Reaching Your Goals

Heidi Grant Halvorson runs the Motivation Science Center at Columbia’s Business School and is credited with having written the most popular blog post in Harvard Business Review’s history. The post was titled “Nine Things Successful People Do Differently” and it summarizes the heart of her excellent book Succeed; How We Can Reach Our Goals.

Here is how Halvorson summarizes the core finding from her research:

“Successful people set very specific goals and seize opportunities to act on them (using strategies like if-then planning). They always know how far they have to go and stay focused on what still needs to be done. They believe they will succeed but embrace the fact that success will not come easily. They remember that it’s about making progress, rather than doing everything perfectly right out the gate. They believe that they can develop their abilities through effort, which makes them gritty in the face of setbacks and challenges. They build their willpower through frequent exercise, make plans for how to cope when willpower is low, and try not to put themselves in situations where temptations abound. They focus on what they will do, rather than what they won’t do.”

Let’s break that down:

1.     Are your goals specific? Do you have real clarity around what you want to achieve? It’s hard to reach your destination when you don’t know where you’re going.

2.     Are you making time? Setting the destination isn’t the same as making the drive. Achieving your goal requires consistent, persistent action. Are you seizing the moment and investing the time to do what needs to be done to achieve your goal? Schedule it.

3.     Do you know how much further? Road-trippers live for the signs that tell them how much further to reach their destination. Those who successfully reach their goals track the distance between where they are and where they want to be.

4.     Are you realistically optimistic? Do you believe that you can succeed, while acknowledging that there will be challenges and obstacles along the way?

5.     Do you embrace progress over perfection? Two steps forward and one step back still equals forward motion. Focus on getting better rather than being good.

6.     Got grit? You’ll need it if you’re going to reach your goals. Remember that every obstacle is an opportunity in disguise, so never give up.

7.     Are you frugal about spending your willpower? We only have so much willpower to spend every day, so develop strategies that lower your daily spending and make plans for those moments when you’re running low. Believe that with practice you can increase your daily balance.

8.     Are you avoiding temptation? It’s amazing how often we sabotage our own efforts by putting ourselves in temptation’s way. Know your triggers. If you’re trying to lose weight, don’t buy the cookies.

9.     Are you focused on do’s or don’ts? Dieters who focus on what they can’t eat are far less successful than those who focus on what they can eat. When chasing a goal focus on what you’re gaining, not what you’re sacrificing.

The final words in Halvorson’s book are both convicting and encouraging: “There is nothing [that goal achievers] do that you can’t do, too.”

Want to read Halvorson’s HBR post? You can find it here.