Set Effective Goals for 2022

Happy New Year from everyone at Corporate Training Materials!

This time of year is an excellent opportunity to reflect on your professional goals, and set your objectives for the upcoming year.

Have you considered the best ways to strategically set goals? This will give you more clarity on the steps you need to take to meet them.

Below is our guide to effectively setting your 2022 goals.

The Four Ps of Goal Setting

You need goals to get things done. However, not every goal is effective. The way that you set and clarify your goals can be a reflection on how and if you can meet them. When establishing goals, it is important to remember the Four P’s of goal setting. These are:

Positive - When you are creating goals, ensure they are positive. Focus on what you want to achieve rather than what you want to avoid. For example, write, “I will get a promotion.” rather than “I will no longer work at my current job.” Staying focused on the positive will help improve your outlook and remove any negativity. This puts you in a better mindset for success. When creating positive goals, remember to be as specific as possible.

Personal - Goals should reflect your dreams and desires. If they are not personal, they are ineffective. Your goals should be about you, and only you. For example, “My boss will appreciate me.” is an ineffective goal because it is not about you. It is possible to be a wonderful employee and still be unappreciated. A better goal would be, “I will find a supervisory position where I am appreciated for my talent.” If your goals are not personal, you will never achieve them. Making goals personal places the responsibility on you, other people do not determine when you reach your goals.

Possible - Creating impossible goals will set you up for failure and disappointment. Creating possible goals requires honesty. Some goals may require continued education or experience to achieve, while others will remain out of reach. You need to assess your talents and determine what you can achieve. Once you have determined which goals are possible, success will be within reach.

Prioritized - If you were to brainstorm your goals, it could become overwhelming, but listing and prioritizing them may help you eliminate any that may be out of reach. Begin by numerically ranking your goals and choosing the five goals that are the most important to you. Choose your goals based on what you’re passionate about to build motivation.

Smart Goals

If you’re finding it difficult to achieve your goals, perhaps you are not establishing your goals effectively. Whenever you create goals, follow the rules for SMART goals: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. When you combine the elements of SMART goals, you have a greater chance of success.

Specific - Goals need to be specific. Goals that are broad and general may be too difficult to achieve. For example, “Improve my life” is too broad. Specific goals explain what is necessary to complete a goal and guides you as you try to reach that goal. Specific goals may also identify location, requirements, and the reasoning behind the goal.

Example:

• General goal: Make more money.

• Specific goal: Earn a promotion with a pay increase.

Measurable - Goals need to be measurable in order to be effective. A measurable goal specifies when a goal is accomplished by answering, “how much?” or “how many?” It provides measurable results. Without measurable goals, it is difficult to realize when the goal has been reached.

Example:

• General goal: Work on a book.
• Measurable goal: Write 10 pages a day of a book.

Attainable - Goals must always be attainable. It is important that you create goals that are challenging, but they still need to be within reach. When goals are unattainable, you may give up on them without even trying. The measure of a goal should always be attainable.

• Unattainable goal: Earn $1 million in the next three months.
• Attainable goal: Earn a $2 an hour raise with my next review.

Realistic - It is important that you set realistic goals. Realistic goals are directly related to your abilities. For example, a goal to reprogram the computer is not realistic if you do not have the education or experience to accomplish the task. Additionally, you need to make sure that you have access to the tools necessary to meet your goals. If a goal seems unrealistic, break it down into smaller chunks to know for certain.

Example:

• Unrealistic Goal: Run a marathon. (without training)
• Realistic Goal: Complete a marathon after training for a year.

Timely - Always create goals that have specific time frames. General goals do not establish any time frames, which means that you may continue to pursue goals that you should relinquish. Timely goals encourage you to move forward in order to meet the deadline you have established. Once a time frame has been reached, you should take the time to reevaluate the goal.

Example:

• General goal: Complete a computer training course.
• Timely goal: Complete a computer training course within the next month.

Once you have the answers to these questions, you will be able to adapt your actions in the future.

Setting Goals Effectively: Quick Tips

Below are some more quick tips to keep in mind when setting your 2022 goals.

Write it Down – Writing your goals down creates a visual reminder of where you are going. When you are writing down your goals, remember to use the present tense, this will help you visualize reaching your goals. Once your goals are written down, you should display them someplace where you will see them regularly.

Track Your Progress - Tracking your progress will help you see your accomplishments and which areas require more effort. Additionally, seeing the improvements that you make will motivate you to continue your hard work. Over time, you should see yourself consistently reaching more of your daily goals. There are different ways to track progress. You may choose to do it by hand, use a spreadsheet, or use an online tool. No matter the format you use, charting requires you to complete a list of daily tasks (or mini goals) that will position you to meet your overall goal. At the end of each day, check off the tasks that you accomplished. Do not expect to always reach all of your mini goals. The purpose of tracking progress is to show you the areas that need more of your focus.

Keep a Calendar - Calendars are familiar tools, that when used effectively, improve time management skills. When using a calendar to manage time, it is important that you only use one. Given the different calendar options, it is easy to try to integrate different calendars, but you risk scheduling mistakes. You can choose from physical calendars, or simply use the calendar in your email or on your phone. Find the calendar that works for you and stick with it.

Conclusion

We hope our tips and tricks for goal setting helps you as you determine your personal and professional objectives for 2022.

Looking to meet your organizational goals with corporate training? Get started with a free course today!

Posted by Katelyn Roy on December 30, 2021