I am a huge fan of setting goals for my life. Early in my college days I had a professor who repeated a 1,000x (it felt like it) the mantra; “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there!” or  “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it everytime!” I can still hear Dr. Barcalow speaking even now as I type this blog.

While I do not ever remember hearing about the science of goal setting, I am learning there is quite a bit of writing about this topic. There have been major developments in the field of neuroscience that aids in our comprehension of behavior and achievement. While the volume of the book could be wrote on this topic I will limit myself to 3 key elements in establishing goals as we prepare for 2015.

GOAL #1 – Set BHAG Goals ( Big Hairy Audacious Goals)

The science of goal setting  would indicate there is a relationship between big goals and performance. Said another way, the bigger the goal the more apt we are to attempt the goal. According to Kerr and LePelly as quoted in the book; New Developments in Goal Setting & Task Performance, that bigger goals tend to generate sustained enthusiasm  and higher levels of performance. So as you think about 2015 – set the goal higher than anything you have attempted before. As long as you are committed to the goal, you might surprise yourself in what you are capable of accomplishing. When was the last time you thought of something for the first time?

GOAL #2 – Big Goals – Big Performance

Big goals are better than “to-do-lists” because these lists are vague. A to-do-list does not define what is effective, so we are left with more questions than answers. So here are four steps that assist in the accomplishment of big goals and big performance.

• Big goals orient a person toward big accomplishments and away from the irrelevant.
• Big goals activate a persons knowledge base on how this goal will be accomplished.
• Big goals lead a person to work harder at a task than something that is vague.
• Big goals require feed-back from key people to assess performance and accomplishment at key points in the journey.

GOAL #3 – Journal The Journey

If you cannot articulate your goals in written form, then you are probably day-dreaming. The science of goal setting suggests that by writing your goals out you are 42% more likely to succeed. When something is written it brings clarity and focus in a way that no other exercise can provide. Dr. Gail Matthews suggests those who share their written goals  with trusted friends increase their likelihood of success even more.

Leave your comments about setting goals. Do you try anymore? What are some of your goals for 2015 – I will go first.