As we get ready to turn the calendar to the new year, many people set goals by creating their New Year’s resolutions. In 2023, 165 million American adults set a New Year’s resolution. Yet, according to research, only 8 percent of all people ever feel that they are successful in achieving it. And 42 percent give up on their resolution before February 1st. In previous years, I saw this at the gym – it would be packed in January but back to the usual patrons in February.

Why do people fail at goal setting? People don’t achieve their goals because they lack the tools to do proper goal-setting. Improving your goal-setting techniques can help you accomplish not just your New Year’s resolution, but more at work, for your family, and for yourself in 2024.

A goal is an idea of what things look like in the future or a desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. There are four main steps to doing better goal setting -- defining your goal, breaking your goal down into steps, putting time on the calendar to achieve your goal, and, finally, thinking through the most likely obstacle to achieving your goal and mitigating it. Using these four tools will make it more likely that you accomplish your goal, whatever it is.

SMART

There are dozens of techniques for goal setting. The first challenge is to decide if the goal is outcome-based or process-based. An example of an outcome-based goal is “I want to lose 15 pounds by July 31, 2024.” A process-based goal is “I will eliminate eating process sugars by January 31, 2024.” Both goals contribute to your weight loss. Research tells us that the process-based goal may have a greater chance of success than the outcome-based goal.

Once you have decided on process vs outcome, one of the best ways to define a goal is to use the SMART mnemonic device. Defining a SMART goal means that the goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Some questions to ask yourself as you develop a SMART goal:

Specific -- What will be accomplished? What actions will you take?
Measurable -- What data will measure the goal? (How much? How well?)
Achievable -- Is the goal doable? Do you have the necessary skills and resources?
Relevant -- How does the goal align with broader goals? Does it align with my purpose? Why is the result important?
Time-Bound -- What is the time frame for accomplishing the goal?

For example, one of my goals for 2024 is: By December 31, 2024, I will have competed in six competitive events (cycling, running, triathlon, or swimming) over the year (I fell short on my 2023 goal).

Steps

Once you have a SMART goal, break your goal down into steps. One way to do this is to work backward from the goal. Take the goal and think through the last step you will need to do before you achieve it, then the previous, and then the previous. Once you get to your starting point, then you are almost ready to put the plan into action.

This is a shorter application of the backwards planning method which I discussed in a previous blog post.

Time

The biggest obstacle to achieving any goal is finding the time to take the steps needed to achieve it. Most people who fail to achieve their goals just assume that they will work harder or sleep less in order to achieve them. I feel you have a greater chance of success if you block out time towards accomplishing your goal.

Once you have your plan of action done, pull out your calendar and block time to accomplish each of the steps. Most importantly you need to figure out what you are not going to do in order to have the time to accomplish the new goal. Make sure you schedule time to evaluate your progress towards the goal and assess if the goal is still the proper objective.

As part of this goal setting, it may be worthwhile to review your personal calendar for the past month (you may need to do this forward for a month if you aren’t tracking your time accurately). Divide the different events on your calendar into three categories: the productive uses of your time (i.e. the ones that are helping you achieve the goal), the time wasters (those that don’t), and what tasks could have been done by others (delegate). Eliminate the time wasters from your calendar for the next month, delegate those tasks that can be done by others, and focus on maximizing the productive use of your time.

Getting time on the calendar to accomplish your goals is critical to achieving them.

Challenges

Finally, challenges are going to occur with trying to achieve any goal. It is important to think through what is going to be the most likely obstacle that you will encounter. Then, develop two ways to overcome the most likely obstacle to achieving the goal.

There are two other important ideas to consider with goal setting. The simple act of writing the goal down can help energize your journey to achieve it. Also, if you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by having too many goals and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones.

Conclusion

Interested in accomplishing your goals in 2024? Let's work together to make sure your personal purpose, goals, and perseverance are aligned and that you are the best that you can be. Contact me here for a free consultation on bringing on an executive coach to help you learn, grow, and accomplish your goals in 2024.

Goal Setting 2024 (#314)

The Top Five Reasons Why People Don’t Reach Their Personal Goals (#315)

The OODA Loop (#313)