In less than 6 weeks I will be celebrating a milestone Birthday and have set myself some goals to achieve before the special date. One of those goals relates to fitness and an experience I had recently brought back a vivid childhood memory that reflects recent findings by psychologists as to the correlation between goals, resilience and happiness.
 
According to Tal Ben Shahar, Lecturer at Harvard University in Positive Psychology:
 
1. People who set goals are more likely to succeed than those who don't. Having explicit goals with timelines and performance criteria leads to improved performance

2. Goals communicate to ourselves and others that we are capable of overcoming obstacles

3. Goals focus our attention and often become self-fulfilling prophecies

My Story
 
I recently set off for a run on the beach at 5am. I set my usual goal of the Lifeguard Tower about half a kilometre away and as I started running, a childhood memory came to me that changed all parameters of my goal.
 
I was about 4 or 5 years old and it was Summertime. My parents packed the 5 of us into the back of our old car and Dad declared that we were going for a day out to New Brighton (about 10 kilometres away). Yippee – a day out. When we neared our destination he stopped the car, turned around and said, “How about we go a little further and make it to Southport (another 20kms)?” – WOO HOO – even better!
 
And so our journey unfolded, criss-crossing north towards the border of England and Scotland with about 5 surprise ‘destinations’ in-between and we eventually arrived at our Grandparent’s home in Edinburgh about 8 hours later, still enthused and excited (which is nigh on a miracle with 5 young kids!). Mum had secretly packed our cases and popped them in the boot (trunk) and we enjoyed a wonderful 2 week holiday.

Can you imagine the outcome if Dad had said "OK - we're going to spend 8 hours together driving to Scotland - you'd better be good!"
 
I decided to apply this theory to my running  and before I knew it I had covered nearly 5 kilometres and was as enthused and excited as a 5year old!

When we focus on the Journey
 
So how does my experience reflect the latest research on goal setting and wellbeing?
 
We’ve all heard the cliché “It’s about the journey, not the destination”. Well there’s much (now validated) truth in this saying. According to British psychologist David Watson “It is the process of striving after goals, rather than goal attainment perse that is crucial for happiness and positive affect”. There are additional fundamental criteria that increase our likelihood of achieving goals.

• Self-concordance/congruence – are the goals you are setting in line with who you are? Do they align with your beliefs and values or are you feeling pressured to achieve them?   A self concordant goal feels right and has meaning. A goal that conflicts strongly with your values and beliefs could be a long time in the making

• Strengths based - when we have the opportunity each day to practise what we are good at, we will make stronger progress. Know your strengths and use them to achieve your goals
   

• Stretching & Reaching - Who are you reaching by committing to this goal? How many additional people will benefit? When you engage in something that has meaning and widespread benefit you will find momentum grows with your goal. Additionally, is the goal reaching in as far as it is a stretch for you to achieve? Just like me on the beach, don’t settle for what you can easily achieve – push a little further and revel in the satisfaction of a stretch goal or milestone attained.

 
Mnemonics are always handy to help us remember, so here’s one to GRASP for congruent goal setting. Firstly, write down the goal as specifically as you can, in the present tense (I have, I am etc) and in a positive manner i.e. what you want, not what you don't want
 
Growth – in which areas will this goal help you develop? Attitude, Skills, Knowledge or a mix?
 
Route – the journey is as important as the destination. Enjoy setting motivational milestones and celebrate wins at every stage (see work examples below)
 
Accountability – only you can cheat yourself and it never feels good. Start small and commit. Over commitment leads to disappointment - every time
 
Spontaneity – surprise yourself and throw in some curve balls. Have fun getting back on track. Don't let the predictable drain your energy

Permission to be human – remember – if you 'fall off the horse', start by having a laugh at yourself, dust yourself down and get right back on. 
 
I use a great website to hold myself accountable – it’s called www.futureme.org. You can send yourself a post dated email about how well you did on your goals.

Workplace Applications
 
Where possible and practical, apply the same criteria to work-based goals. Here’s a simple sales analogy.


Typical goal = monthly sales target

Monthly sales target (New & repeat business) $X, measured by typical KPI's:
 

• Number of cold calls
• Number of retention calls
• Number of referrals
• Conversion rates
• Deals closed
• $ upsale value
• $ on the board

KPI’s from a GRASP Perspective (enjoying the journey)

• The variety of techniques used to achieve the monthly target
• Review of success strategies
• Success crietria relating to the conversion process in getting the prospect from ‘no thanks’ to ‘send me information’ to ‘OK, let’s meet’
• Review of progress on resilience from ‘hang ups’ i.e. how quickly am I learning to bounce back and de-personalise ‘cold call criticism’?
• New information gleaned about the client e.g. personal interests, family etc.
• Experiences and examples of enhanced levels of rapport and trust being built
• What clients are saying to others that reflect positively on the business
• The level of influence the sales person has on the likelihood of an existing client referring new customers
• Skills and strengths learned in successful conversion – what works best?
• New strategies tried in objection handling and the outcomes
• The impact of new product/service knowledge on conversion rates
• A review of the sales person's monthly success file