Research shows goal setting is a catalyst for increased success. It helps you focus, find clarity, and stay motivated.
If you want to hit the jackpot – win at work and succeed at life, consider these three tips before writing down your 2022 goals.
Set big goals to perform and achieve more.
Leading goal-setting theorists Edwin Locke and Gary Latham found there’s an inseparable link between the level of challenge and your level of performance. Study results show 90 percent of the time, specific and challenging goals lead to higher performance than easy goals, “difficult goals are far more likely to generate sustained enthusiasm and higher levels of performance.” So set more complex and specific goals and enjoy a more significant emotional payoff.
Visualize accomplishing your stretch goals.
Your goals should stretch you without overwhelming you. When faced with seemingly unattainable goals, we disengage instead of being motivated. In a team exercise by Keer and LePelley, a team tapped into their creativity to complete a task only after being told another group could do it 85 percent faster than their first attempt. Change your perception of what’s possible to trigger a new level of performance.
Write, review, and share your goals for increased success.
According to a study by Professor Gail Matthews at the Dominican University of California, you are 42 percent more likely to achieve your goals by writing them down. Matthews also found that people who shared them with supportive friends and shared updates on their progress did even better. Writing it down brings clarity and declares purpose, and that level of intentionality gives direction to our thoughts and actions even when we’re not fully focused on the goal.
When you focus on the science behind goal setting, it’s impossible to ignore it’s benefits.
