What is the most important step in prioritising goals

‘A dream remains a dream till it is put into action- then it becomes a goal’.

What is the most important step in prioritising goals?

Why is setting goals so important if you want to move ahead in your professional life? Does goal setting actually have any benefits?

In this article, we take a closer look at analysing how giving priority to the right goals can change your life for the better.

If you’ve always had big dreams for yourself, then it is important to set up goals for yourself too. Studies show that the most successful people in the world have goals or milestones which are carefully tracked and monitored regularly by them.

Contrary to what many people think, goal setting does not have to be boring and if done right can truly be an eye-opener.

Why Should you Setup Professional Goals for Yourself

• Goals can be of two types- short term and long term. The perfect goal plan has a mix of both. By giving yourself a small reward whenever you accomplish a short-term goal, you keep yourself motivated to work harder.

• In order to set the right goals for yourself, you need to be honest about what you really want. If the end results mean that much to you, you’ll have to be willing to push yourself hard and make sacrifices if necessary.

• Goal setting may also involve learning new skills, upgrading one’s educational qualifications or participating in workshops and courses- depending upon what one’s goals are.

• Goals are the perfect means to help you become more focused on your professional life. You’ll find that once you become serious about your goals, you’ll also be quicker at spotting new opportunities which may help you accomplish your short-term goal faster.

• Goals can also give you more clarity of thought and help you streamline all your ideas in a much better way.

• Goals can be measured and this means that you can edit your goal plan anytime you want, if you feel that it is not helping you get the results you wanted.

• An entrepreneur or an employee who has set professional goals for himself is naturally more motivated, is a better team player, is a quick learner, is a risk taker and performs better at given tasks too.

Edward Locke and Gary Latham who are considered to be the leaders in the goal-setting theory found out that goal setting leads to an overall higher output because of the additional efforts that are put in at every stage.

The accomplishment of any goal leads to a very high degree of self-satisfaction.

Interestingly, in a paper that was the result of years of careful research, both Locke and Latham came to the conclusion that specific measurable goals were much more effective than generic goals.

If you’ve decided to set yourself some professional goals, don’t take the easy route and set goals that you know you can definitely achieve. Studies have shown that when the right set of skills aligns with a high level of commitment, even the most seemingly difficult goals are achievable.

Key Features of Goals

If you’re ready to take the first step to professional goal setting, here are a few key factors you need to keep in mind:

Clarity of Thought–
Remember that a goal which can be measured is better than a generic goal.

Make it Challenging-
Your goals should encourage you to push the boundaries but should never be impossible. Setting up goals that are highly impossible to achieve will set you up for discouragement later on as well. A goal should motivate not stress you out.

Stay Committed–
There will be plenty of times when giving up will appear easier than moving forward but staying committed is crucial to your achieving the goals. Accept whatever goals you lay out for yourself and take ownership of the process of failure and success.

Measuring the Outcome–
Giving yourself periodic feedback by monitoring your own progress or getting feedback from external sources is important. You won’t know what to tweak, where to slow down and what to improve till you measure the inputs vs the outputs.

Learning at Every Step–
The perfect goal setting is one which makes room for learning too. Learning from failures for example can be a big eye-opener and help you adjust your goals accordingly.

Goal Setting Techniques

There are plenty of tried and tested techniques to goal setting. Here are our top 4 recommendations:

SMART

If you are new to goal setting, then this is the perfect technique to begin with. The acronym Smart stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound. The idea behind setting SMART goals is to set up challenges for yourself that you know you can attain.

Setting a goal which is achievable and which can be measured gives you a high sense of accomplishment. More importantly, when you set a goal that inspires you and which is realistic, you will also gain enough confidence to raise the bar higher the next time.

HARD

Ready to really test your mettle and to take on a challenge that’s bigger than life? Then this is the perfect goal setting technique for you. This acronym stands for Heartfelt, Animated, Required and Difficult. Hard goals are the direct opposite of SMART goals.

These goals are meant to be challenging and to push you into previously unexplored territory. If your end goal requires you to get out of your comfort zone, then you may find that setting HARD goals will help you get there. The key is to set goals that have an emotional attachment (to keep you going) yet which you know are difficult.

WOOP

The acronym simply stands for ‘Wish, Outcome, Obstacle and Plan’. This technique is a good one to put into practice especially if you’re aiming to make short term goals a reality.

The first step involves setting a goal that challenges you. The second step is to visualise achieving the goal and to think about the positive changes that would follow. The third step is to identify obstacles both big and small that may come in the way of your goal achievement. The fourth step is the most important because it involves creating a road map that will enable you to overcome all the obstacles.

The fourth step requires plenty of deep thinking on your part because once you have a backup plan to help you get out of any ruts, you’ll find that you will have more confidence to take on bigger risks.

The Jim Rohn Method

Tired of all the jargons and would just prefer to list your goals the old-fashioned way by using pen and paper?

Then the Jim Rohn method is the right goal setting technique for you. In fact, writing down your goals on paper makes the goals more defined and ‘there’ in front of you.

Once you’ve committed to writing down your goals, its on you to find a way to make them a reality. The only two steps in this method are to list down each goal one after the other and to add a date mentioning when you expect to complete that specific goal.  

As and when you achieve the goal, you can simply tick it off the list.

The size of your dream doesn’t matter. Putting short term goals into motion is easier but it is also possible to break down larger goals into smaller attainable goals. Wanting to give up mid-way when the odds seem unsurmountable is quite common but it’s also important to remember that making any goal a reality is a journey that involves both highs and lows.