It’s all about alignment

People only really commit to pursuing a goal when they can see a significant benefit of their personal investment. The type of investment a person makes will be contextual but, generally, committing to a goal requires a perceived benefit that is valued at twice that of any perceived cost.

A goal without a plan is a wish

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said ‘a goal without a plan is just a wish’.

When we set a goal, we establish clear and compelling benefits. Setting a goal creates focus and inspires commitment. But setting a goal is not an end in itself: it is the beginning of a process.

What’s the purpose?

We often question the purpose of what we are doing when we hit a bump in the road, or things don’t seem to be going right. It’s usually rhetorical in nature and indicates increasing frustration and a growing sense of futility.

Invest time to create time

For most of us, life is busy. Getting everything done on time is a constant challenge, especially when juggling competing demands.

In schools, this pressure seems to accumulate throughout the year and reaches a crescendo when many demands fall at the same time, resulting in levels of stress and anxiety that make our jobs even more difficult.

Building resilience through goal setting

Resilience, the ability to bounce back in the face of challenge and adversity, is essential for personal growth and development.

Resilience provides us the capacity to accept challenges and manage the impact of adversity. It promotes survival in the most trying circumstances and promotes wellbeing under better circumstances.

Replacing old habits with new behaviours

Many of us look to change our behaviours through setting goals: losing weight, getting fit, reading more.

Setting goals is a great start to developing new and more desirable behaviours, but committing to actions that will achieve them can be a little more challenging. The more we procrastinate, the harder it becomes, and we revert to the same old habits that result in precisely the behaviours we sought to address by setting our goals. Research indicates we only do what we say we will do 50 per cent of the time.

People are creatures of habit

Habits are formed when we practise behaviours repetitively over time and they become routine. We carry out many of these routines subconsciously.

Take driving a car, for example. As learner drivers, we can be overwhelmed by the complexity of skills needed to drive; but as we become more experienced, we use many of those skills subconsciously.

Use feedback to promote professional growth

Feedback is critical to promoting (professional) learning and teaching - it’s the foundation upon which we build improvement. Interestingly, most of us find it hard to receive, or even harder to give feedback. On top of that, many teachers identify they would like to receive more feedback around their practice. 

Plan to achieve your goals

Strategic planning is critical to maximising goal achievement.

Working towards a goal requires commitment and resilience. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy; it is almost a given - it takes hard work. On this point, almost everyone can agree.

What we tend to underplay; however, is the strategic planning required to achieve our goals. Without an effective plan, we can easily become a victim of circumstance - rather than grasping control of our destiny.

What elements of effective planning increase the likelihood of achieving your goals?

These are our tips:

  • Begin with the end in mind. Visualise the achievement of your goal and embed it in your psyche. Then come back to your starting point (where you are now in relation to the goal) to develop and document a structured plan. Include a scope and sequence of incremental actions and achievement milestones.

  • Keep the plan simple. The plan needs to be actionable for you to achieve your goal. If a plan is too complex, or unrealistic, it may create challenges that become demotivating.

  • Make the actions procedural. Create new patterns of behaviour, or routines, that reduce the risk of overthinking what needs to be done and when.

  • Continually ask yourself – What else? This will ensure you have considered a wide range of strategies to create the best possible plan.

  • Ensure your plan aligns with the achievement of your goal. It may sound simple, but if your plan does not align with your goal it is very unlikely you will achieve it.

  • Plan to access resources that drive goal achievement. Resourcing should be strategic, evidence based, time and cost effective.

  • Monitor achievement milestones and evaluate your progress towards goal achievement. This provides continuous feedback, which is motivating and promotes goal attainment.

  • Revise your plan when and where required. There is no use continuing to commit to a plan that has proven to be ineffective.

  • Make your plan visible. Display the plan in a prominent place where it can’t be ignored.

  • Share your plan. It increases your commitment by increasing your accountability.

 

What is holding you back? Start planning to achieve your goals!