What are the characteristics of a good goal?
Conditions for good goal formulation
Research has proven that setting goals is a very effective way to make progress towards achieving dreams and achieving success. People who set goals in life are 25% more likely to succeed in achieving their goals.
Of course, the simplest goal for any person, whatever his job or location, is to achieve success, but this goal alone is not sufficient to be considered an effective goal that leads to success.
It is better to set a set of short, medium and long-term goals, and it is also good to divide the goals into sections, for example, goals, sales, marketing and growth.
Some companies may use the SMART model to define the characteristics of smart goals, but in general, you must take into account several characteristics when setting goals, including:
- Well defined
Being specific and well defined is the foundation for any goal because if you don't know where the end zone is, you don't know how to score. For a business owner, a specific, well-defined goal focuses on a task that moves the company forward. Examples of specific goals are hiring an assistant, selling 20 units, making 100 cold calls, or launching a new product.
And after setting the goal, he must make a well-defined business plan as well. For example, launching a new product may have a business plan that includes research, developing a prototype, testing the model, and obtaining user feedback.
- measurable in nature
Measurable refers to the fact that the goal should have a ruler or scoreboard attached to it, if the goal is to sell more widgets and you sell one more than last time, that is not the goal that defines what is needed.
Making 100 cold calls is both a measurable goal and action, as a stat sheet can easily track whether or not you've achieved the goal.
Keep in mind that not every objective is results-oriented for example the number of marketing calls you make won't tell you anything about how many sales were made or how much revenue was generated, but it can be considered a key indicator of success that gives you insight into how many calls are required to Achieve a certain number of sales.
- be relevant to the job
Setting arbitrary goals will not help anyone, so when setting a goal, whether for the company, the organization, or the employees, it must be closely related to that person's mission or the company's vision.
For example if a customer service bore sometimes makes sales by pivoting on a service call. , the sales target required of him does not have to be the same as the number required of the sales employee, but rather the goal set for this employee should be to help the customer within 90 seconds, as this is the goal related to his job, otherwise it is arbitrary.
- Goals should be updated and kept relevant throughout the year
Goals are only effective if they are relevant, and oftentimes goals are deprecated throughout the year and become outdated and therefore irrelevant.
Organizations that regularly revise their goals significantly outperform those that use annual goals, according to research by Bersin & Associates.
When it is possible to measure ongoing processes, goal setting also allows for consistent monitoring of goal setting steps, and to ensure that you have set a good goal you should also ensure that light processes are created to “check” the goal progress periodically and make sure that the goals are up to date and remain relevant.
Research has proven that setting goals is a very effective way to make progress towards achieving dreams and achieving success. People who set goals in life are 25% more likely to succeed in achieving their goals.
Of course, the simplest goal for any person, whatever his job or location, is to achieve success, but this goal alone is not sufficient to be considered an effective goal that leads to success.
It is better to set a set of short, medium and long-term goals, and it is also good to divide the goals into sections, for example, goals, sales, marketing and growth.
Some companies may use the SMART model to define the characteristics of smart goals, but in general, you must take into account several characteristics when setting goals, including:
- Well defined
Being specific and well defined is the foundation for any goal because if you don't know where the end zone is, you don't know how to score. For a business owner, a specific, well-defined goal focuses on a task that moves the company forward. Examples of specific goals are hiring an assistant, selling 20 units, making 100 cold calls, or launching a new product.
And after setting the goal, he must make a well-defined business plan as well. For example, launching a new product may have a business plan that includes research, developing a prototype, testing the model, and obtaining user feedback.
- measurable in nature
Measurable refers to the fact that the goal should have a ruler or scoreboard attached to it, if the goal is to sell more widgets and you sell one more than last time, that is not the goal that defines what is needed.
Making 100 cold calls is both a measurable goal and action, as a stat sheet can easily track whether or not you've achieved the goal.
Keep in mind that not every objective is results-oriented for example the number of marketing calls you make won't tell you anything about how many sales were made or how much revenue was generated, but it can be considered a key indicator of success that gives you insight into how many calls are required to Achieve a certain number of sales.
- be relevant to the job
Setting arbitrary goals will not help anyone, so when setting a goal, whether for the company, the organization, or the employees, it must be closely related to that person's mission or the company's vision.
For example if a customer service bore sometimes makes sales by pivoting on a service call. , the sales target required of him does not have to be the same as the number required of the sales employee, but rather the goal set for this employee should be to help the customer within 90 seconds, as this is the goal related to his job, otherwise it is arbitrary.
- Goals should be updated and kept relevant throughout the year
Goals are only effective if they are relevant, and oftentimes goals are deprecated throughout the year and become outdated and therefore irrelevant.
Organizations that regularly revise their goals significantly outperform those that use annual goals, according to research by Bersin & Associates.
When it is possible to measure ongoing processes, goal setting also allows for consistent monitoring of goal setting steps, and to ensure that you have set a good goal you should also ensure that light processes are created to “check” the goal progress periodically and make sure that the goals are up to date and remain relevant.
conditions for achieving the goal
Setting a good goal is not the only way to success, but hard work to achieve the goal is the basis for success, and during work make sure to meet the following conditions for achieving the goal, whether in personal or practical goals.
- Accurate time limit to achieve the goal
For example, you must set July 1 to lose 200 pounds of your weight, and you may not be able to achieve all the goal by this day and you may have lost only 120 pounds at this time, then you can update the goal, and this does not mean procrastination, but setting a specific time is A powerful motivator, in fact, to succeed in achieving the goal.
- When you set goals for yourself it is important to motivate you
This means making sure that they are important to you and that there is value in achieving them. If you have little interest in the outcome, or it is irrelevant to looking at the bigger picture, then the chance of you working toward it is slim. Motivation is key to achieving goals.
To make sure your goal is motivating, write down why it is valuable and important to you, and ask yourself if I would share my goal with others what would I say to them to convince them that it is worthwhile.
- Set goals in writing
The physical act of writing down the goal makes it real and tangible, and you will have no excuse for forgetting the goal, and it is better to use the word “I will” rather than “I would” or “maybe.”
For example, “I will reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year,” not “I would like to reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year.” The first goal formula has power and you can "see" yourself reducing expenses and the second lacks passion and gives you an excuse if I veered off target, it's not motivational.
- Determine the steps carefully
This step is often missed in the goal setting process. You set the goal and then become so focused on the outcome that you forget to plan out all the steps needed to reach that goal. By writing down the individual steps and then crossing out each step as you complete it, you will realize that you are making progress toward your ultimate goal.
This is especially important if your goal is large, demanding, or long-term.
Setting a good goal is not the only way to success, but hard work to achieve the goal is the basis for success, and during work make sure to meet the following conditions for achieving the goal, whether in personal or practical goals.
- Accurate time limit to achieve the goal
For example, you must set July 1 to lose 200 pounds of your weight, and you may not be able to achieve all the goal by this day and you may have lost only 120 pounds at this time, then you can update the goal, and this does not mean procrastination, but setting a specific time is A powerful motivator, in fact, to succeed in achieving the goal.
- When you set goals for yourself it is important to motivate you
This means making sure that they are important to you and that there is value in achieving them. If you have little interest in the outcome, or it is irrelevant to looking at the bigger picture, then the chance of you working toward it is slim. Motivation is key to achieving goals.
To make sure your goal is motivating, write down why it is valuable and important to you, and ask yourself if I would share my goal with others what would I say to them to convince them that it is worthwhile.
- Set goals in writing
The physical act of writing down the goal makes it real and tangible, and you will have no excuse for forgetting the goal, and it is better to use the word “I will” rather than “I would” or “maybe.”
For example, “I will reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year,” not “I would like to reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year.” The first goal formula has power and you can "see" yourself reducing expenses and the second lacks passion and gives you an excuse if I veered off target, it's not motivational.
- Determine the steps carefully
This step is often missed in the goal setting process. You set the goal and then become so focused on the outcome that you forget to plan out all the steps needed to reach that goal. By writing down the individual steps and then crossing out each step as you complete it, you will realize that you are making progress toward your ultimate goal.
This is especially important if your goal is large, demanding, or long-term.