Core to enacting any sort of self-leadership is goal setting. While there are plenty of resources online with regards to setting goals, I find that certain aspects of the process are often glossed over or ignored, even though I and many others come across them often in our work as coaches.

What is your intention when goal setting?

No matter how well defined a given goal is, many seem to treat it as if it exists in a vacuum. I often find that my clients will say they’ve achieved the goal, but it cost them something; their work-life balance, for example, leaving them in a situation where they cannot actually enjoy the fruits of their labour.

Questions I often ask are: “Once you have achieved your goal…”

• “How do you want to feel?”
• “What will have changed in your life?”
• “What does succeeding in this goal actually look like?”

How are you going to shape your goals?

Deciding on an exact goal is no small feat, but something I often see is that people keep their goals high-level, rarely getting into the nitty-gritty of the goal, ignoring the smaller milestones and finer details.

Ali Abdal uses the acronym “N.I.C.E.” to help map his goals.

• Near: It is difficult to remain motivated for a goal that is years away, and easier to get motivated for a milestone when it is bound to happen in the near-future, within the next three to twelve months.
• Input-based: Keep your goals input-based, “What steps do you have to take in order to achieve the desired outcome?”
• Controllable: Outside factors can sometimes be influenced, but if your milestones are based on things which are entirely out of your control, you are setting yourself up for failure. Make sure that your milestones are within your purview - things which you can affect directly.
• Energising: “What part of the process is going to be good/fun/energising for you?” Having fun is important, but if you enjoy something, the motivation to do it will come naturally.

What or who do you need?

As much as self-leadership is largely about the self, “no man is an island”. Anything worth doing will require resources, be they information, skills, or equipment, but also, quite often, help from other people. Part of leading yourself is setting up a support system for yourself - people you can rely on when you need help.

Make sure to take your environment into consideration as well, your workspace is just as important as your support system – some authors, for example, will lock themselves away in a hotel room or other secluded location just to avoid disturbances.

How do you make sure that you stay on track?

What mechanisms are you putting in place to keep yourself accountable? Knowing what your milestones are is one thing, but tracking progress is an integral part of holding yourself accountable. Be sure to consider where and how you keep track of everything, via an app or day-planner; and if you have an accountability partner, make sure that your ‘self-monitoring system’ is accessible to them.

With the combination of 'SMART Goals’, Abdal’s 'NICE' system, and the points discussed above, setting and achieving your goals should become significantly easier.

View the video related to this blog.

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Other articles in this series include:

• Self-Leadership: What is it?
• Self-Leadership: Benefits for the Self‍
• Self-Leadership: Benefits for Others‍
• The Link Between Self-Leadership and Self-Awareness

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