We know that publishing an article on resolutions towards the end of January may be a little surprising. But we also know something else, which won’t surprise you – most people give up on their resolutions within a week, with the rest lasting a few more before throwing in the towel.
On the whole, people fail to keep their resolutions. But why? Looking at the reasons behind this, we’re taking the opportunity to look at how your business can set realistic targets all staff can buy into and feel involved in. You can make resolutions any time - it’s definitely not too late.
Know your ultimate vision
The place to start with any goal, is what you want to achieve overall. To do this, you need to know what you believe in. If, for example, you’re starting a diet you need to identify what it is you ultimately want. Exercise as part of your daily routine? Being able to lift a certain amount of weight? Feeling confident and energised?
The same goes for businesses and setting long-term goals in line with the vision of your company. Do you see yourself as a challenger brand? Make some long-term goals for the heads of your business to appear at certain conferences as keynote speakers. Answer the classic question: where do you want to be in five (or three or 10) years? And build your vision, and then your goals around your answer.
Be SMART, and more
Being SMART doesn’t just mean following the often HR-quoted Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound target list (although that does help). We all know that we should set goals to this template, and we assume that we can, but most of us have never been taught how to do that effectively.
Paying attention to how we set our goals makes us more likely to achieve them, making us feel good about ourselves and our lives – both in and outside of work. So, first of all, don’t try and change too much at one time. Your employees will feel under too much pressure and your goals will immediately feel out of reach to them. We advise that after you’ve mapped out your vision, you start with a sensible timeframe with plenty of small steps laddering up to an overall goal. Break it down – and always aim a little bit beyond what you and your team can currently do.
These smaller goals and realistic timeframes will help you stay on track for bigger ones. Remember that just like new year doesn’t have to be the time you make resolutions, 12 months doesn’t have to be the timeframe for achieving them. Get your team involved in this stage and make it work for you. To stay on top of your plan, get weekly updates and share these round to motivate your team. You could also consider tech management tools to keep track of progress.
Visualise progress
Writing your goals down and sharing them increases the likelihood of sticking to them. Once they’re out there, you can’t take them back. Whether it’s committing to them in your project management tool, pinning them up in the office kitchen or handing it out individually, make your goals as visual as possible.
Visualising progress has two advantages. The first step feels easier to organise and encourage when your team can see it in context. For example, spending a certain portion of each week doing one task differently seems a whole lot more manageable when you can see what it adds up to in the long-term. Second, because you’ve done the ground work and set specific goals by action rather than outcome, you’ll know when you’ve achieved progress and be able to visually document it.
Think about marshmallows
The (now iconic) Marshmallow Test was created in the 1960s by psychologist professor Walter Mischel. In his studies, a child was offered a choice between one marshmallow provided immediately, or two marshmallows if they could resist eating the first one for 15 minutes. The children who waited the full 15 minutes (around a third) were later proved to have done better in school, scored higher in exams and were more likely to go on to university. They also tended to be healthier and more popular.
But how does this correlate to setting goals for your company? It’s all about willpower. It takes a lot of hard work and willpower to reach a destination – and everyone has a different level of self-control. The more you have, the more chance you have of reaching your goals. The ability to resist short-term temptation to meet long-term goals is difficult, and should therefore be something you think about when you set your goals.
Think about willpower as a muscle that can be strengthened and improved with practice. Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney explored this concept in their book: Willpower: Why Self-Control is The Secret to Success. They suggest establishing good habits and routines to take the strain off willpower. Meanwhile, they explain that using your willpower actively (for example, eating and writing with a different hand to normal for a week) can help you to develop it.
Celebrate
Most importantly, when you reach one of your goals, take the time to enjoy the moment and thank the team around you who contributed to the success. But don’t stop there – plan the next step and start working towards that. This year, resolve to take resolutions far beyond January.
Content on this page is paid for and provided by Kia Fleet sponsor of the Guardian Small Business Network Accessing Expertise hub.
