Using Goal-Setting to Refocus Your Efforts

I’m a big fan of fresh starts. Mondays, New Year’s, the start of the month: all of these times feel like a fresh page of a book ready to be filled with my story.

I always look forward to a new year as an opportunity to evaluate my life and make some new goals. But, recently I’ve gotten into the habit of taking this “New Year” mindset and applying it more frequently throughout the entire year. I love thinking about goals and brainstorming what I want to accomplish, even if it’s more frequently than once a year.

While I don’t think a whole blog post on goal setting is necessary, as there is already so much content out there on the subject, I do feel strongly that finding good goal-setting models and processes are important to focus on, so I’ve collected a few in this post and them gathered in one place for you!

Here are some of my favorite goal-setting resources:

1. Zen Habits A Simple Guide to Setting and Achieving Your Life Goals 
2. Harvard Business Review Making Your Work Resolutions Stick 
3. The Happy Manager Elementary Goal Setting - Make It Up and Make it Happen!  
4. Stephen R. Covey Start Small with Goal Setting

I especially love Stephen R. Covey’s Goal Setting instructions and wanted to share some from a few years ago that really spoke to me.

Start Small with Your Resolutions for 2010

The start of a New Year is always special. There is a feeling of renewal as we look to a new year, a new beginning and there is a sense of excitement for making changes or adopting new habits. However, do you ever find yourself making New Year’s resolutions only to abandon them? If you do, you are not alone.

I want you to be successful at one goal, only one goal this year—and that is accomplishing one small goal you know you can accomplish. I say start small so you can build the confidence and strength to do more. It’s all about taking what I call “baby steps.” Start small, keep at it, and stay consistent until you’re ready to pick up the pace.

I also suggest that you work on your goal on a weekly basis. For instance, if you are setting a goal to reduce your sugar intake, set a goal to reduce the number of sugar-rich drinks you consume during the week. If you are in the habit of drinking soda pop everyday or several times a week, decide at the beginning of the week how many drinks you will reduce in your diet. If you go too fast and eliminate all your drinks, you may just fail at it because you are not emotionally, mentally or physically prepared to do so. So start small. Make a promise and keep it…make a promise and keep it. And soon you will enlarge your strength, confidence, and capabilities to discipline yourself to achieve other goals.

Many years ago, I went on a sugar fast with a group of students. You can’t believe how difficult it was at first but as we achieved small victories, our will power and passion for achieving our goal became stronger and stronger. We actually found strength in saying “no” to sugar because we felt an inner strength, a strength that inspired us to grow our confidence and abilities to grow our character, our sense of who we wanted to be.

As you set your small goal, you may want to enlist the help of someone close to you. It’s important to have some support, encouragement and a system of accountability. You might even invite this person to set a small goal that you can encourage them on. Work together and create synergy to help each other.

I wish you well on your journey in 2010. You have the potential for greatness in you! Go for it! Start small. Make a promise and keep it.

I just love his words here. I like hearing from Stephen R. Covey and other successful businessmen and women who really know their stuff. They’ve set big goals AND achieved them. And, believe it or not, they mostly make the same recurring recommendations, which indicates to me what our success metrics should be as we set new goals. Here is a round-up of the top suggestions that I reflect on as I set new goals:

• Set both short-term and long-term goals for yourself.
• Create your own “baby steps” to help you reach your goals, rather than forcing yourself to take big leaps.
• Set your goals based on your priorities. If you don’t choose how to spend your time, it will spend itself.
• Rather than setting a big heap of goals, set fewer, like one or two at a time.
• Work on your goals weekly. Make sure that you can measure your progress in weekly increments.
• Conduct weekly reviews to evaluate your progress, whether with yourself or with an accountability partner.
• Speaking of accountability, make sure to tell people about your goals! Having someone you’re accountable to makes you much more likely to commit to them.
• Reward yourself for every milestone you reach. You can cater your rewards to the magnitude of the goal you’ve accomplished.
• Make sure you take time to relax and rejuvenate.
• If you get off track, get right back on! Don’t let your small setback or missed opportunity turn into a greater one.

These tips alone are enough to motivate me to keep on keeping on, but I like to start with a game plan. Here is what I’d recommend, based on all my goal-setting-related reading, to those who are serious about sticking to their goals:

1. Get out a real pen and a real piece of paper.
2. Write down everything you accomplished in the last year, big and small.
3. Write down everything you would like to accomplish in the next year, big and small.
4. Write down one goal you would like to focus on right now.
5. Write down one thing you can do this week to get you closer to that goal.
6. Share your goal with someone and ask them to hold you accountable.

How do you feel about this year so far? Are you on track with your goals, or excited to set some new ones?