Why Setting Goal Matters

A recent look at my bookshelf was a surprising reminder of why goal setting matters to become successful. While my reading has included books like Atomic Habits by James Clear, Goals: How to get the most out of your life by Zig Ziglar and Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals by Heidi Grant Halvorson (to namedrop some of my favourites), there are hundreds of books and 1000s of pieces of research dedicated to the subject.  

So why are we so obsessed with setting goals?   

Thanks to all that research we know that setting goals is a key factor in success. Research repeatedly proves that goal setting is tightly linked to higher performance. It also proves that goals that are in writing and regularly reviewed have better rates of delivery.

And when you work with an accountability partner your results are even higher. I’m not providing the statistics because different research has different numbers to back up their claims. The one thing they are all have in common is that success, written goals and regular reviews are the way to turn your vision into a reality. 

When working with our clients, we regularly start by asking the founder / Managing Director / CEO what their vision for the future of the business is. Depending on the maturity of the business, this can be a detailed strategic plan or a wide-ranging conversation about the huge potential. The plan is there, but it is often not cascaded to the team in a way that allows your dream team to create your dream business. And let’s face it, that is what we all want and need. We need our team to share the load and help us create change in our world.  

Steps to leveraging goals setting to achieve your dreams: 

1.) Be brave and write down your real goals.

– Don’t play small. Put down in words what you really want and need to achieve. Use detailed writing and visual aids to make it concrete. Surprisingly, the more detailed you are the more likely it is that you will be able to achieve it.  

2.) Share it with your team.

– When your team know your goal and understand why you have set that goal, they can set their goals that are aligned to it.  

3.) Break it into actions.

– The real key to success is in creating actionable habits. Identifying the actions that will achieve the goal is important. A sales target is achieved by making it a habit to make calls, or follow up on enquiries, or build the sales funnel. What is the action that is needed to achieve the goal.  

4.) Create accountability.

– The more regularly you review your progress towards your goals, the more likely you and your team are to achieve them. Accountability buddies are important as you set regular checkin points and need to be able to share progress. If you are not progressing, they help you get unstuck.  

5.) Review and change agreed actions:

– Your regular reviews will help you understand if the actions you’ve set are the right ones, in the right ratios. If you are not achieving the results, investigate what needs to change to achieve the same target. Doing the same thing and expecting different results doesn’t work. Find what does.  

If you’ve never set goals and broken them down across your team, or if you have and it’s not working, we are here to help. This process takes practice, and by working with hundreds of clients, we know how to tie all the pieces together to support you. Please reach out on 1300 474 672 or info@impacthr.com.au