The Power of Effective Goal Setting
The art of setting smart goals has always fascinated me. A smart goal is:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Time-bound
Do your goals have these three traits? Fun fact: you are more likely to achieve them if they do.
In their book "New Developments in Goal Setting and Task Performance," Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham discuss this exact point. Several experiments reveal that setting specific, challenging goals that are quantifiable lead to higher levels of task performance.
How can you incorporate this into your day? By tracking your performance with a daily checklist, keeping the clearly defined, quantifiable goal always in mind.
Define your daily action plan:
To create a daily action plan, start by defining your monthly and quarterly goals. Then, break them down into smaller monthly, weekly, and daily tasks. For example, you could specify the number of calls, emails, and hours of prospecting needed each day to realistically achieve your goal.
Create a checklist that you can review at the end of each day to track your progress towards achieving your goal. Each item on your checklist should bring you closer to your clearly defined target. To ensure clarity, specify what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and where it needs to be done. For each action item, create an action trigger. For instance, "when I get to the office, I will create a checklist using the Eisenhower Matrix method."
Why are action triggers so important?
Action triggers, also known as "cue-based habit formation," are a simple but powerful tool for establishing and maintaining habits. The basic idea is to associate a particular habit with a specific trigger or cue, so that the habit becomes an automatic response to that cue.
Your daily plan could include prospecting, calling, emailing, and studying. For each of these areas, define the specific actions you need to take, the timeframes in which you will do them, and where you will do them. For example, you may need to make 50 calls per day, write five personalized emails that provide value to the prospect, and dedicate 30-60 minutes to studying the job.
By defining these tasks and holding yourself accountable, you can stay on track to achieving your goals and optimizing your workflow and call quality. Moreover, you can keep yourself accountable so that you know when you're veering off track. Too often, we get complacent after high-performance, even though we should realistically be preparing for the following weeks.