Career Goal Setting - Goal Celebration

Have you ever set yourself a goal and then got bogged down in trying to achieve it? You may be setting the wrong type of goals.

Understanding the difference between means goals and end goals is the key. Very often the two types of goals get mixed up. An end goal should be something that brings you fulfilment, the means goals are the steps you need to take to get you to the end goal. When we focus only on the specifics of how to get something rather than the ‘what’ and the ‘why’, we can get blocked and frustrated.

Often, we set goals based on what we know right now and then what we can see as the next logical step. However, this can keep us narrow minded. If we set a goal based on the end result, we want our brains are then free to find multiple ways of achieving those goals.

As an example, say you want to progress in your career or you want a promotion. In such an instance, you may focus on working harder, staying later, or going to certain networking events. To a certain extent, this goal is out of your hands because it depends on other people, the type of company you work for, your boss, and/or the opportunities available within the company you are in.

If you instead focused on the end goal, your pathway to attaining a promotion might look very different. The end goal might then be, “I want to reach my full potential within the environment I am in." In defining the goal in this way, you are opening up your options and your brain is then able to tap into all sorts of inspiration to help you reach it and you are more likely to feel fulfilled rather than frustrated.

Such a goal is portable: you can take it anywhere, you can reach your full potential within your environment regardless of whether someone rewards you for it, AND you can reach your full potential within your environment whether it is at company A, B or another route altogether.

There are a couple of exercises that can help you work out your end goals and separate them from your means goals.

Exercise 1: distinguishing means goals from end goals

The first exercise is based on the Japanese business practice called the "five whys" (originally aimed at getting to the root cause of a problem, but can also be used in goal-setting).

The process involves looking at your goal and asking yourself a series of "whys" until you reach a conclusion about the intention of your goal. This helps separate the two types of goals out from each other.

Though you don't always have to aim for five whys, try to ask as many whys as possible. In the following example, there are four:

"I want a promotion."

Why?

"Because I want more money."

Why?

"Because I want to travel."

Why?

"Because I want a life of experience and adventure" -- this is the end goal.

Another example might be:

"I want to leave my job."

Why?

"Because it isn't flexible enough."

Why?

"Because I am not around enough for my children, and I feel I'm not performing as a parent."

Why?

"Because I want to be present for my children as they grow up" -- again, this is the end goal.

The end goal should always be the starting point, meaning all the other goals above become means goals. The end goal keeps you motivated along the way and helps your creativity and inspiration flow -- helping you to achieve that life of adventure and experience or find the job that creates the freedom and choice around working hours.

You can bring this model of goal setting into the workplace which also works really well in a professional setting. In this instance, the means goals is setting a target of calling ten clients a day:

"We need to call ten clients a day."

Why?

"Because we want to win new business."

Why?

"Because we want to grow as a team."

Why?

"Because we want to open up more opportunities for team members to progress within the business."

Why?

"Because team members have their own individual end goals that they want to achieve" -- end goal.

Another way to answer this same initial question might be:

"We need to call ten clients a day."

Why?

"Because we want to win new business."

Why?

"Because we know the product we are selling really helps our customers."

Why?

"Because we all want to work for a company that ultimately strives to help people." -- end goal.

By stepping away from the means goal -- calling ten clients a day -- the end goal becomes apparent and the daily task has a purpose that is greater than itself. In other words, those ten client calls a day may turn into other creative ways of winning new business.

Exercise 2: defining your end goals

This exercise revolves around three questions and helps you really define what your end goals are. Once you have defined them you can then put things in place to help you achieve them (the means goals).

Take a piece of paper and divide it into three columns. In the first column, write the heading Experiences; in the middle column, write the heading Growth; and in the final column write the heading Contribution.

When you break goals down into these three areas, you'll cover all the important elements of what is most likely to give you fulfilment.

When you start to look at goals in this way, you can then begin to find multiple pathways towards achieving them.

Understanding the brain’s contribution to goal-setting

If you start with the end goal, you will increase your chances of succeeding. The brain thrives on end-goal-setting because of the way it is wired to respond. The part of your brain that creates emotion is called the amygdala; part of its job is to evaluate the degree to which the goal is important to you. The frontal lobe of your brain then defines the specifics of what the goal entails.

These two areas work together to keep you focused on, and moving towards, your goal and help you ignore the behaviours and situations that move you away. Your brain structure constantly changes (through a process called neuroplasticity) to keep itself optimised to reaching that goal.

Of course, there are other parts of the brain at play which may try to tell you that you can’t achieve the goal (your fear centre, the amygdala again!) because of engrained beliefs you have about yourself (usually from childhood). This is why the goals that you are more emotionally attached to -- the ones you feel will fulfil you --  are more likely to be achieved.

In conclusion, the brain needs to know how important a goal is to you to help you adopt behaviours and spot opportunities to bring you closer to achieving that goal. If you identify what you want and why you want it (the end goal) first, you are more likely to be motivated to achieving it. The brain will help you find multiple ways of reaching your goal. The skill lies in separating out the end goal from the means goals first.