Best Practices for Setting Achievable Work Goals

If you’re setting goals the way most people do, you’re already behind: Here are 7 Steps to Set Goals That Actually Drive Results: 1️⃣ Start With Your "Why," Not Your "What" ↳ Goals without purpose lack staying power.   ✅ Write down how achieving this goal aligns with your core values. 2️⃣ Apply the 70% Rule ↳ The ideal goal should feel 70% achievable, 30% challenging.   ✅ If confidence exceeds 90%, aim higher. Below 60%? Break it down further. 3️⃣ Create Systems, Not Just Targets ↳ Goals tell you where to go—systems get you there.   ✅ Define the daily/weekly actions that make success inevitable. 4️⃣ Build in Measurement Triggers ↳ What gets measured gets improved.   ✅ Establish clear checkpoints with specific metrics every 2 weeks. 5️⃣ Anticipate Obstacles in Advance ↳ Preparation eliminates excuses.   ✅ List 3 potential roadblocks and pre-determine your response to each. 6️⃣ Connect Goals to Identity ↳ The strongest motivator isn't achievement—it's becoming who you want to be.   ✅ Frame goals as identity statements: "I am someone who..." rather than "I want to..." 7️⃣ Share Selectively for Accountability ↳ Public accountability works—but only with the right people.   ✅ Choose 1-2 people who will hold you to a higher standard, not just offer comfort. 📌 PS... The quality of your goals determines the quality of your results. Most people aim for what's comfortable—exceptional leaders aim for what's meaningful. ♻️ Share this framework with a colleague who's ready to set goals that actually translate to impact! 🚀 Join 72,000+ leaders reading my daily science-backed tips on leading high-performing teams using mindset, habits and systems. No vague goal-setting advice. Just proven frameworks that create real-world results. ➡️ Follow me for more Harry Karydes

We tell our sales reps to be gritty, to work smarter, not harder, to smash their quota but don't always do the best job pairing those inspirational calls to action with tools and techniques that allow them to do the things we ask. For years, I’ve loved the GROW Goal Setting Model. It is a great model, but I found myself tweaking it to reflect the things I think are fascinating and that actually work for revenue teams. 🧠 Ideas like: - Neuroplasticity - Harms of moonshot thinking - Value of gratitude and meditation - The frustration reps feel when they work tirelessly and still miss quota. That’s why I developed the PATH. 👉 Steal this framework to help your team not only set goals but achieve them. The PATH framework is a four-step process that helps you and your team set actionable goals, anticipate challenges, and ensure every step aligns with your aspirations. 1. Plan: Setting a Focused Goal Everything starts with a solid foundation. The first step is setting a focused goal. SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—work well here. This ensures you’re working toward a well-defined target, making it easier to stay focused and track progress. 2. Anticipate: Backcasting Once your goal is in place, it’s time to imagine your desired future state. I love writing goals as if they've already happened and writing out the details of what it took me to get there. This process ensures that you have realistic micro-actions that you can be accountable to on the PATH to achieving your goal. 3. Test: Pre-Mortem Next, you stress-test your plan with a pre-mortem (inspo credit: Annie Duke, Thinking in Bets) This exercise allows you to identify risks before they arise, so you can adjust your plan and stay on track. It also encourages you to uncover opportunities to leapfrog your progress by brainstorming creative solutions. 4. Harmonize: Alignment to Aspirations The final step ensures that your micro-actions align with your larger aspirations. It's a final sense check to ensure you've set a goal you care enough about that you'll put in the hard work required to achieve it. That work will be supported by a clear PATH to success. The PATH framework ensures you don’t just set goals—you achieve them. 💸 Want me to guide your sales or leadership team through this process as part of your year-end planning or SKO? Drop "PATH" in the comments to learn more.

7 Goal-Setting Frameworks that Drive Results (Beyond Just S.M.A.R.T.) Most people set goals. Few choose the right framework to achieve them. Don't just try to fit every goal into one framework. Here are 7 proven frameworks to make your goals stick (and examples to help you apply them): 1️⃣ SMARTER ↳ Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound, Evaluated, Reviewed ↳ Goals are not only clear and actionable, but also regularly refined. ↳ Example: “Increase newsletter subscribers by 20% in 3 months, reviewing progress biweekly.” 2️⃣ CLEAR ↳ Collaborative, Limited, Emotional, Appreciable, Refinable ↳ Goals that inspire teams and adapt as you grow. ↳ Example: “Launch a collaborative project plan in phases, adjusting based on team feedback.” 3️⃣ FAST ↳ Frequently Discussed, Ambitious, Specific, Transparent ↳ Set big, visible goals and revisit them often. ↳ Example: “Publish one impactful LinkedIn post weekly and review engagement metrics every Friday.” 4️⃣ HARD ↳ Heartfelt, Animated, Required, Difficult ↳ Goals you care about emotionally and challenge yourself with. ↳ Example: “Complete a half-marathon in 6 months to build mental and physical resilience.” 5️⃣ WOOP ↳ Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan ↳ A mix of dreaming big and preparing for roadblocks. ↳ Example: “Wish: Write a book. Outcome: Publish in 12 months. Obstacle: Limited time. Plan: Write 500 words daily at 6 AM.” 6️⃣ PACT ↳ Purposeful, Actionable, Continuous, Trackable ↳ Focus on progress and purpose, not just deadlines. ↳ Example: “Learn a new skill - 30 minutes of coding daily with weekly progress checks.” 7️⃣ BHAG ↳ Big Hairy Audacious Goal ↳ Set a bold, long-term target that excites (and scares) you. ↳ Example: “Grow the company to $10M revenue in 5 years through innovative product development.” The right framework can change the way you set (and achieve) your goals. Which framework resonates most with you? Share below how you plan to apply it! ________ ♻️ Repost to help others reach their goals. 📌 Follow Jorge Luis Pando for more actionable insights.