10+ Useful Goal Setting Techniques

Setting goals is important if we want to achieve success. Goal Setting helps us channel our energy and achieve what we want. Goal Setting is one of the important habits for personal growth.

We shall review some goal-setting techniques that can help us set our powerful goals, goals that get accomplished.

Writing Down Goals

We have many thoughts going on in our minds. Some of them are related to our hopes. Hope for a better world. Hope for a better life. Hope for a good day. Hope for winning the lottery. These wishes are a desire for something.

We may want these things now, in the near future, or someday. These thoughts may be fleeting thoughts or something that occupy our minds. We may even have a wish list or a bucket list. However, we may not be actively pursuing achieving most of these wishes for now or in the near future. It may be easier for you to find your goals in your objectives, purpose, ambition, or aspirations.

Our minds can be scattered with many thoughts, hopes, and wishes. We wish for things to happen. But very few thoughts actually are a goal. Thoughts gain power when they get concentrated. When we decide to pursue something, that we want to happen, that wish is more likely a goal for us.

Writing down the goal helps and makes it easier for achieving something that we want it to happen.

• Improves the focus of thoughts on the written objective
• Acts like a reminder
• If there is a timeline, helps us prioritize our activities.
• Makes us accountable to ourselves or the people that matter to us.
• Improves our motivation

Announcing Goals

Announcing goals can be useful in many ways such as

• Goals provide clarity for the effort to be put into them.
• Announcing goals improves motivation, and focus to work.
• It makes individuals or teams accountable for progress toward the goal.
• It can help in providing a platform for collaboration and cooperation if there is some collective ownership over the goal.
• It improves commitment to the goal.
• Provide a sense of accomplishment when the goal is finally achieved.

Visualize for Powering Goal-Setting

Goal visualization is a very powerful method to help us stay on track and achieve our goals. A variety of visualization techniques can be used. The more vivid the picture of the SMART goals the better it is.

1. It can start with putting the goals in writing in front of ourselves.
2. Making a picture of the goal
3. Visualize the steps to achieve the goals
4. Visualize the goals of our life’s timeline.
5. Visualizing the immediate goals and their value in the context of the bigger goals in life.
6. Visualizing the future event of celebration of the goal achievement can help us discover the real meaning of the goals we have.

Law of Attraction to Achieve Your Goals

The Technique is based on the 7 Laws of Attraction which can help in goal achievement.

1. The Law of Manifestation
2. The Law of Magnetism
3. The Law of Unwavering Desire
4. The Law of Delicate Balance
5. The Law of Harmony
6. The Law of Right Action
7. The Law of Universal Influence

Some of the questions we can derive from the 7 laws of attraction to get personal goal clarity are:

1. What are your thoughts and feelings about the goal you want to achieve?
2. Why is the goal important for you? What are the feelings that draw you to this goal?
3. Do you truly want the things, you believe you want?
4. Do your goals keep your life in balance?
5. Is your goal in harmony with your family, society, and the universe?
6. Is your goal of use to the world? How does it serve the world and you?
7. What energy do you normally project to attract resources for this goal?

The 3 Steps to Achieve Goals using the Law of Attraction are:

1. Ask What You Want
   • Ask Clearly and Specifically
2. Believe You Can Get It
   • Belief You Deserve It.
   • Feel Good Now.
   • Visualize What You Want.
   • Let Go of Resistance.
3. Receive What You Want
   • Take Inspired Action.

Make a Vision Board to Empowering Your Goals

We visualize the goals in our minds. To create a vision board also called a dream board we have to put the entire story in our mind about our goal on paper/multimedia format. This makes our vision of goal accessible instantly when we want to see it.

A vision board is useful to give clarity and some solidity to the envisioned future. It can be used to visualize goals, visualize success, the path to success, resources that will come in handy, the sources of inspiration and motivation. It can be a powerful picture of what we want and looking at it daily can help us keep on track.

If it is a shared goal, or if others are supportive of your goal, it becomes easier to share your vision with them. Vision boards can be made by drawing, painting, and sticking pictures. We may also create a vision board using an online app, or existing tools on a computer/mobile and then printed it for easy access.

Values Aligned Goal Setting

Value-aligned goal setting may be used by individuals or organizations.

• An aligned goal-setting process takes into account the values of the person/organization.
• It involves identifying values that are important and setting goals that are in line with those values.
• Create a tailored action plan

Typical steps for value-based goal setting start with a reflection on values.

• Reflect on Values – What values are important to you/your organization? What are the goals based on these values?
• Focus on one Goal – Set SMART Goals
• Plan Your Goal – Create Well formed Outcomes to support goals
• Enlist Support – Alignment with people is important or impacted by the goals.
• Periodical Review – Review and stay on track

In NLP, we use the Neurological Levels of Alignment technique for complete holistic alignment including values.

SMART Goal Setting

SMART is an acronym for a popular goal-setting technique which stands for:

S- Specific – The goal should be CLEAR and well defined
M- Measurable – The PROGRESS of the goal should be measurable
A – Achievable – The goal should be ATTAINABLE, and not impossible.
R- Realistic – The goal should be RELEVANT and aligned with priorities
T- Time-Bound -The goal should have a TIMELINE, start, and end date.

Smart goals are like projects with start and finish dates. They are good for higher management in a business setting as they drive people using numbers.

Well formed Outcomes

In NLP, importance is given to well-formed outcomes instead of SMART goals. They are more inside-out way of setting goals. Goals are based on our own subjective experience representations and derive power from the emotions within.

1. State outcome in positive language.
2. Visualize a sensory description of the outcome and the steps required to get there.
3. Initiated and maintained by self/group desirous of the goal/outcome.
4. Is it worthwhile to you?
5. Is the goal Ecological? Check the advantages and disadvantages.
6. Identify more than one way to achieve the outcome. Identify a specific first step that is achievable.

PACER Test for Goal Setting

Well-formed outcomes can be checked using the PACER Test. PACER is an acronym for

P – Positively stated
A – Achievable
C – Context
E – Ecological
R – Resources

Learn more about PACER Goal Setting

Placing Goals on Personal Timeline

In NLP practice, we visualize the concept of time.
Visualizing Time: We can learn to understand how time passes fast or slowly feels in the body.

We can also visualize our own concept of the past, present, and future as a personal timeline.

1. Present Moment Location: Focussing on the breath, we can come to present moment awareness. Wherever we feel strongly in the moment, gives is the location of the present moment.
2. Past Time Line: We can also visualize past experiences in the body and get a sense of the direction they come from. By connecting these events, to the present moment, we can visualize the past timeline.
3. Future Time Line: Imagine future events, we can similarly create an imaginary future timeline for our life.
4. Strengthening the Timeline: The past, present, and future timelines can be adjusted so that there is a good flow of energy from the past to the present, all the way into the future. The memory of the achievements of the past brings positive energy into our minds. Similarly, some events where we were not so successful, bring out the learnings.

Visualizing the Future in more detail

• Taking the positive qualities and the learnings, we can visualize future events as if they are happening in the present moment.
• If we have visualized a future goal, we can place it at the appropriate place on the timeline.
• We then visualize the steps needed to reach there and visualize the milestones in reaching there.
• Coupled with imaginative mental props, we can then visualize the goal achievement happening sooner than later.
• Finally, we can adjust the distance of future events on the timeline where we find them to be the most appropriate.

Visualization of the timeline brings about the solidity of the event happening in our minds.

PACT Goal Setting

PACT is an acronym for a goal-setting technique and stands for 

Purposeful – Aligned with long-term purpose in Life
Actionable – Actions /Outputs within our control
Continuous – The focus is on continual improvement and flexibility
Trackable – Track the Action, not stressing about the end result.

This technique takes the pressure off by not focussing on measuring things that are not directly in our control. We select actions that lead us in the right direction. We continually improve the quantity and quality of our actions and track them so that we do not slack off in our efforts.

Walt Disney Creativity Pattern for Goal Setting

This technique is modeled on how Walt Disney used to go about his goal-setting. Ideally, it would involve the use of 4 different rooms that can induce the moods for creativity, realistic planning, constructive criticism, and finally execution. However, we can work with 4 corners of the room, each representing a different mindset. The steps involved in the strategy are

1. Setup
   • Set up a room for 4 mindsets/roles, dreamer, realistic planner, constructive criticism, and execution. A dreamer who has no boundaries. A planner who goes about very pragmatically implementing what the dreamer comes up with. A constructive critic, who is good at identifying risks. Finally, the executor, can take in different points of view, and help build a consensus.
   • Identify a problem that you need to solve.
   • Sit/Stand in each position and define the boundaries of 4 mindsets, creating 4 spatial anchors that you can step into quickly.
2. Generate Inputs
   • Firstly, get into your best dreamer mindset or model a person you admire and take on his/her qualities and think of the solution. (What do you want to do?)
   • Similarly, get into the realistic planning position and identify practical steps to realize the dream solution. (How you can do it?)
   • Next, use the constructive criticism position to identify the hurdles/obstacles to the solution. (What are the risks involved?)
3. Review and Finalize
   • Now taking on the role of the executor, review all the ideas and come up with a solution that is agreeable to the other 3 roles.
4. Repeat Steps 2 & 3 until you can find the best solution. Finally, you have Visualized the Goal, the steps to Achieve it, and the Obstacles to overcome to achieve the goal.

Locke and Latham’s 5 Principles Goal-Setting

The goal-setting technique created by the inventors of goal-setting is called Locke and Latham’s 5 Principles. According to Locke and Latham, we should take these 5 goal-setting principles into consideration:

• Clarity – Set Clear Goals
• Challenge – Optimum level of stretch targets – neither unachievable high nor very easy.
• Commitment – Visualize goal achievement and review the energy from the end state. If it is something you really want to achieve.
• Feedback – Decide on milestones, and a tracking mechanism for periodic review and feedback will help to keep on track.
• Task complexity – Allocate additional time for learning and experimentation where complex tasks are involved.

BHAG Goal Setting – THINK BIG, AIM HIGH

BHAG is a concept developed in the book Built to Last by Jim Collins and co-author Jerry I. Porras. The first edition of the book was published on October 26, 1994, by HarperBusiness. it is about the Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. Jim Collins is also well known for his book Good to Great.

BHAG stands for BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOAL. A goal that is

• Long Term (Say 10- 30 year time frame)
• Ambitious
• Inspirational
• Motivational

This technique is suggested for companies to keep developing the company so that it should not become complacent and with BHAG goals, experimentation, and continual improvement companies can last in a changing environment. It is meant to goal that stimulates progress and engages people in an organization.

Balance Score Card

The balanced scorecard is a technique for goal-setting and performance management mainly used by organizations. It involves four perspectives; financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth.

It helps in focusing on actions that are in line with vision, mission, and strategy. Learn more about the balanced scorecard technique.

Conclusion

We should choose goal-setting techniques commensurate with the goals at hand. We have to choose techniques at personal level and organizational levels. Where we need more emotional power, we should look at techniques that involve visualization. Sensory power is necessary for medium and long-term goals. For short-term goals, clarity, and willpower can work.

If there are challenges in getting emotional power, value-based alignment might help. Placing goals on the timeline can boost confidence based on previous achievements and learn from the setback if any.

Writing down goals, and announcing goals can also be very effective for short-term goals.

• In personal development, we can look at 10-year, 30-year, or life-long goals which are ambitious, motivating, and inspiring. We can think of BHAG goals.
• We can then create a vision board for the next 5 years. Combined with SMART goals or PACER technique for medium-term goals say 1-2 years.
• Use well-formed outcomes for short-term goals of a few weeks to months.
• Daly Affirmations can help us remain positive and looking at the vision board can help us remain focussed.

If you need help with goal setting, you can always take help from a good coach.