Image 2023 08 08 T03 44 42

How to set goals (and stick to them in style)

Search by
Search by blog tags

They’ve invaded social media, attached themselves to everything from food and fitness to life itself, and even the nation’s footballers seem to have rediscovered them (sometimes). Yes, goals are definitely in, but how do you set them and more importantly, stick to them?

Tackling the question is our guest blogger, freelance writer and HR specialist Nicola Greenbrook, who's here with some helpful advice...

Goals, goals everywhere. There are #relationshipgoals, #lifegoals, #couplegoals, #entrepreneurgoals. Even #deskgoals and #beardgoals. At the time of writing this article, 80 million Instagram posts are tagged with #goals and 733,000 with #careergoals. That's a lot of goals.

Many of us should be familiar with goal-setting in our working lives; from early objectives set during probation to the agreement of individual and development targets at appraisal. Outside of work, smartphones and activity trackers such as the Fitbit help us to stay motivated and improve our health.

Yet with the pressure to set, commit to and smash our life and career goals, it's no wonder goal setting can feel a little overwhelming at times, and why even the SMARTest and well-intended targets often fall by the wayside. 

In this month’s article, I’m considering why goals are important, how to avoid getting too tangled up in the pursuit of them and recommending ways to set and stick to your objectives with a little artistic support.



First, the theory

Social media may encourage us to live our best lives, practice self-improvement and aspire to other people’s intentions, but goal setting is not new.

In 1968, American psychologist Dr Edwin A. Locke pioneered goal-setting theory in his groundbreaking article 'Toward a theory of task motivation and incentives’, and together with Dr Gary Latham, jointly established the positive relationship between clearly identified goals and performance.

According to the 2016 CIPD technical report ‘Rapid evidence assessment of the research literature on the effect of goal setting on workplace performance’, goals affect performance through four causal mechanisms (Latham 2004) that are relevant at work; which include:

Serving a direction function, so our attention and effort is drawn to goal-relevant activities, rather than irrelevant ones (Twitter etc).

 An energising purpose; harder goals require more effort and hard graft than easy ones that, although satisfying to cross off the list or feel pleased about in your appraisal, only come with a short-term satisfaction.

If we have goals in place, they allow us to discover and/or use task-relevant knowledge and strategies; which makes us not only a clever clogs, but increases the odds for success (Locke and Latham 2002).

In summary, goals serve an important purpose. But what happens when goals go rogue?

The downside of goal pursuit

Are you an overachiever? Do you get a buzz from setting numerous goals and a rush of satisfaction when you achieve them?

Or do you feel unfulfilled rather than accomplished? Have you become a bit obsessed by your targets? Always on the hunt for something bigger and better to strive for, focusing less on intrinsic value and more on external rewards and internal or social comparison?

You’re not alone. A fixation on goals can be counterproductive and lead to poor decision making if we become too emotionally attached to ambitious goals at work. A single-minded pursuit can prevent us from learning from problems along the way and considering alternatives or lead us to make terrible decisions - all in the relentless quest of reaching our target and 'ticking it off'. 

In Destructive Goal Pursuit - The Mt Everest Disaster’, business professor D. Christopher Kayes draws upon real-life stories, including the 1996 Mount Everest climbing disaster where eight people died near the summit. He argues that the climbers were so focused on the attainment of their goal that it caused them to overlook serious problems along the way - such as decreased oxygen and bottlenecks. He coined the term ‘goalodicy’; the obsessive pursuit of goals to the point of self-destruction.

Whether planning an extreme expedition or preparing an annual report, it's easy to get a bit caught up in our own form of goalodicy.

A useful strategy is to approach your goals meaningfully, examine the process more closely and ask yourself why you’re doing it - rather than ruthlessly conquering a target and immediately focusing on the next one. Goal setting can be daunting, so breaking your main target up into smaller ones can be an effective way of making the process seems less terrifying. 

Put pen to paper

If you find yourself (and your goals) a little out of control, there are ways to regain the drive and motivation. 

Sometimes, simply writing them down can be a fast track to achievement. Speaking to Stylist magazine, Debbie Wosskow, entrepreneur and co-founder of The Allbright, a London networking club for women in business, says that she clearly writes down her personal and business goals in a notebook every New Year’s Eve. This allows her to check progress, review whether the goal is important and still relevant and stay on track.  

Meanwhile a recent study from Dominican University found that people who scribbled down their goals and kept track of their progress at least once a week accomplished significantly more than those who didn’t.

Or go one further: bujo!

Bullet journalling - or 'bujo' - is a great way to get your goals down on paper, release your creative side and build in some self-care too. It's essentially a notebook-organisation system and artfully annotated to-do list which promises to help you achieve your goals and declutter your mind.

Devotees of the practice have also added a creative and performative aspect to bullet journalling by adding hand-drawn illustrations and decorative spreads. Bullet journalling not only helps create a structure and a plan and stick to it, it can be calming and meditative too - a bit like using an adult colouring book. 

Helen Colebrook is an HR consultant from Devon and creator of the popular @JournalWithPurpose. She started using journals around four years ago and believes it can be inspiring and motivating to see how others manage their time. 

Whilst Helen admits that it can take a little more time than a usual to-do list, and it is of course important to carefully balance planning with the actual delivery at work, she also believes it encourages better time management and reflection.

A bullet journal has been proven to be more than just a pretty list; according to Forbes, vividly describing your goals in written form is strongly associated with goal success, and people who very vividly describe or picture their goals are anywhere from 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to successfully accomplish their goals than people who don’t.

I recently attended a business network event and observed many of the participants already successfully ‘bujo-ing’ and reaping the benefits when it came to goal attainment. (I felt rather pedestrian with a plain notebook full of unruly Post-Its and enthusiastic scribbles).

'Bujo': less rude than it sounds, and not just for people with too much time on their hands


And finally…

Career and business coach, Nathalina Harrison has some great takeaway tips on goal setting:

 The practice of goal setting is not a waste of time, or a distraction from your 'real work’. If you don't know what you are trying to achieve in detail, how can you expect to get there? Schedule in time to do it too or it might never get done. 

 Annual and quarterly goals are a good place to start to make the process feel more manageable

 If you find you’re not achieving your goals, don’t beat yourself up about it. It could be time to revisit, reflect and review at the end of the month/quarter and have a good think about why. Did you over-schedule? Are you up to your eyes in it with other stuff? Could it be that, deep down, you may not care about the goal or believe in it? Discuss it with your manager and consider letting it go...

 Set yourself a dream goal; one that gets you really excited and motivated. Then let your other goals service this one.

...................

With a meaningful, flexible and creative approach to goal setting - written down of course - you’ll be smashing your #careergoals in no time at all. 

Nicola Greenbrook - HR Specialist & Freelance Writer

Contact Nicola, check out her brand new website, or follow her on Twitter. 

More from Nicola Greenbrook:

 Charity Careers 4: meet James Harris of Rethink Mental Illness

 How to keep things fresh at work

 How to negotiate a pay rise in the charity sector

Back to the Harris Hill Blog

  • Image 2022 11 26 T23 39 23

    Opportunity for all

    Find out how we’re working to deliver more diverse, equitable and inclusive recruitment…

    Find out more

  • Image 2022 11 26 T23 39 23

    Recruiting a charity CEO?

    Our executive recruitment specialists have an exceptional record of successful CEO, chair, trustee and…

    Find out more

  • The Harris Hill Salary Survey 2023

    Charity sector salaries

    Check out the market rate for your charity role in the latest Harris Hill Salary Survey.

    View our latest survey

News and insights

For more careers and recruitment advice: Read the Harris Hill Blog
Blogthumb Final

Thinking of temping? Here’s what to consider…

Temping offers flexibility, variety and a chance to boost your CV - but is it right for you?​ Hear from current Harris Hill temps as freelance writer and guest blogger Nicola Greenbrook explores...Do you ever catch yourself gazing out of the window, dreaming about a work life that breaks away from the conventional nine-to-five? Are you someone with multiple interests and many interconnecting ca...

Read more
Blog Thumb 2

Celebrating UK charity jobs for UK Charity Week 2023!

It's UK Charity Week 2023, so join us for a whirlwind festive tour of some of the best opportunities with charities around the country!​Yes, even though it feels about 30 seconds since you bundled last year’s decorations into an overstuffed box in the loft*, it’s December already, which means it’s time to get them down but more importantly, time for UK Charity Week 2023, celebrating the brillia...

Read more
B Corp Blogthumb Final

Harris Hill is now a Certified B Corporation

We're delighted to share the news that Harris Hill is now B Corp Certified! It makes us part of a global community of businesses meeting high standards of social and environmental impact, accountability and transparency, and leading the transformation of the global economic system. That's a big ambition, but at the simplest level, being certified is recognition that we're here for the right rea...

Read more
Blogthumb 2

Access all areas: how to use the Recite Me toolbar

As part of our diversity and inclusion strategy, the Harris Hill website now features the award-winning Recite Me assistive toolbar, providing a wide range of accessibility and language support tools for a more inclusive online experience. Here’s an overview of the benefits and how to use it.​There’s a lot to look out for when you’re searching for a new job online. In most cases, you'll actual...

Read more
Blogthumb

Meet the 2023 Charity Softball finalists!

​Landing just ahead of the big day and 20th anniversary celebrations, meet the teams playing for glory in the 2023 Charity Softball League!Like any other year, 2003 gave the world some things we’d rather it hadn’t - war in Iraq, the SARS outbreak, the Black Eyed Peas – but over the course of that long hot summer, it also gave us (courtesy of founding father Leo Visconti) something we’re very gl...

Read more
Finance Blog Thumb

2023 Salary Survey: finance market trends

They’re certainly earning their keep in these financially-challenging times, but are charity finance professionals securing higher salaries and what’s happening in the market? Here’s what our finance experts have to say on the subject, updated from our 2023 Salary Survey, which you can view or download below for all the figures.​​​​​​Finance market trendsTo the world of charity finance now, whe...

Read more
Blogthumb Final2

How to secure new talent (without spending a fortune)

Candidate scarcity and high inflation have made securing new staff more challenging (and expensive) than ever, but there ARE ways to improve your hiring prospects that needn't cost a thing...(updated and extended from the 2023 Harris Hill Salary Survey)Beyond the world of marketing, where they grow on carefully-branded trees, our 2023 Salary Survey finds candidates in short supply and high dema...

Read more
Temps Blog Thumb

Considering hiring a temp? Here’s what you need to know…

​Hiring temps is a flexible and cost-effective way to fill gaps and bring in extra resource or skills, but if you haven't before, where should you start and what are the benefits? Freelance writer and HR specialist Nicola Greenbrook talks us through everything you need to know.What is a temp?A temporary agency worker or ‘temp’ differs from a permanent member of staff as, rather than being direc...

Read more