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  6. Goal Setting

Workplace Wellbeing

Goal Setting

Goal setting is a tool that can help us gain those feelings of accomplishment and pride, positively impacting our emotional and mental health through a greater sense of control and increased self-esteem. It also enhances resilience, as working toward a goal requires problem-solving and persistence, building our emotional strength. Having goals provides a sense of motivation, which can reduce stress and anxiety, as it shifts focus from uncertainties to concrete, achievable outcomes. Ultimately, setting and achieving goals is a powerful way to improve wellbeing. 

Goal setting helps give tasks and projects structure, direction, and a sense of purpose. At work, clear goals provide us with a roadmap, helping us prioritise tasks and make informed decisions about timelines and capacity. By breaking down large projects into smaller, manageable steps, goal setting also reduces overwhelm. 

It's not just in our professional lives where goal setting can benefit us. In our personal lives, goals help us create meaningful outcomes whether it's pursuing a new hobby, building relationships, or maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This sense of direction empowers us to feel a greater sense of control and purpose and stops us from being overwhelmed by our seemingly never-ending to-do lists!  

Sustainable Goals

Many of us believe that willpower alone is the key to change and although mindset is a big piece of the puzzle, failing to take adequate time to consider HOW we will achieve our goals is often a difficulty in creating a sustainable habit or fulfilling a goal.  There are several considerations that must be taken on board before we can truly make a plan that is likely to stick and it takes time, with research telling us that on average it can take 66 days to create a new habit (Lally et al., 2010).

1. Identify your motivation

Spending time to reflect on why you want to make this change or create this new habit is vital and can be a great source of motivation if maintaining your plan over time becomes challenging. If you've decided you want to stop smoking, for example, ask yourself why and be specific. You may want to increase your longevity to spend more time with loved ones or be able to take up a sport that you have always wanted to get involved in. There are any of number of things that motivate us and being clear about why we want to achieve something is important to creating meaningful change. 

2. Make a clear plan

You may have a vague idea of what you'd like to achieve but it is necessary to be clear about how you will achieve your goal. For example, you may have an overarching aspiration to 'get fit' but you also need short and medium goals to achieve this. Spend some time thinking about what the plan will look like daily or weekly and create goals to help motivate you to achieve your goal to get fit. Be realistic and start slow, making changes as you go if needs be. 

3. Identify barriers

This is key. Often we don't think about what will happen if things don't go to plan but allowing time to consider how we will deal with barriers and unforeseen eventualities can help us plan ahead and be prepared. First of all, spend some time trying to identify what the most likely barriers to your goal might be and eliminate them, for example, if you decide you are going to start jogging don't plan to go at a time that you will most likely have other competing responsibilities. Next, think of the unforeseen barriers to your plan, such as bad weather for example and consider what will you do when this happens. Remember flexibility is vital to making sure you stick to your plan. You might decide in this eventuality, you will do a class at your local gym instead. 

4. Be prepared

Make time to ensure you have everything you need before your allotted time such as any equipment, tools or gear you may need. Make sure that you leave what you need in the same place where it's easy to find. We can often look for excuses when we are not in the mood or feeling unmotivated and not having what we need to complete our task is an obvious one so always think ahead!

5. Support

We all need support from others from time to time and this is particularly true if you are trying to change something you've done for a long time such as give up smoking or begin a fitness regime after a long time away from exercise. It's important to identify the people in our lives we can look to for support when it's needed. This could be a friend, a colleague or a support group who will help you get over a hurdle. We can't underestimate the power of a supportive ear and encouragement when we need it.

6. Frameworks

Utilising some of the goal setting frameworks  available can help guide you in setting and achieve your goals.