Set the right goals, become 30x better

It's a well-known fact that the way you set goals affects whether or not you achieve them.

You need the right balance between purpose, demand and feasibility to keep you in track.  After spending hundreds of hours helping people achieve the goals, here's what works (and what don't):

Do: start with a purpose

The first step you want to take is to have your direction in place.  A purpose that's far enough, it'll take years or decades to achieve; but specific enough, it can guide you when taking a decision.

The greatest example: think about how your best version would look like.

I want to become an inspiring leader, that connects every team across the world with their professional growth goals.

Use that sentence and see if you can picture the following scenarios:

• How would such a person act when presented with a challenge?
• ... when building relationships?
• ... when things go wrong?

Life is short.  Make sure you progress towards something meaningful.

Every small step counts.

Don't: make your purpose and your goals the same

This is a common pitfall.  Goals need to be actionable and systems-oriented.

Your aim is to save time and energy when making decisions, while making the progress evident.

Your purpose should be in the horizon, while your goals are right in front of you.

Do: find the smallest action you can take to get closer to your purpose

After finding your purpose, you may feel overwhelmed.  That's totally normal.

The way to overcome that is to answer this question:

What can I do in two minutes that takes me one step closer to my purpose?

Go nonsense:

• If you're aiming to read more, start with 1 page.
• If  you want to stay fit, exercise for 1 minute.

This way, you beat procrastination and create momentum.

After that one page, you'll crave for more.  After that one minute, you'll want to keep going.

Don't: tie it to a singular event

Let's say you want to run a marathon.  Then you go over and finish 2Km short.  What a shame! It's all a failure!

No!

Even if you finish the marathon, what about next? what about the training and the motivation to reach that point?

That's way, your goal should be about a system and habits.  Instead of thinking about a single marathon, aim for the daily workout and habits that well enable you, not to run a marathon, but to run as much as you want.

Create a routine, that keeps you going powered by non-stopping small wins.

Do: make the goals about you

Burst of energy will take you nowhere.

Work towards improving yourself, until your systems driven by goals become a part of you.

Aim for an ambitious leader that every week develops its team.  A genious researcher that reads every night.

Do: make it easy measurable and unmistakable

The biggest driver for people working towards a goal is making progress.

If you don't know how to track your wins, you'll become demotivated real fast.

Don't set a goal of "reading more", instead make sure you "read at least 5 minutes, three times a week".  That's enough to read 1 book a year.

Easy and achievable, don't you think?

Don't: aim to far in the future

You need to create urgency and take action starting now.  

Your goals shouldn't be more than 6 weeks away from your current state.  If you

Do: capitalize on the compound interest

Wondering where the headline comes from?

If you become 1% better everyday, after the end of a year, you'll stack-up growth up to 37.78 times.

Consistency is key, and the reward is huge.

A few examples of systems-oriented goals:

During the next 6 weeks, I will make sure I bring a workload proposal for myself to every planning session, so I can become

This drives proactivity, and trains decision making and planning skills.

During the next month, I will unmute and ask questions on every team session, so I can become more efficient and collaborate effectively.

The goal above will develop your teamwork, creativity and curiosity.  No extra time needed.

This is the formula you want to follow:

Worthy references & credits:

• How to become 37.78 times better at anything | Atomic Habits summary (by James Clear) (video at YouTube.com)
• The Power of Small Wins (article at hbr.org)

Set better goals.  Book a free session and get started with mentoring and professional development sofware.