Studies prove that leaders who set goals are more successful that those who don’t. And while there’s a definite art to defining your own vision, whether or not you ever realise it, is more of a science.
Understanding what neurology and psychology teaches you about achieving your dreams might just be the factor that sets you apart from those whose ideas fall by the wayside.
1. Take time out to bond with your goal
Economists call this the ‘endowment effect’ and illustrate it with a simple experiment involving coffee and chocolate. They gave a class of students a bar of chocolate and then offered them a cup of coffee in exchange. Almost all the students refused the coffee, opting to hold onto their chocolates. But the same thing happened when students were first given coffee and then offered an exchange: they turned down the chocolate. This experience has been repeated in numerous forms, leading scientists to concur that humans tend to highly value the things they already own – more so than the things they’ve yet to own. Executive coaches have seized on this idea: they say that in order to really value a goal (and stay on course to achieve it); you must take ownership of it.
You and your goal: Let’s say your goal is to acquire three new clients for your business. By acting on your goal, you’re investing time and energy in it and are therefore more likely to feel the kind of ownership that will enable you to value that goal. As a first step, think about one very small activity that you can perform (ideally in ten minutes or less) that puts you one tiny step closer to goal realisation or even to goal planning. This could be reading an article about better self-promotion, sending an email to ask someone in your network to introduce you to a potential new business lead or contacting existing clients for testimonials that promote your business. Commit to ten minutes of action per day as a way to build a meaningful relationship between you and your goal.
Simultaneously invite your goal to take up residence in your everyday life: set ‘threenewclients2016’ as your workstation password; write the same on a post-it you stick to your bathroom cabinet; have it printed on the cover of your notebook; give the goal a project name that has some emotional significance to you; assign your goal its own weekly lunch break when you’ll spend time with it, getting to know it better and examining your current relationship with it.
2. Skills first, success second
Having a dream and imagining what it’ll be like to finally achieve it is great. But scientists believe that it can also be a sure-fire way for your goals to remain dreams. They split beginner dart players into three groups. Group one was tasked with achieving the highest score possible (in other words, they were focused entirely on the end goal). Group two were given instructions for improving their aim (in other words, they were focused entirely on the ‘how’ of getting to that big score). Group three were given half the time to focus on their aim and the other half to hit those big numbers. Group one performed worst; group three – who’d spent time building their skills before they began to focus on winning – came out on top.
You and your goal: Spend some time brainstorming what success looks like, aiming to deduce all the many things that must have happened in order for you to be successful. For example, to secure three new freelance clients by the end of the year, your “must have skills” might include: projecting a stronger presence at networking events; having more confidence and impact at new business pitches; and better time management skills to absorb the extra work. You can now concentrate on developing those skills, all the while keeping the desired end result in mind.
3. Eating elephants, one bite at a time
Medical students tasked with getting more people to get their tetanus vaccinations printed three types of leaflets. One listed all the various reasons and benefits of the vaccination. Two listed the many serious implications of not getting vaccinated, along with some gruesome images. Three detailed how and when students could find their way to the vaccination centre. Leaflet three was by far the most successful, demonstrating that drawing a map – a literal one in this case – is the key to acquiring what you need to navigate the path to goal complete.
You and your goal: So you know from the previous exercise what skills you need to acquire. The next step is to figure out how you’ll get them. Projecting a stronger presence at networking events might be as simple as attending them more frequently to drive up your practice; having more pitch confidence might require the feedback of a mentor or trusted associate following a few trial runs; better time management might come down to better defining your priorities or learning to delegate. Whittle down each of these mini goals into a process. Make each step in the process as tiny as possible.
Attending more networking sessions could look like this: 30 minutes research on events happening in the coming month; select two preferred events; book tickets to events; invite a colleague to attend events with you; diarise events; select outfit; pack business cards; practice elevator pitch; attend event; connect on LinkedIn with new associates; send follow-up email to each new connection. By making the majority of steps small, you make them doable, and there’s huge satisfaction to be had in being able to tick off several items on the list in quick succession.
4. You double your chances of success by sharing
There’s a belief that writing down your goal and all your plans around it will make you more successful that those who only mentally goal plan. While scientists have shown that there is a marginally better success rate in those who commit their plans to paper, what truly sets apart those who scribble down their thoughts, is whether those written plans are then shared. You are in fact exactly twice as likely to achieve your dreams if you share your goal with a third party and continue to check in with regular progress reports.
You and your goal: Create a goal buddy system whereby you and an associate check in weekly or monthly to discuss goal status, including achievements, setbacks and next steps. If you’ve a group of trusted colleagues, you could also create a goal club, meeting at regular intervals to share goal plans and encourage one another along the way.
