The 5 Pillars of Successful Goal Setting

KAPM Services Limited 5 Pillars of Successful Goal Setting

1.    Challenging and SMART

“The theory of goal setting states that there is a positive, linear relationship between a challenging, specific goal and task performance. Thus, the theory makes it explicit that setting challenging, specific goals leads to higher performance than urging people to do their best, and that this positive effect is present in both self-set and assigned goals as well as individual and group goals. The theory is confirmed by hundreds of high- quality empirical studies and can therefore be regarded as one of the most ‘evidence-based’ interventions in organisation and people management” – CIPD Technical report December 2016 (Rapid evidence assessment of research literature on the effect of goal setting on workplace performance)

2.    Why

There needs to be a strong reason why the goal needs to be achieved. Achieving the goal needs to have meaning to the individual otherwise one may quit when the going gets tough. This could be for health reasons, a conviction that something will benefit humanity in general, a cause one takes on due to losing a love one, financial etc. This will create strong emotions that will enable your emotional brain support the course.

3.    Belief

Believe drives attitude; Attitude drives feelings; Feelings drive behaviour; Behaviour determines whether we succeed or not. Therefore belief determines the actions you will take. This means your belief system needs to support your goal to cause your body to take the actions that will lead to your success.

4.    Sacrifice

Understand what you need to give up to obtain your dream. If there is no commitment to the goal; goal-setting does not work. Therefore you need to understand that there will be ‘things’ you will need to give up to be able to achieve your goal. One should understand that if no sacrifice is required, one would have already attained the goal. So to move from not having the goal to attaining the goal requires sacrifice. The subconscious/Unconscious mind or the emotional part of the brain prefers sticking to what it knows or the habitual. Any changes from this is resisted and since it is more powerful than the logical part of the brain(Pre -frontal cortex), it will prevail in such a battle. You therefore need to understand these ‘sacrifices’ before you embark on your goal. This will prepare your emotional brain to be ready to part with these things. It will also programme your parietal (the part of your brain that deals with habits) with the different actions it needs to take.

5.    Plan

Without a plan, your goal is just a fantasy. “Prompting people to form implementation goals, namely if-then plans specifying when, where and how they will achieve their goals, helps them to succeed in attaining their goals. Implementation goals can also include strategies for dealing with potential setbacks that could prevent someone from attaining their goal (Toli et al 2016, Webb and Sheeran 2008)” – CIPD Technical report December 2016 (Rapid evidence assessment of research literature on the effect of goal setting on workplace performance)

Further information

Goal Setting is a keystone habit that will lead to multiple good habits and therefore enable individuals and organisations achieve their definition of success.

KAPM Services Limited runs a half day interactive course titled ‘The Psychology of Achieving Goals’. The course discusses the following:

• Understanding the importance of goal setting
• The pillars behind successful goal setting
• Understanding the mind – (using several psychological model including Freuds)
• Understanding Habits and their effect on achieving goals
• Tools to change behaviour and adopt the right habits so you can achieve your goals
• Develop an action plan during the course

The course is very interactive and uses several scientific research to teach the tools that will help you set and achieve your goal.

Author

Clement Kwegyir-Afful #BSc MSc MAPM CEng FICE

Director of KAPM Services Limited. A specialist project management firm for complex and large infrastructure projects.

Contacts

Info@kapms.co.uk

All rights, including translation, reserved. Except as permitted by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publisher

For expert consultancy services with experienced project managers, contact us today.