Get Ready to Set Some Goals, Whatever Your Style

Hi. Welcome to Bloom Anywhere. I'm Gwen Moran, a writer, editor, author, and problem-solver. My goal is to share information, ideas, and resources to help you overcome obstacles, reach your goals, and get more joy out of life, even when things are messy. Thanks for joining me. (If you got this from a friend, subscribe here: Bloom Anywhere.) I'd love your feedback and suggestions for future topics. Please send me an email: connect@bloomanywhere.com.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a pretty regular goal-setter. While the start of the year is a common time for people to think about what they want during the next 12 months and make plans to make that happen, I favor this time of year for that process.

September has always felt like the start of the new year to me. Where I grew up, early September was the start of the school year, and I was one of those kids who loved school. So, it’s probably related to that conditioning. It's a great time to pull out a crisp new notebook and gel pen, fire up a new page on the laptop, or use your favorite writing tool of choice and get to work on a game plan for what you want. That way, you will have a few months’ head start on the folks who will start in January.

What Type of Goal-Setting Works Best for You?

Many of us are familiar with SMART goals, but as a refresher, setting SMART goals means defining your goals in specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound ways. So, instead of saying that you will run a 5K race, you might plan to complete a 5K by running or walking. Then, you might specify the time you want to achieve in the race and the timeframe in which you want to do it (within the next six months, for example). Then, the next logical step is to break down the steps you need to achieve that goal and set deadlines for them to keep you accountable and on track.

SMART goals are a framework-based approach to goal-setting. However, other forms of goal-setting may work better for you, depending on what you want to achieve, your personality, and what motivates you. Here are a few different goal-setting approaches. This list is not comprehensive but covers a range of different styles.

Framework-based: This approach to goal-setting is outcomes-focused and may appeal to folks who like structure and a game plan, because they typically give you a clear formula for creating and organizing your goals. Unlike other approaches that can help you decide what you want to aim for and why, frameworks are essentially templates that help you make your goals achievable and trackable.

SMART goals keep you focused on specifics like what, how, and when. The WOOP (wish, outcome, obstacle, plan) approach was developed by New York University psychology professor Gabriele Oettinger and helps combine dreaming with planning for obstacles, which is a great approach if you’re contemplating big changes. Leadership expert Mark Murphy developed the HARD (heartfelt, animated, required, difficult) goals approach, which emphasizes the emotional connection to achieving certain goals—how important they are to you—as well as what you’ll need to do to get there. A more business-focused framework is OKRs (objectives and key results), which combines ambitious objectives with measurable results to make your boss happy.

Time-based: This type of approach focuses on timing, without getting into the details of how to get the goal done. The timeline is the focus instead of the outcome or process. Typically, you can categorize these types of goals into short- or long-term goals. Short-term goals give you quick wins that you can check off your to-do list within days, weeks, or months. Long-term goals, on the other hand, are the big things you want to accomplish in five, 10, or even 20 years. You can combine the two so that your long-term goals are built from your short-term wins. For example, setting a few solid short-term financial goals—save three months’ worth of expenses in an emergency fund and max out 401(k) contributions within a year—can support a long-term goal of reaching financial independence by a certain time.

Growth-based: Sometimes, the goal isn’t outcome-based, but about what you want to learn, how you want to grow, or even what type of person you want to become. For example, learning-based goals focus on building skills. To do so might require a combination of actions like taking a class, finding a mentor, and becoming proficient in a new technology. Performance-based goals also fall in this category. Those types of goals may include acing an exam or meeting a quota. One emphasizes progress, the other achievement. Both require multifaceted actions.
There are other types of goal-setting approaches, too, such as grounding your goals in your values or “backwards” goal-setting, where you reverse-engineer your plan for your goal based on the outcome you want.

You Don't Have to Choose Just One

The nuances of goal-setting approaches aren’t as important as finding an approach that works for you and fits your style. They don’t necessarily fit into absolute categories—and you can combine approaches. So, for example, you may have growth-based goals and apply one of the frameworks to them to get some structure around the process. Or, you may have some time-based goals and use a “backwards” approach to figure out what’s realistic. Go ahead and experiment with some small goals and see what’s comfortable to you.

And this brings me to last week’s big question: What’s next for you? Good grief. That’s a lot to consider, isn’t it? So much so that we should often let that marinate a bit—but not the point where we get into analysis paralysis and freeze. Have fun with it and daydream. These goal-setting approaches may give you new frameworks for experimenting and, I hope, a range of choices to help you figure out next steps when you’re ready. (I’d love to hear more when you are: feel free to share at connect@bloomanywhere.com.)

Bloom Drops

Things I want to share with you.

Tracking: Are you interested in app-based tracking of your tasks or progress toward your goals? There are a few freemium—free for basic versions and additional features in the paid versions—apps that might help, including Todoist and Habitica.

Parking (the other kind): Do you love the national parks and public lands in the U.S.? Of course you do. National Public Lands Day is coming up on Saturday, September 27. All national parks offer free admission. Plus, many host volunteer events that let you help take care of these important areas. Find out more here.