Every year, business leaders set goals for the new year. These goals are typically ambitious, and that’s probably true for you as well. Yet how many times have you set a New Year’s resolution just for it to fizzle out after January ends? If your resolutions rarely come to fruition, it’s time to rethink the way you create goals. No matter what your goal is — you want to onboard new clients, decrease turnover, bring new technology into your office, etc. — it’s important to take the right approach.
As you set big goals for next year, make a solid plan so they become a reality. Increase your success with these tips on setting effective goals the right way.
Tangible Goals Means Real Results
A major predictor of a goal’s success is how founded it is in reality. While it’s natural to have big dreams for your company, assess your plans to see how realistic they are based on your current situation.
Whenever you think of the best-case scenario, outline the steps it would take to achieve that. A realistic goal is one grounded in tangible, solid data. Lack of quantification can make your goal — and the path it takes to get there — obscure. Without a clear route, the process is more prone to fall apart.
Setting realistic expectations is a matter of identifying what you want and creating a solid plan. Ultimately, you want to identify the change you’d like to see and create achievable steps to lead you to that goal. You may do this in writing, using a calendar or some other tool that helps you visualize your plan:
- State what you want to achieve in the simplest terms possible.
- Identify strengths and weaknesses. What is your current team capable of? How will you overcome any potential pitfalls?
- Examine your resources. Utilize apps or programs that can help you organize and stay on track. Technology offers many ways to visually see progress in the forms of timetables, charts and reports.
By clearly outlining the goal and your plan, you can transform an intangible idea in your head into a real, obtainable agenda.
Accountability
Starting a goal may feel easy at first, but as the months go on and you encounter obstacles, it can be all too easy to give up. Follow through on your promises. Hold yourself and your employees accountable.
Many times, we drop things when the going gets tough. You need an incentive. The mind needs something to sense as a reward, and these work fine even if they are self-created.
There are a few ways to make sure you stay on track, such as by having an accountability partner. Reporting to another individual holds you accountable for your progress, and vice versa. Another idea is to use visual tools, which physically represent your progress. Whiteboards, magnets, incentive sheets and other visual aids let you see your progress at a glance. You can also make a digital spreadsheet to track progress remotely. These tools make it easier to gauge how far you’ve come — and harder to make excuses.
Follow Approach-Oriented Goals
Before you set off toward your New Year’s goal, be sure you’re getting started with the right footing. Studies show that approach-oriented goals are tied to long-term success, while avoidance-oriented goals can have the opposite of the intended effect. What this means is rather than framing your goal from a negative standpoint, view goals through a positive lens. Consider the wording you use to describe your goal. Instead of telling yourself, “I must accomplish this goal or I will fail,” think of what you can realistically achieve using your current resources. Performance anxiety is real and can cause you to overlook important details, so reviewing your goals and ensuring they are solid is key to success.
This sentiment is true for business goals, too. For instance, let’s imagine a restaurant owner who wants to build an outdoor patio for additional seating, which could boost business and lead to internal growth. Someone with an avoidance-oriented mindset may be afraid to start the project, thinking that failing to grow their restaurant once they have the space to do so would indicate their food is unfavorable compared to competitors. Instead, an approach-oriented mindset focuses on the potential benefits, such as the appeal of eating outdoors on a summer evening. A business leader with the latter mindset is more likely to succeed thanks to positive internal motivation.
Identify Pitfalls
We often think of a new year as a fresh start. As you look at the future with high hopes, don’t forget to turn to the past to see what you’ve learned.
Many times, we learn more in retrospect, so look back to see what ruined your progress. Whether it’s self-sabotage or something not immediately within your control, list pitfalls and build a plan. Identify core causes and eliminate them, or find a workaround if the former isn’t possible. A full assessment can point you toward roadblocks.
What causes you to fail to meet your goals? It could be due to unexpected challenges along the way. For instance, if you tend to overextend your expectations, break the large goal into smaller steps that can be achieved each week or month. Compare long term to short term. What is obtainable now? It’s easy to overshoot and focus on the big picture, but doing so makes it harder to see what needs to be done currently. See what you can do each week, and set small goals rather than one large overarching one.
Set Yourself Up for Success
The start of a new year is a new opportunity. Rather than reserving yourself for another year of failed resolutions, get off on the right footing by thinking critically about your goals. Building a plan prepares you to overcome any rough patches and gives you time to organize. With these tips, you and your team can tackle anything that happens in the upcoming year.