How to Set Effective Goals: Taking it Past the Vision Board

What if I told you that your vision board may not be effective enough for you to achieve your goals…

No matter how we slice it, research shows us that people who set goals tend to experience higher levels of success, self-confidence, motivation, and autonomy (Locke & Lathan, 2006) than those who don’t. Furthermore, studies show that when people write down their goals, they are 33% more successful in accomplishing them than those who keep these same ideas in their heads. This proves that taking action and effective goal-setting is essential to our success.

While this may sound like a sweeping statement, we have to be honest. Writing what we desire in our journals (as much as we like positive reinforcement) is not going to be the thing that changes our lives.

Pasting pretty pictures from Canva onto our lock screen (as beautiful of a reminder as they are) won’t be what gets us to our goal destination. In other words, it isn’t just setting the goal, but setting the right goal and taking effective action steps that make a person successful.

So today, we’re going to delve into how to set effective goals so that you can actually accomplish the things you desire.

What is the difference between a Goal vs. a Habit?

I cover extensively within the Quarterly Goal Setting Planner the difference between a goal and a habit. It can be easy to mix these two things up, so let’s distinguish. 

The definition of Habits and Goals

A habit is a behavior that is repeated regularly. It is often repeated so frequently that it becomes subconscious and hard to give up. You can think of habits as what we tend to do instinctively or on autopilot.

On the other hand, a goal is something that a person aims towards or desires as a result. Therefore, goals tend to have finite timeframes and deadlines. 

An easy way to remember the difference is that a habit can be perpetual. In contrast, a goal has a more fixed timeframe. This doesn’t mean that one is better than the other. In fact, the two work together very well. Setting up strong and positive habits allow you to realize your goals. 

Example of how Goals and Habits Work Together

For example, suppose you set the goal of graduating with a 3.5 GPA. In that case, a strong habit may be reviewing your notes every day before bed or going to office hours for your most challenging class every week. 

These habits that you set are repeated behaviors that compound and help push you in the direction you want to go.

What makes a Goal Effective?

The SMART Goal-Setting System

You may have heard of the SMART Goal-Setting System. But if you haven’t, SMART stands for 

1. Specific
2. Measurable
3. Achievable
4. Relevant
5. Time-Bound

How do you know that your goal is Specific?

A specific goal is clear and leaves no room for ambiguity. By setting Specific goals, you know the answer to all of your W’s (who, what, when, where, why). Inherently, by answering these questions, you’ll be setting SMART goals.

How do you know that your goal is Measurable?

To make your goals measurable, you should be setting criteria that will allow you to measure your progress. A Measurable goal is trackable. Therefore, it helps to think about the relevant numbers that will help you know that you’ve reached your destination. Are there any indicators or benchmarks that you need to hit? Think about these things as you are goal-setting.

How do you know that your goal is Achievable?

How attainable/achievable your goal is, is a crucial thing to evaluate. It is so easy to get carried away when goal-setting. Suppose you’re doing this around the holidays/following New Year’s. In that case, I’d definitely recommend coming back down to earth for a second before proceeding. 

Why? During specific points of the year, primarily leading up to the New Year, we get caught up in the idea of a clean slate. While this notion is super motivating, this mentality can bite us if we don’t think about creating effective systems and benchmarks for our future selves. 

When setting goals, we want to challenge ourselves but do so reasonably. Ultimately, we need to make sure that the goals we are developing for ourselves are realistic.

Essential questions to ask yourself when you are doing a goal-setting achievability check:

1. Do I have the means and resources to get these tasks done? 
2. If not, why not? What do I need to make this possible?

How do I know that my goal is Relevant?

Relevance comes a bit later down in the acronym hierarchy, but this is one piece of the pie that you’ll know right away. All it takes is tuning into our intuition. 

A relevant goal makes sense for YOU and your life goals. Why does this matter? Many of us become subject to the expectations of other people. We start focusing on the thing our parents want for us or trying to do something that aligns with what our friends do.

To carry out your goals, you need to have a why. This is the driving force you will come back to when you no longer feel motivated. Having an emotional connection to your goal makes it feel much less random and more…relevant.

At this stage of the goal-setting process, you need to ask yourself questions like: 

1. Is this goal worth the effort required of me?
2. Are the circumstances suitable for me to achieve this goal?
3. Is this something that I want for myself or that someone else is asking of me?

Make sure you know why you are doing this before you start.

How do I know that my goal is Timely/Time-bound?

A strong goal requires you to create a timeline. Essentially, you need to have a concrete start and end date. Having a sense of urgency is critical and one of the main reasons a timed system like the Quarterly Goal-Setting System is so strong.

Before completing your goal setting, think about relevant moments in your calendar. Then, check with yourself to see if there is a particular time you should complete your tasks to achieve your goal.

Example of a Strong goal/SMART Goal vs. a weak goal

I’ll use myself as an example here. I am a native New Yorker born and raised in Brooklyn for those of you who may not know me. Something widespread amongst city kids is not learning how to drive. Shocking, I know, but the truth is it isn’t necessary here in NYC. In fact, it can be more of an impediment than anything else.

However, after living here for 20 years, I realized that it may be time to spread my wings and relocate. 

Example of a Weak Goal

With this in mind, I could say to myself, “I want to become a driver,” and add this to my list of goals.

Example of a Strong Goal

However, from what we know about setting SMART goals – this leaves a lot to be desired and many questions unanswered. A good goal may have multiple parts and will require you to answer the series of questions we walked through previously. 

Instead, I can create a list of goals say, something along the lines of:

• I will study for the permit test for one hour each day to be ready for the test on July 8th.
• Once I receive my permit, I will register for weekly driving lessons with Savvy Drivers to prepare for the road test on November 3rd. By the end of 2022, I will be a licensed driver.

What makes this example good?

If you reference our SMART criteria, you will see that these goals are more specific than the first example. I have the name of the driving school I will attend (a fictional name, by the way). I also have a personal motivation for working towards the license, which is my potential relocation. I also created multiple timeframes and quantifiable benchmarks for myself. This goal is something that I have demonstrated to myself that I can accomplish as long as I put my mind to it and remain disciplined. By its nature, it is SMART.

Conclusion 

Setting goals can be a challenge. I have definitely gotten carried away during a New Year’s goal-setting spree. But then, looking back, I saw that months had passed by, and I hadn’t taken action towards achieving anything on my list. So again, I want to remind you that it is not necessarily the goal you set but how you incorporate systems and benchmarks with yourself to achieve them.

If you feel like you need a tool that can help keep you accountable for your goals, try The Chroma Network’s Quarterly Goal-Setting Planner, which includes habit trackers, reflection questions and prompts, and space to track your goals by the month, week, and day.

If you have any questions or thoughts regarding goal setting, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments below!