A lazy person’s guide to goal setting

by Marielle Reussink

Procrastinators may get a bad wrap, but I think among entrepreneurs, procrastination often tends not to come from a place of laziness but rather a sense of perfectionism; a deep seeded fear that if you don’t do it right, you shouldn’t do it at all.

Well, I’ve got news for you. When it comes to goal setting, there really isn’t a right or wrong way to do things. Setting goals is deeply personal, so why should you follow a methodology or template that doesn’t work for you? Getting guidance and inspiration is always good, but if it’s not working for you, it’s just not the right tool - no matter how renowned it is!

In this post, I’m sharing goal setting strategies that you can use today to help you stop worrying about how to set your goals, and instead actually just, you know, set them!

Before we dive in, let me acknowledge that goal setting can be a bit daunting, and all the pressure of kicking off the year with a revolutionary new outlook can feel overwhelming. So let’s set our expectations from the beginning: the goal of goal setting is not to have a perfect set of goals; it’s to have a framework for progress that works for you so that you can make a plan and achieve your mission.

Finding the Right Goal Setting Approach

Before we get into some of the different ways to go about goal setting, take a moment to think about your working habits, learning style and personal preferences.

Are you the type of person who works best in a quiet, private room? Do your best ideas come from brainstorming with a group? Are you a words person, a numbers person, a visual thinker or something else?

Below are just a few examples of goal setting approaches–by no means an exhaustive list, but it should be enough to get the wheels turning. Perhaps it will inspire you to come up with a method of your own!

SMART goal setting: this very popular approach is designed to ensure your goals are clear and attainable. Following this framework, you’ll create goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Vision boarding: for those who benefit from visual cues, a vision board can provide a useful tool to help you stay focused and motivated toward your goals. You can create one systematically, or follow the no rules approach.
Mind mapping: mind mapping is a useful tool for taking your thoughts and making them visual, but unlike vision boarding, you don’t just put images down on a piece of paper, you draw connections between ideas. I like to use this approach to explore goals in depth, including any pros and cons, potential challenges and key assets to consider.
OKRs: favored by many tech companies, including Google, OKRs, an acronym for Objectives and Key Results, is a system for creating ambitious goals and using a measurement system to track progress over time.

Thinking about each of these, does one stand out as a good fit for your personal style? Maybe we’re onto something here! But you don’t have to limit yourself to these structured frameworks. By all means, make up a strategy on your own.

Setting the Stage for Success

Just like there is no right and wrong technique for setting your goals, there’s no one standing over you demanding that you physically do it in a certain way.

Want to sit down at a computer in your office and create a goals document or slide deck? Great! Prefer to put on some music, grab a glass of wine and sit on your living room floor? Do that. Have some friends or colleagues that you want to bring into the fold? A group session can be a great way to go, especially if your goals depend on working as a team. Love whiteboarding? Grab a marker and go for it.

It’s all about putting yourself in an environment that allows you to get the creative juices flowing. Be intentional about it, have some fun with it, and again, take the pressure off yourself to make it perfect.

Making the Most of Your Goals

Goal setting strategy isn’t limited to the day you actually sit down (or stand up) and create your goals. There are things you can do both before and after to make sure your efforts pay off.

Beforehand, you may want to do a bit of leg work by assessing your priorities. If you’re trying to set goals for your business, you could survey your customers and get feedback to find out what they want and need, or you could do an internal SWOT analysis to identify what’s working and any gaps that need attention. If you’re setting personal, career or family goals, you could tap a trusted friend or mentor to help you assess where you’re at.

And of course, once you’ve gone to the effort of setting your goals, you don’t want to forget about them. In my experience, it’s easy to ignore your goals if you don’t get regular reminders about them.

If you’ve used a visual goal setting strategy like vision boarding, display it somewhere you’ll see it everyday. If you used a whiteboard, keep it on display, or take a picture and print it off or save it on your desktop so you can refer back to it regularly.

Or a calendar can be a helpful tool to ensure that your goals aren’t forgotten over a longer period of time. I like to set reminders in my phone so that I get a notification on a regular basis to check in with my goals and reassess my priorities. It’s become a fascinating mirror of how my life has evolved.

Life can be busy, hectic and challenging, so be kind to yourself and make it a bit easier on yourself however you can.

You don’t have to be an expert in goal setting. You don’t have to have superhero powers in remembering to do things. Just think about what you gravitate to, what type of person you are and do something. Something is always better than nothing, so why not do something today?