Are Your Goals Motivating You?

Many People Don't Have Goals

According to research out of Harvard university, about 83% of the U.S. population don’t have goals. Think about that for a minute.

Are you in that 83% or in the 17% of those who do have goals?

Having clear goals is important for motivating you to want to achieve them. If your goal is too complex and leaves you uncertain about what you’re working towards, chances are that means that your goals are not clear. In this article, I will be sharing with you the importance of having clear goals so that they can motivate you.

I’m sure that you have heard people, including me, tell you about the need for having goals to help you reach the success that you want in your business. By the way, goals are not just for business owners, founders, and CEOs. You can also set personal goals and even career goals too!

Goal setting can help us to build our self-confidence and happiness. But to effectively achieve those things, there are certain elements or principles that we must include in our goals. I will be sharing those elements with you later in this article. 

Theories on Goal Setting

Did you know that the type of goals and the quality of your goals can affect how well those goals are to motivate you to achieve them? 

Edwin Locke was one of the first to research and share about goal setting. This was back in 1960s actually. Locke looked at how having clear goals could serve as a way to motivate employees. He was one of the first to talk about goal setting theory.

Years after Locke shared about his research, Dr. Gary Latham conducted a study on goal setting in the workplace. His results supported Locke’s previously published work on goal setting theory and motivation.

But what is goal setting theory?

According to Locke and Latham, there are 5 principles that must be considered when we set our goals. Once we have included all 5, we are in a much better position to increase our chances for success. Put it this way, how many times have you heard someone tell you, “Just try harder next time.”

Have you ever really stopped and thought about what that means?

I bet that when that person told you to try harder next time, you were saying to yourself that you had already tried hard. But here’s the thing….what does ‘try hard’ look like and what does “try harder” look like? There is a difference between someone telling you to try harder and someone telling you that next time aim for completing 4 more tasks or sell 2 more of 'X' products.

Do you see the difference?

By the way, this is also similar to when people give feedback. There’s a difference between being told “Good job!” and being told “You were very convincing in your argument that you were able to get the customer to purchase 80% more than they originally said they would buy.”

Big difference right?

I can go on about the importance of giving appropriate and specific feedback, but today’s topic is not about giving feedback. Today's topic is about goal setting.

I know you might be starting to think about SMART goals right now. That's great! But what you know as SMART goals comes from the work of Locke and Latham.

5 Principles of Goal Setting

I took information about the 5 principles of goal setting from MindTools, Positive psychology, Go Strengths, and Management Study Guide. I combined the information for all of those resources to write this article for you. Each of those resources have much more information available on their websites about goal setting theory than what I am going to mention in this article.

Here are the 5 principles:

1. Clarity

A vague goal can lead to you not working towards it or simply putting it off. You want your goal to be clear. The cleared the goal, the more motivating it will be. The more specific the goal, the better it is and the higher the chances of it leading to your desired output and outcome. Be sure to include a deadline for completing your goals if you truly want to be specific.

2. Challenge

Your goal should be challenging to you not anyone else. It should also not be impossible. Because you want to provide yourself with the opportunity to succeed. But also be sure to be realistic in your goal setting. You can base your reward for completing the goal on the challenge that was involved in completing it.

3. Commitment

The more achievable and clear the goal, the more likely you will commit to working on that goal. You have to put purposeful effort into your actions for achieving your goals. If you are setting goals with your team, then you are more likely to increase their commitment to the goals if you include them in the goal development.

4. Feedback

Give yourself feedback on the progress that you are making towards your goal. Taking time to reflect and give yourself feedback will allow you to determine if you need to make any adjustments to the goal. 

If working on a goal with your team members, then take the feedback time to review your team member’s expectations of their role and even your role. You can include time in your schedule each week or month to review your progress towards your goal. The frequency of your review will depend on the type of goal that you and/or your team is working towards. 

5. Complexity

Goals that are too complex can become overwhelming, which can lead to you not wanting to work towards that goal. Be sure to factor in the amount of time that you will need to complete the multiple parts of the goal. To help you determine if your goal is to complex, share your goal with someone else. Listening to how you explain it can give you a clue about the complexity. 

2 Considerations For Following Goal Theory

There are a few things for you to consider before running out and following goal theory.

1. When setting goals, you want to ensure that you and your team members have the necessary skills to attain the goals that you have outlined. If not, you need to think about how you and your team will obtain the needed skills

2. Goal setting has been found to lead to increased motivation, but it may not necessarily mean increased job satisfaction.

Summary

In this article you learned about 5 principles of goal setting and 2 considerations for following goal theory.

If you are ready to develop and set your goals, submit your coaching application and see if you qualify for a customized coaching program to meet your specific needs.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article.

Regards,

Dr. Priscilla "Dr. P" Kucer

Solutions+Actions=Results! (SoAR!)