The 5 Goal Setting Habits of High Achievers

Is it really necessary to set goals to achieve high performance? The opinions on this topic vary widely. Some people argue that without clear goals you don’t know in which direction you are heading. Other people think that setting goals puts unnecessary pressure on you and that it is better to focus on your habits to achieve certain outcomes. Yep even the people who focus on habits instead of specific goals have to admit that focusing on habits is in itself a goal is well.

If you are setting goals for your self or your employees it is important to keep certain things in mind:

1. Focus on a positive statement

If you formulate your goals in a positive way like “Increase time spent on leadership development” instead of “Don’t spend time with operational aspects” you are more like to achieve them.

2. Commit to them by writing them down

It is easy to formulate a goal in your mind, the hard part is following through. If you write down your goal, the chances are much higher that you will actually follow through. If goals are kept visible in front of you, your chances of achieving the goal are increased even more.

3. Big Goals, Small Steps

If goals are to ambitious it is easy to become overwhelmed by the effort to achieve it. It is better to not just specify goals but to also write down the immediate next steps that you need to take to achieve that goal.

4. Focus on process, not solely on outcomes

If you start to define goals you will most likely also be in a situation when you’re unable to achieve that goal. If you focus solely on the outcome this will be a very depressing experience. That’s why it’s important to not just focus on the outcome itself but also on the process. If you can honestly tell yourself that even though you have not reached the outcome completely you follow the process as much as possible then you can see that the gold has been at least partly achieved.

5. Stay realistic

Hopefully you are passionate about the goals you are trying to achieve. This passion can also become a problem, if one is too focused on achieving that goal right away. Therefore it is necessary to stay realistic with the outcome and the time plan that is required to achieve that goal. As long as one is making steady progress towards a goal one can be certain to eventually get there.

Bonus: Don’t visualize yourself after you have achieved the goal.

A lot of experts recommend that in order to motivate yourself with this helpful that you visualize your life after you have achieved that goal. It turns out that this is counterproductive. Michelle I think yourself after achieving goal increases pressure on yourself and makes it easier for you to procrastinate.

That’s why the most important recommendation is to visualize how you are working on achieving the goal. This will most likely help you achieve your outcomes.

Bernhard S