How To Set Goals That Encourage Action
We all have goals, even if they’re so loose they’re more or less just dreams. Goal setting is something I struggled with for a while; I had a blurry, imaginary vision of what I wanted my life to look like, but just couldn’t find a way to connect the dots and set firm goals to get there.Even when you're a goal setting extraordinaire, when you've listened to the podcasts and read all the blog posts, all too often we write out goals really neatly in a special notebook and then put the book on the shelf and never look at it again. I know that can't just be me. If you’re not working towards your goals every day, then what was the point in having them?As I heard Susie Wolff say at a work event once “a dream without a plan is just a wish”, and that really stuck with me. You can have a huge goal setting session, you can have a big life vision, but if all you’re doing is writing them down instead of breaking them down, then you’re just wishing.Here I've covered my goal setting techniques - how I unpick my goals, break them down and turn them into actions. This isn’t 'the' way to do things – every brain is different and responds to different methods. These are things that are working for me, and might work for you too if you don’t know where to start with goal setting or have goals gathering dust on the shelf.
Start with the big picture
I need to start with something big and vague. I can’t get into the specific stuff straight away, a) because I don't have a clue to start, and b) because if I don’t know the big picture end goal then I might miss out a crucial step. This is an excellent place to start if you don’t know where to start with goal setting. There are no acronyms or rules to placate, just a little bit of self-awareness and honesty.When I’m first in touch with new clients, I send out a questionnaire where I ask ‘what’s your dream?’. Then I follow that up with ‘now what’s your actual dream?’. We all have the dreams and goals that we think we should have, the ones we can tell our parents and talk about in work review meetings. Then there are the dreams we keep to ourselves, that we mull over on dog walks, that may not be what we’re supposed to want, but that truly light up our souls.Because if we’re shooting at dreams, why don’t we shoot at the actual dream?So for me, my PG dreams that my parents knew about was having a successful career, buying a house, doing some writing on the side. But the actual dream was getting out of employment, running my own life, doing amazing things with creative people I felt completely passionate about, and feeling free. (The actual dream also involves a farm with an orchard and a sea view, but we’re working in stages here…).Having that picture, knowing how I wanted to feel in my life, who I wanted to serve, how I wanted to use my talents and abilities, helped not only as an inspirational vision, but also gave me a point to work backwards from.
Narrow it down
Once you know where you want to go, you need to map backwards. What big things need to happen for that vision to be a reality? Do you need to quit your job, set up a new website, get some support, hire people? These are your big goals.Now narrow it down further. What things need to happen before you can quit your job? Do you need a certain amount of savings, do you need to reduce your living costs, do you need a certain amount of bookings? What steps do you need to take to build up this financial buffer, reduce your costs and make those bookings?When you've worked through that. you should have a hierarchy that stems from a vision into big goals, from big goals into individual goals, from there into individual steps.Now set a time on it. Give each goal a deadline, and from that deadline work out what needs to be done when. I like to break the year into quarters; it’s a way I worked in a previous job, and a quarter is long enough to feel like I'm not rushing to get things done - you may work differently, and that’s fine. Then I ask, 'in this quarter, which goals do I want to tick off, and which action steps can I complete to do that?'. And you continue to narrow down into monthly and weekly actions from there.
Work close to your goals
Once you have those individual goals and action steps, it’s vital that you work close to them. This is how we avoid putting the book away on the shelf and actually action our goals on a daily basisSome people say you need to have your goals written somewhere where you can see them every minute of every day, and that clearly works for a lot of people. I, on the other hand, am very prone to big thinking and planning things to the nth degree, so having my goals somewhere I could see them would suck me into planning mode and distract me from doing the work to actually achieve them.So I check in with my goals once a week when I’m doing my weekly activity plan on a Sunday or Monday. I’ll go through my list of goals and action steps for the current quarter, I’ll check any off that I’ve achieved and I’ll think to myself ‘what can I do this week that will bring me closer to those goals?’. And those will be the only things I put on my to do list.On a side note - I think that the act of asking myself that question every week is helpful in itself. It focuses my thinking, helps me phase out the stuff that doesn't matter as much and sets me on the right track for week. I worked for a company where the sales team would always be told to 'work close to the fee' - it's the same concept. Work on the things that will make you money or achieve those goals.When we’re planning out work to do or putting a list together, it’s so easy to go with the fun stuff, the pretty stuff or the stuff that gets us quick wins. By working close to the goal, you are making sure that every single thing you do is getting you closer to that dream life.
Review and review and review
One thing that I find doesn’t work about those neat, bullet-pointed goals in the notebook is that they feel set in stone, unchangeable. I think this is something we feel about goals in general, that they’re set now and we have to work towards them no matter what.Which is actually, when you think about it, kinda ridiculous. A goal works for you, you don’t work for the goal. Especially in the early stages of a business, you can’t know what the rhythms and flows are going to be, you can’t know how it will be in three months, let alone a year.Keep reviewing your goals month after month to ensure they are still realistic, still stretching you, and ultimately still serving you. Scale them up or down or change them completely, just make sure they are pushing you towards that dream vision.
Don’t look at the summit
And lastly, this is something I say to everyone who will listen. When you’re climbing a mountain, it’s never a good idea to look at the summit. No matter how much you climb or how hard you’re working, it never seems to look any closer. And when you think you’re nearly there, you turn a corner and there’s still a steep side to climb.Just look at the metre in front of you. Walk each step, keep on the path, look up at the next bend, then back down at what’s in front of you. Keep doing that, and you’ll find yourself at the summit before you know it.
How are you with your goal setting? Are you pro-active or do you tend to leave them on the shelf?
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