Pat Stricker, RN, MEd
Senior Vice President
TCS Healthcare Technologies
We are all familiar with setting goals. It is something we do daily helping our patients/clients set their healthcare goals and something we do on an annual basis as we set our work performance goals. But how often do we really think about the overall goal-setting process and how it relates to not only our work life, but to our personal life. I would venture to guess that most of us take a lot more time and effort defining our work-related goals than we do our personal goals. Work-related goals are usually done in a much more formal, written format, whereas personal goals are more often than not a one-line general statement that is usually not even written down. Let’s take a look at the formal goal-setting process and see how it can be used to help us achieve some of our important personal life goals, as well.
The following are definitions for a GOAL:
Why We Need Goals
People without goals do not have a vision and plan for what they want to achieve in life. They seem to drift through life and accept whatever comes. They may work hard, but they do not try to develop a plan to take control of their life. They also may seem to appear complacent, bored or lethargic. On the other hand, those who are goal-oriented think about what they want out of life, determine what they can do to make it happen and set goals to achieve their desired vision.
Developing goals is a key component of life. Goals help us develop a vision, direction and path for our life. They give us a sense of clarity and focus to identify the things that are important to us and how we can achieve them. They provide us with a sense of passion, purpose, ambition, and control to make things happen, instead of just waiting for life to occur. Goals affect our thinking and actions and make us motivated and enthusiastic about what we want to do with our life. Focusing on achieving positive goals provides us with positive outcomes that lead to a sense of accomplishment. This, in turn, leads to increased self-confidence, and the more confidence you have, the more goals you will want to set.
Developing a life vision is essential. It requires defining long-term goals with associated objectives (a series of tasks or steps) that help us reach that vision. The world is so full of options that it’s easy to be overwhelmed when faced with some life decisions. How can we decide which options to choose and which to ignore? Having pre-defined long-term goals helps identify the direction you want to take in life. They let you quickly filter the options that either fit into your future vision or do not lead you in the direction you have chosen. All you have to do when faced with this type of decision is ask yourself one simple question — “Is this option aligned with my long-term goals?” If “yes,” do it. If not, skip it.
GoalBuddy, a goal-setting system, describes this as the “Focus Filter”, helping you to focus on the things that are important to you. The GoalBuddy System is a good tool for anyone who wants to learn more about goal setting. It offers a free Complete Guide to Goal Setting that includes: web-based training materials, web-based tools with exercises, templates, podcasts, and a free mobile application.
Types of Goals
There are many types of goals that help define our life vision or work performance. These are a few examples of goals and corresponding questions you might ask yourself. For each of these, the last question will be “What will it take to achieve those goals?”
Making Goals Achievable
Most people tend to make goals at some point in their lives, yet many feel that they have a hard time meeting them. They feel they are accomplishing very little, getting nowhere, and are just taking what life offers them, instead of trying to determine their own path. That generally occurs because people don’t take the time and effort to develop a vision for their future – what they want to achieve in life. They need to develop goals that are well defined, realistic and achievable.
When looking at the definitions of a goal, one indicated a goal needed to be clearly defined and measurable, have specific objectives (tasks or steps), and have a defined timeframe. This actually defines a goal-setting process called SMART, which is designed to help you clarify your goals, focus your efforts, use time and resources productively and increase your chances of achieving your life vision. The SMART system focuses on developing goals that are clear and reachable:
This system was defined about 40 years ago and has been updated by others who have suggested adding other areas of focus, such as: SMARTER that adds Evaluation and Review, and other areas that focus that include Efficacy and Feedback.
The following examples from the SMART system illustrate how to develop and achieve goals that are:
1. Specific -- All goals need to be clear and specific in order to focus your efforts on achieving them. Avoid using general statements. Ask yourself these five questions:
Example -- A specific goal may be: "I want to gain skills and experience to become the director of the department in order to build my career, increase my salary and achieve a position on the leadership team."
2. Measurable -- Goals need to be measurable in order to track progress. This helps you stay focused, meet deadlines, and feel excited and motivated as you get close to achieving the goal. Ask yourself these quantifiable questions:
Comments: You could measure your goal of acquiring the director position by completing the necessary leadership course, attaining your certification and gaining the 3-5 years of required management experience.
3. Achievable -- A goal should stretch your abilities, but it still needs to be realistic and attainable. An achievable goal should answer these questions:
Comments: Your goal of getting the skills, experience and training needed to be considered for the promotion is entirely up to you and in your control. However, the final decision of whether you get the position or not is dependent on others, such as a selection committee, human resources, a recruiter, etc.
4. Relevant -- The goals need to be important to you and align with other relevant goals. You need to have control over the goal and be responsible for achieving it. A relevant goal should answer "yes" to these questions:
5. Time-bound -- Every goal needs a target date that provides a deadline to focus on and something to work toward. This helps prevent everyday tasks from taking priority over longer-term goals.
These questions should be asked:
Comments: Be sure to also determine a realistic time frame for accomplishing the smaller objectives (tasks/steps) that are necessary to achieve your final goal.
Key Strategies for Achieving Goals
Analyzing past and future goals before you begin to set your goals may seem like a strange way to start the goal-setting process, but it will help you identify more about yourself and what is important to you. It is a key strategy to help you put things in perspective, which will make goal-setting easier.
Work-related Goals
This article has dealt primarily with personal goals, since we probably don’t spend as much time on those goals as we do on work-related goals. We set our performance goals at least annually and work with patients/clients almost daily in helping them set their healthcare goals. These are a more formal and defined processes; however, they follow similar basic principles, as discussed above, for personal goals.
Each year, organizations set strategic goals for the upcoming year. In turn, departments, units and functional areas use those goals to set even more specific goals for programs, products and services that coincide with the strategic goals. Managers then work with their individual staff members to develop individual performance goals that align with the departmental and strategic organizational goals. Using this type of process ensures that all areas and individuals in an organization are focused on the same overall goals and striving to achieve excellence in their organizational and individual goals.
This process seems easier because the strategic and departmental goals are already defined and our individual goals are developed to align with them. So we just need to use the SMART principles to develop goals that are pertinent to our role and responsibilities yet align with the strategic goals. We also add some personal performance goals that will improve our individual work performance.
There is no need to go into any more detail about developing these goals, since the process is similar, but keep these things in mind when thinking about developing work-related goals.
In summary, to be successful in achieving any type of goal, you need to spend time determining what is really important to you or the organization. You also need to choose goals that excite or motive you, since that makes it easier for you to make a solid commitment to diligently work to achieve them. When defining your goals you need to make sure they are Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. And for larger, more complex goals, you need to break them down into smaller objectives (tasks/steps) in order to ensure achieving the overall goal.
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as
what you become by achieving your goals.”
Henry David Thoreau
Pat Stricker, RN, MEd, is senior vice president of Clinical Services at TCS Healthcare Technologies. She can be reached at pstricker@tcshealthcare.com.