feedback – Tracking the books read provides an element of feedback.
5. Complexity – Ten books from multiple genres is a stretch, but also attainable, goal.

Once you have mastered using goal theory in a personal setting, consider using it in your professional life. Goal theory easily translates to team settings where you can set goals for individuals as well as for groups. Just pay close attention to the commitment and complexity factors when setting employee and team goals. Remember that people have to be committed to their goals to reach them. Include feedback from team members as you help them set their goals.

Celebration

It’s important to celebrate when you conquer a goal.  Gold star stickers and fancy pencils have worked wonders in classrooms for years!  Celebration doesn’t have to be complex. Know your audience and find their currency.  Too often, especially in a work setting, we do what we set out to do and then move quickly to the next thing, the next goal, the next level. Reaching milestones should not go unnoticed.  Anything from a high-five, to an experience gift, to a hearty “LFG!” (depending on the team member, of course) can set the celebratory tone and encourage continued goal achievement.

In your personal life, if you accomplish one of your goals, set aside that same moment to celebrate. If ice cream is your guilty pleasure…have a big scoop, watch your favorite movie, buy yourself a new book, visit your favorite park. Do something to recognize the commitment you made to achieve something new and celebrate you.

So, whether you are thinking back to those New Year’s resolutions, or already planning ahead to Q2 2025, give goal theory a try – you might be surprised at the results!