As a career and executive coach, I realise that goals can be a double-edged sword. My clients often feel that goals are another stick and carrot approach by senior management to get things done, the promise of a pay-rise or promotion or the prospect of a poor performance review. In this article, I want to present goals as they are meant to be; an effective tool that motivates us to achieve those things that are important to us, that bring us toward our vision, that reflect who we are, that benefit us and make a contribution to our colleagues and organisation at the same time. Albert Einstein once said ”You have to learn the rules of the game and then you have to play better than anyone else”. This sounds like common sense but nobody hands us a rule book on life and work, we tend to learn the hard way, and some of us faster than others!.
Having well planned and structured goals is one of the rules of the game, make your goals better than everyone else’s! There are several approaches to goal setting but they can often appear academic and boring. They don’t always address the reasons why you want to do something or excite you to move ahead and make major changes in your life or work. The NLP ‘outcome’ process is a great basis for making your goals real, to visualise what it would be like to achieve your goal (you may change your mind!) , to identify people and resources that can help you and also to check if this is what you really want. Use present tense language and act as if you’ve already achieved the goal, set dates & milestones and describe what it’s like having achieved your goal. To get you started here are the 6 characteristics of ‘outcomes’ with questions and tips to build and maintain momentum;
- Stated Positively
- Sensory Specific
- Start & Maintain
- Appropriate Context
- Maintain Current Positive By-Products
- Ecology
1. Stated Positively
Ask yourself what it is you want and what achieving the goal will give you. Be honest with yourself and determine if you want this goal for you and if it will make a positive change in your life. This may reveal the real reason for your goal. What do you really want? If you have a good enough reason you will be motivated to achieve your goal, whatever it takes!
2. Sensory Specific
Use your senses to visualise the goal. How will you know you’ve got it? What will I see you doing? , What will you be seeing? , What will you be hearing?, What will you be saying? What will other people say? , What will you feel , what will it smell or taste like. For example, imagine the goal of a holiday home in the Carribean. Imagine telling your friends, what will they say? , Will you invite them to stay? How will you feel?, What will your typical day be? Will you feel the warm sand between your toes as you walk the beach?, or the splash of warm surf on your legs? Get the picture? Bring it alive and it will really motivate you! You can do the same with a promotion or celebrating a successful project followed by a leisurely holiday!
3. Start & Maintain
Can you do this by yourself or could you do with help? A lot of people don’t start something because they think they have to do everything themselves. They’re also afraid to ask others for help or too embarrassed in case they’re laughed at. You need courage to change and go for those things that seem unachievable. You need to identify your team to help you, people that have skills you don’t, role models that you look up to, peers and like-minded people you can network with. It’s a myth that successful people don’t want to share how they achieved their success. On the contrary they are very often delighted that people notice, take and interest in them and they want to give back, especially to someone starting out. It doesn’t need to cost more than a coffee to get great advice.
4. Appropriate Context
Is this goal for you or for someone else? Is it for you and someone else? When do you want to achieve the goal? Be realistic and patient in terms of time but if it’s too far away you may not be motivated to take action today! Is this goal a short term goal or do you want it as a permanent part of your life? Is there a time or a place where you don’t want this goal? This approach will encourage you to be honest with yourself and test your commitment to the goal. If the goal is entirely appropriate at this time you will want to achieve it!
5. Maintain Current Positive By-Products
What would you lose by achieving this goal? If you want a promotion that requires working abroad are you willing to give up living near your family? If your kids are really happy do you want to risk upsetting their lives? Are you willing to commute or prepared to make the big break? Don’t write-off opportunities or goals without thinking them through. You can be creative and develop workarounds and compromises. Your family may surprise you and if you’re determined things have a habit of falling into place. Again, be honest with yourself. If you have unresolved doubts they will hold you back and waste your time!
6. Ecology
This is about fitting in with who you are. Is this outcome in keeping with your identity? This is a great test to determine if this goal is for you or for someone else. You will not be satisfied by the goal if it is not ‘you’. If the goal supports your identity and is congruent with your values you will be excited by it and will want to achieve it. Are you willing to pay the price, even if the cost is high? Are you willing to do whatever it takes in time and effort? This will be the difference between success and failure and is another test for what you really want!
What next?
Well formed outcomes with the above characteristics and evaluation are a fantastic basis for an exciting, rewarding and purposeful life and career. The next step is to make it happen. This requires a detailed plan that includes the following:
- Resources , tools, people, skills
- Detailed tasks identified with measurable results and timelines
- Obstacles with identified solutions or workarounds
- Strategies for maintaining focus and motivation
You will need to check your results on a regular basis to identify successes and challenges and deal with them. You may need to change your approach to get a different result. Remember to view results as feedback, if it’s not what you want change what you’re doing to get a different result. Document your reviews to highlight challenges and actions to overcome them. It is important to celebrate your successes to maintain your momentum. You need to enjoy the journey or you will lose energy and struggle to keep going. If you’re not enjoying yourself go back and review the goal. Now that you’ve discovered one of the key rules of the game and learned to play go and enjoy it, but don’t forget to laugh, celebrate, smile and share your success!
Tom Walsh is a Career & Executive Coach at eclipsecoaching
