In one of the studies by Mark Murphy:

Participants were asked to rate a question: “My goal is so vividly described in written form (including pictures, photos, drawings, etc.) that I could literally show it to other people, and they would know exactly what I’m trying to achieve.”

Sadly, fewer than 20% of people said that their goals were ‘always’ written down this vividly.

Like many others, I was no exception. I had many goals in my mind but, I never wrote them down, and many of them were high-level and vague. I had my growth plans that I wanted to execute but, I couldn’t do it due to lack of clarity and lack of self-commitment.

I want to ask you this:

·         Are you suffering from the syndrome of creating goals only in your mind?

·         Do you set goals, but leave in between without meeting them?

·         And do you see it’s obvious and easy to execute the goals, planned in your mind?

If your answer is YES to any of the questions, then this post will surprise you with the power of five principles used for goal-setting theory.

Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible — Antony Robbins, an American speaker, and an author

In early 2020, during my journey of growth and transformation, when I was working on my growth plans — I found two popular names: Dr. Edwin Locke and Dr. Gary P. Latham.

Both were popular for their extensive work on the Theory of goal-setting and task performance. Their theory is supported by 1000+ laboratory and field experiments in the last 25 years.

In the study, Locke and Latham found that:

90% of times, specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than easy goals. Goal setting is most likely to improve task performance when the goals are specific and sufficiently challenging.

Five principles of goal setting theory

(by Locke & Latham)

1. Get the ‘clarity’

Through clarity, our goals are not just defined and created, but also graciously fulfilled — Eleesha

Getting clarity is not just adding details to it, but also finding out the purpose of your goal. And once you have a compelling WHY with you, start finding the WHAT and WHEN of it.

For example, if you have to “climb a big mountain.”

Do you see a clear WHAT and WHEN in this goal?

You can ask the following questions to get more clarity on this mountaineering target-

·         Which mountain would you want to climb? Identify it.

·         What does a big mean to you? Define it.

·         When would you want to attain this? Add a timeline to it.

Detailing the specifics will give you the clarity and drive you to take the first action. And actions will help you to come up with a plan.

Without a clear plan, you won’t get any result, no matter how big is your aim.

2. Set the ‘challenging’ goal

We don’t grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges — dailyinspirationalquotes

For a simple goal, you won’t put any effort into finding different ways to achieve it because you know exactly HOW to get it.

Whereas, challenging goals will push you — to find a better solution for every obstacle you face. It will keep you engaged and motivated to take bold actions.

For example:

Easy goal: Training 50 people on agile fundamentals by X date and secure a feedback score of 4/5.

I have done this type of training in the past, and I know the details and can deliver it with confidence. I can also engage the participants and make them thoroughly understand the subject. Securing good feedback from participants was easy for me.

Challenging goal: Training 200 people in a single session on agile fundamentals by X date and secure a feedback score of 5/5.

Training 200 people in a single session was a new experience for me. Engaging so many people and yet ensuring good feedback was a challenging goal. It required a thorough preparation and use of a different approach, like creating groups for participants and gamifying the training experience.

This level of preparation for the training will keep you energized and ensure to achieve the target.

There are many other examples I can think off:

·         Produce 4 Vs 8 articles per month.

·         Run 5 Vs 10 KM marathon.

·         Reduce 10 pounds of weight in 6 Vs 3 months.

It can be any day to day or an important aim of your life.

The challenging goals should be realistic and achievable. You need to avoid signing up for the goals, which are either simple or unrealistic.

3. Show a ‘commitment’

There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results — Kenneth Blanchard

If you are externally pushed to commit to else’s goal then there are high chances of not meeting it, because it’s not yours. You haven’t created it. You don’t have a clear vision and purpose behind the goal.

Even if you are the creator of a vision and goal, you still need to figure out the WHY.

If you can’t find a compelling purpose then you won’t put the required effort, and it will be an overhead to you.

No matter how much you make it specific and challenging, you won’t commit to accomplish it.

4. Simplify the ‘complexity’

Growth creates complexity, which requires simplicity —Mike Krzyzewski

Keep things simple.

For example:

You have a goal to look fit and reduce your weight by 20 pounds in the next three months.

And if you have a target to eat healthy food, then make sure to keep the recipes simple; otherwise, you may leave it in between.

Adding complexity while executing goals is often demotivating. It may lead to a drop in morale, productivity, and performance.

Breaking down goals into small sub-goals or micro tasks will help you to gain clarity and develop self-efficacy. It will create a reinforcement loop that will help you move towards it.

5. Get the ‘feedback’

We all need people who give us feedback. That’s how we improve— Bill Gates

You can either get the feedback from others or create a system to generate the self-feedback.

I’m using both, that is what helps me to get a 360-degree view of my performance. I run daily and weekly check-ins for personal goals. That helps me to change my strategy continuously and learn from past results.

Honest feedback shows you the mirror-like reality that helps to improve the performance.

Final thoughts

Man is a goal-seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals— Aristole

People are motivated by the purpose of work. They are driven by the aim they create. And writing it helps you to gain clarity and purpose.

Not only this, writing an elaborated goal will prompt you to create a clear path to achieve it.

Do you have goals that challenge you to perform above and beyond?