Be Ready: How to Avoid Common Pitfalls When Goal Setting
It’s that time of year when everyone is setting personal and professional goals. Though an important time for reflection, how can we ensure those goals are actually achieved? There are common pitfalls we’re all susceptible to and in this article, we’ll discuss how to practically overcome them.
What kinds of goals have you set for yourself this year? A promotion, starting your own business, going back to school, a marathon, seeing your team exceed target? What else?
All are worthy and important causes but year after year, a few weeks or months later, once the shine of a new idea has worn off, these are incredibly difficult to achieve.
There are a few common pieces of advice when it comes to goal setting. All are critically important to creating a foundation for success.
Set specific and measurable goals (SMART)
Create a timeline and track your progress (excel, productivity app, to-do lists, etc.)
Visualize the outcome (vision boards)
I’d like to offer that setting goals are more challenging than these three bullets alone address. Below are a few suggestions to improve your chances of success.
Break down your goals into smaller tasks
Getting promoted, losing weight, and running a marathon are all large and worthy goals. Sometimes just thinking about them can feel exhausting! Atomic Habits, by James Clear does a fantastic job of breaking down how athletes and executives achieve the impossible, his 1% approach. Changing one small thing consistently over time can produce incredible results.
What I would add to this approach is to build in small celebrations for each milestone, even just celebrating that you’ve done a task consistently. Celebrations should be aligned with the task. For example, don’t reward a 5-pound weight loss with cupcakes! Sending your favorite group a text to receive positive reinforcement, taking a ½ day for a golf outing or treating yourself to that spa package you’ve been eyeing. Keep the positive momentum going. Your team, family, and friends will all want to cheer you on.
Professionally, if your team has consistently achieved their deadlines with positive client feedback, treat them all to a coffee or a simple thank you note – before the completion of the project. Think how surprised, seen, valued, and appreciated they’ll feel with recognition a third of the way through. They’ll want to keep pushing forward and beat that next deadline. Track your progress, acknowledge your accomplishments, and celebrate the small wins.
Plan in advance for obstacles
As a commercial leader, I always aimed high. Occasionally the stars aligned and we well exceeded targets, but this tactic was really to ensure we consistently hit target. I built targets assuming things would go wrong. Professionally it could be staff attrition, industry changes, restructures, etc. that could easily throw a plan off track. Personally, it could be an illness, family issue or home improvements gone awry. If you find it hard to take a vacation day, afraid if you get sick you won’t hit deadlines or one more project will send you over the edge, it’s time to rethink your goals.
The concept of the 80/20 rule has always resonated with me. Setting a goal, but assuming things will go 80% your way and 20% will be obstacles or challenges that are out of your control. For example, my team was well known for planning their stretch targets for 125% of their goals and we consistently achieved 100% and even a few years exceeding 125%. Bonuses and compensation were aligned to 100%. As the leader, it was important to ensure the goals were realistic and achievable for this to motivate the team.
This was especially important for morale. The team was able to see what was in their control and didn’t overweigh their efforts in one area. This tactic pushed creative thinking from the beginning, not when scrambling at the end of the year, rewarded ambition, and led to lots of celebrations.
How would you apply this tactic to your goals?
This year, I am planning to spend more time in meditation. I’ve blocked my calendar for 30 minutes every weekday morning, with the goal of mediating 3 times a week. This way I can act when my energy, focus, and alignment exist. Some weeks I’ve even done 5 days, which is a cause for celebration, my favorite green tea in front of the cozy fireplace!
Create a support system
As we create ambitious goals, a common mistake is not thinking about who can support you on this journey. You can plan to go to the gym 5 days a week after work, but who’s going to pick the kids up from school? We often don’t consider this until we’re about to quit or we may be hesitant to ask for help.
As you build your plans, give careful consideration to who can help you achieve them. A common tip is to find people with a similar goal to keep motivation high, like a group of people participating together in dry January, but many don’t consider the next question of who can help support the changes, like adjusting your schedule.
From a work context, having a goal of launching a new product for example will involve several people and departments. Those responsibilities are usually outlined with everyone having a clear role to play, you’ll need to create this for changes you’d like to make. Let’s say you have a goal to use more of your PTO and take time off, who can help to support this? Are there talented people on your team/colleagues who are looking for stretch assignments? Is there an opportunity to work with your peers to complete joint team meetings when another leader is taking time off? Could your direct manager or even one level higher host 1:1s or office hours while you’re away giving your team exposure to leadership?
It's not uncommon for us to build wonderful goals that will advance our careers, create more fulfilling lives and improve our relationships. Again, aim high AND plan ahead. You’ll be surprised by the amount of support available once you’ve taken the time to look.
Conclusion: There are three additional areas to keep in mind while setting new goals:
Break down your goals into smaller tasks
Plan in advance for obstacles
Create a support system
We’ve talked about this for personal goals and organizational goals, but leaders also need to be aware of the importance of setting their own personal leadership development goals. Increasing your self-awareness, and tailoring development to your unique skills, environment, and career goals are key. Exceptional leaders are never static, they are conscious and consistent learners, always looking for ways to expand their skill set.
This development can be self-led, reading books, using apps and workbooks, or can be a partnership with your direct manager, peer group, or mentor. Many executives choose to co-create a plan and work with an objective partner like an executive coach.
If you are interested in this option, click here to set a 1:1 session to discuss your goals, obstacles, and a path forward.