The importance of defining your goals
Defining your goal
Defining a goal is the first step towards turning a vague ambition into a concrete reality. Though often overlooked, how we define our goals sets the foundation for our future results.
Vagueness in goal setting
How often have you heard someone talk about an app they’re going to make, a business they’re going to start or a language they’d like to learn? Maybe you’ve even heard it from yourself (I know I have) How often do you see these goals come to fruition? The unfortunate truth is these are more akin to wishes.
What these statements lack is specificity. A specific goal displays a clear intention and provides a standard by which our efforts can be measured. To increase specificity, we can modify our goal such that it is both measurable in nature and time dependent.
Taking language learning as an example. To make the desire to learn a new language more “specific”, we can exchange it for the more precise goal of learning 100 new words by the end of the month.
Including the measurable target of 100 words supplies a yardstick to measure our progress against and the time frame of 30 days holds us accountable. This allows us to take actionable steps towards our goal. A suitable next step might be committing to the action “every weeknight before bed I will study 5 new words and commit them to memory”.
Studies show
In a 1997 study by Gollwitzer and Brandstatter, students were asked to complete a report on their activities over the Christmas break. The treatment group were asked to state the time and place they would complete the report (they were also asked to visualise the task and state their intent to complete it) The results showed that 71% of these students completed their report compared with just 32% of the control group. Referred to as “implementation intentions” in the study, these techniques show the benefit of linking a goal with a specific context in which it will be pursued.
Procrastination
A lack of clarity allows us to put our aspirations into a bucket of “someday” and fails to provide the accountability we need to make progress. We can hide behind the vagueness of our goals so as to not confront the possibility of failure and the effort behaviour change requires.
Being explicit with our goals forces us to come to terms with exactly what we want and how we can accommodate a goal into our lifestyle, spending time with the idea and visualising what success looks like for us.
Limitations
There are situations where vagueness feels unavoidable, especially in areas where our expertise is lacking. “ I’d like to get into coding but I don’t even know where to start ” is a sentiment shared by many. It’s hard know what to aim for when you’re unfamiliar with the landscape to begin with.
In these situations, shifting the focus from outcomes to a learning related goal provides a more practical starting point. A suitable goal might be to read one introductory book on coding by the end of the month. Once a surer footing in an area is established, appropriate targets to pursue tend to emerge.
Against specificity
There are instances where specificity can be counterproductive. Someone who decides to work on the quality of their relationships by scheduling two meaningful conversations with a friend may find that the resulting discussion feels forced and awkward. Despite positive intentions, the mechanical nature of specific goal setting doesn’t lend itself to something as ineffable as human relationships.
It’s important to remember the nature of setting a specific goal for an objective outcome is often inappropriate in a world full of subjectivity. Taking a step back and realising we don’t have to formalise our desires into a success or failure framework is healthy.
Final thoughts
One of a goal’s major benefit is the sense of direction it provides. Even though our goals may change over time as we acquire more knowledge on a topic or we experience a change in values, so long as they are defined in an intentional and mindful way, we can be confident that the direction of travel is one we’ve consciously chosen.
If you found this useful you might like to try the completely free HabitAid Blueprint. To learn more visit the HabitAid home page.
Thanks for reading,
Mike
Research paper (PDF) Implementation Intentions and Effective Goal Pursuit
more on “S.M.A.R.T” goals How to Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals – CIVSA