Why Not Set Goals You Can Actually Achieve?
Setting goals can improve business performance. It only works when you set the right goals. Too many people focus on what's not working and their weaknesses. I think that's a bad idea. I think you'll have better success and more improvement if you forget about working on your weaknesses.
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PrintAre you eating cookies yet? Some of you set New Year’s resolutions that already have gone by the wayside. Don’t be upset. Some goals should never have been made. I’ve got another way for you to get better business results.
Here’s what you can do before you decide that you’re going to increase sales this year, become a better manager or whatever you decide you want to do. Check your attitude. Is it really something you want to do?
Why is that important? Because when you realize that you are setting a goal about something you hate, then you also have to face the reality that this is going to be a real challenge for you.
Here’s a better idea. Why not set goals for the things you like to do? Why not improve what you like to do instead of working on the stuff you hate to do and aren’t very good at anyway?
I’m a believer in the Gallup research. Gallup has studied employee performance for 30 years. Gallup research has proven that the best way to develop employees is to identify the ways in which they most naturally think, feel, and behave. You then build on those talents to create strengths. They found that developing strengths gets the greatest return on investment.
Why should you be any different?
It saddens me when so many women set goals for themselves based on a weakness that they think they’ll develop. Stop it! Instead, look at what you what you like and then strive to improve there.
I’m not giving you a pass on poor performance. What I’m saying is that I do want you to stop wasting time on areas that just won’t produce what you need to thrive.
Here’s an example. I love to be organized. I think I’m pretty good at it, too. I watch how many steps it takes me to find just what I need when I’m working and looking for something. Finding something immediately is always my goal.
This year I set a goal to be even more organized. My goal is to minimize the amount of printing that I do. Why printing? Because paper takes time to file and manage. I find using technology like search functions is much faster and easier. I find exactly what I need. That makes me more organized—and happier. It also gets me better sales results as I have more time to work on sales.
Sure I could set some goals on strategy, but I love organization more. What about you? What can you say about your work that you love? Why not set some goals to improve in that area?
The statistics support me, too. Almost half of American adults make one or more resolutions each year. The research that I’ve seen says that after the first week only 75% of those goals are being maintained. It goes down to 64% after a month. Those aren’t great statistics. I’ll bet if more people focused on improving their strengths they would find their resolutions lasting a lot longer.
Now go eat that cookie.
