GOAL SETTING

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4 min read

Refining your goals to set you up for success

 

Setting goals is crucial for everyone to accomplish more, be more productive, be less stressed and increase performance. In fact, we have been taught this from a young age. Goal setting is not something new, and at the workplace it is common for managers to help employees set and achieve goals.

Achieving these goals will likely play a significant part in your performance appraisal, hence it is crucial for you to contribute to defining these goals and set yourself up for success. For the same goal, having a more structured process to define these goals might help in achieving these goals.

 

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Before we jump into defining goals that set you up for success, it is important for you to understand that the act of defining and setting goals is not enough. What truly makes a difference is your perspective towards these goals that drives your actions. Based on the goals your manager has set for you, take some time to ponder upon the following:

 

  1. How much do you agree and accept the goal set? If there are some areas of concern about the goals set, it might be helpful to think about where these concerns stem from and potential ways to refine the goals to address these concerns.

  2. What might be some motivating factors to accomplish those goals? Understanding your motivations behind your goals supports you through the difficult times when working towards the goals. 
Let’s put this in
work context

 

Let’s try refining a goal that has been set by your manager to ensure that you can achieve these goals:

  1. Think of a specific goal your manager has set.

  2. Reflect upon the questions above to understand your level of buy-in of the goal.  

  3. If you find that there is a lack of buy-in, identify the areas that are misaligned.

  4. Brainstorm on ways to adapt the goal such that you find yourself aligned to the goal and agree with it.

  5. Check if the goal is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based). If not, you should fill the gaps on any of the missing elements.

  6. If you find that there is a lack of buy-in, identify the areas that are misaligned.

  7. Discuss with your manager on the refinement of your goal in the various aspects above.  Get their agreement and finalise on the goal you should work towards.

  8. Identify intermediate steps towards these goals - these can be treated as subgoals and milestones to track your progress.

 

 

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“You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.”

 

– Jim Rohn

 

 

 

 

It is helpful to think about how to set better goals and how goal setting motivates you.

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