Category Archives: Goals

Why we don’t execute on our goals

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Almost every person comes up with an idea than can change the world, a multi-million dollar idea, or the next revolutionary product but only some people act on these and bring it to the life. Ideas by themselves are worth very little, the real value lies in the execution.

Ideas don’t change the world; it’s the people who execute these ideas that change the world. So if execution is the key, why so many people fail to execute?

Barriers to execution

First step: The first few steps of any project are the most difficult and the most critical. It takes tremendous effort to get a ball rolling but when the ball is rolling it only takes little effort to keep the ball in motion or to increase its momentum. The same applies to projects, when you are about to start a project, it takes time to get the project off the ground, but once you have put in the initial effort, it becomes easier to work on it on an ongoing basis.

Paralysis by Analysis: Starting on a dream project, we want everything to be perfect. So we spend time on trying to visualize every little detail. We make spreadsheet after spreadsheet, trying to analyze the various outcomes, trying to find the best approach to project. While planning is an important aspect of any project, over analyzing is a spiral which never leads you to the next stage of the project.

Setting Goals: Often the goal we have or the vision we have for the project is too idealistic and far-fetched such that it becomes impractical to pursue.  If you don’t have sight of immediate steps you need to take in order to achieve your goal, you are likely to be wasting your efforts and only realize long after that you are not moving towards your goal.

Motivation: When we start on a new project we are excited and dedicated but over time the drive starts to fade away. Is it boredom, do we stop believing in our ideas? No we don’t, it is a slump in motivation that slows us down and it happens to everyone at some point of time when they are working on a project.

Skills: We may not have the skills we need to execute our vision. If I have an idea of an amazing iPhone app, but don’t know how to program for it, it is likely that one will pass on the idea.

Accountability: Lack of accountability leads to no one taking ownership of a particular task on a project. A perfect way to lead an idea or strategy to failure is to make no one reasonable for the outcome of it.

If we can overcome these barriers to execution and work towards our goal, we can give ourselves a better shot of achieving our goals and realizing our vision.

Have you experienced any barriers to execution? How did you overcome these barriers to execution and move towards achieving your goals?

 

photo by: Aunt Owwee

How to Set Goals and achieve them – Going beyond the SMART framework

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If you have ever read about how to set goals, you are sure to have encountered the SMART framework for goal setting. SMART is a very useful framework for setting goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound.

Specific: Specific goals clearly state what has to be done. There are no vague words in specific goals. Nothing can be misinterpreted.

Measurable: The goal you set should be measurable. If a goal you set is not measurable, how will you know if you have achieved it or not? What cannot be measured cannot be accomplished.

Achievable: One main problem of goals is that when people are setting them, they are not actually thinking of how they can achieve them. Goal setting is not going to be fruitful if you set goals that you cannot achieve; you are setting yourself up for failure.

Relevant: The goals should be relevant to your needs, the needs of the company or the project you are trying to complete. If a goal is not relevant, it does not matter if you have achieved it or not.

Time-bound: You must set a timeline to achieve a goal, if you have not set a timeline, it is likely that the goal never gets prioritized and you are bound to not get to the target.

So SMART is a very basic and well established approach to setting goals. If you stick to the SMART goals framework, you are most likely to set goals which you can accomplish. However SMART does not show you a way of achieving your goals. You can you use these three main steps to overcome this disadvantage.

Develop a plan

Once you know what you want to achieve the next task is to lay out how you want to achieve it. Devising a plan will keep you on track towards your goal. A plan acts like a road map and will bring you on the route whenever you are lost. Be sure to set milestone in your plan. Reaching milestones will give a sense of accomplishments and motivate you to go after your goal.

Align the resources you need

If you have designed a well thought out plan, you will know what you need and when you need it, in order to achieve your goals. Make a list of these resources and see how you can have access to these resources when you need them. Resources can be financial, people and intellectual in nature. So planning ahead will definitely help you become aware of what you will need to be successful in your goals.

Work as planned and Review it

Now the only task remaining is to actually follow the plan you have created for yourself. Get started and be sure to review it at multiple points to see what’s working and what’s not working. Revising a plan or even a goal is no shame and shows that you can adapt to changes around you.

Setting SMART goals is a good way to get started but then devising an action plan, gathering the resources, following the plan and reviewing it is crucial in achieving the goals.

Have you had success in achieving your goals? What works for you and what does not? If you are looking to be better at achieving your goals, try this method, I am sure you will see results.