Before any conversation about goal setting for success begins – whether you’re a novice or an elite performer – it’s essential to first identify your lighthouse. Your lighthouse is your grand vision for your future self: perhaps a financial milestone, such as a million dollars saved by age 35, or a career target, like becoming a CEO.
If we climbed into a boat, dropped anchor, and let the wind and current decide our path, we would never deliberately move toward our lighthouse. But when we start from our core values and long-term direction, we set higher-quality goals. I ask every client to identify their lighthouse before we set a single goal, because a goal is only as good as its relevance to that larger vision. More on relevance shortly.
What Makes a “Good” Goal?
I coach clients to apply the time-tested SMART framework for goal setting for success – specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound – developed by George Doran in 1981.
Consider the difference between “I will lose weight” and “I will lose five pounds in three months so my knees feel better.” The first sounds like defeat before you’ve begun: no clear motivation, no way to track progress, no certainty you’ll arrive. Let’s break down why.
Specific goals define the exact criteria for success – a clear yes or no.
Measurable goals attach a metric to completion. “Improving” or “getting better” at a skill isn’t measurable on its own; completing three more passes this game than last game is.
Attainable goals sit within the goal-setter’s actual ability and timeframe. I’m not a powerlifter, so a goal to lift 300 pounds by next week isn’t reasonable – it’s outside my current capability.
Relevant goals return to the lighthouse: does this goal align with your vision of your future self? Is it one of the many small steps in the right direction? I coach clients to base each choice on incremental progress toward where they want to be – our goals should always serve the bigger picture of goal setting for success.
Time-bound goals carry a deadline. Open-ended goals rarely get met; goal-setters – especially those prone to procrastination – stay more motivated with a hard deadline. And if the deadline arrives before the goal is met, that isn’t failure. It may simply mean not yet. If genuine effort was made, a missed deadline is useful feedback for calibrating the next goal.
In a business context: instead of “increase sales,” a SMART goal for goal setting for success might read: “Grow quarterly recurring revenue from enterprise clients by 12% by the end of Q3, by launching two new outbound campaigns and adding one account-management touchpoint per client per month.” Each criterion is doing work: the metric (12%) makes it measurable, the client segment and tactics make it specific and attainable, the tie to enterprise growth keeps it relevant to the broader lighthouse – the company’s revenue vision – and the Q3 deadline makes it time-bound.
What If You’ve Struggled to Meet Goals Before?
Every ambitious reader can likely recall a goal they didn’t meet. It happens, and the lesson is there either way – failing to learn from a missed goal is the real loss. So how do we stay motivated in goal setting for success?
First, use micro-goals. Break large tasks into smaller ones. We used this approach often while training helicopter pilots: learning a near-flawless autorotation is a large goal with many moving parts, so the first micro-goal might simply be building a habit for a smooth entry into the maneuver. Some goals feel overwhelming, and the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time – a core principle of goal setting for success.
Second, track your successes. We tend to “disqualify the positive” or apply a negative filter – remembering only the times goal-setting didn’t work. Write down every goal you accomplish on a sticky note, whiteboard, or planner. Over time, that list becomes visible proof of your progress in goal setting for success.
Elite Tip for Goal Setting for Success: The Pre-Mortem
Instead of launching boldly into a new goal, try playing out every reason it might not be met. If you’re already skilled at goal-setting, or the goal carries real stakes, consider running a pre-mortem. A post-mortem recounts what went wrong after the fact; a pre-mortem assumes your future self already missed the goal, then works backward to identify what stopped them.
For example, I want attendance at my performance psychology conference to reach an all-time high – Specific: Abbe’s Conference on Performance Psychology; Measurable: 500 attendees; Attainable: within reach given past turnout; Relevant: aligned with my long-term career in this field; Time-bound: by December 30, 2026. Running a pre-mortem, I imagine I missed the goal and list the likely causes:
- Attendance was low because I chose a cold location during winter months
- Attendance was low because the date fell between major U.S. holidays
- I didn’t bring on a top-tier marketing team to promote the event
- The topic wasn’t compelling enough to draw attention
- The venue wasn’t large enough to hold every attendee
…you get the idea. A pre-mortem produces a list of success factors for an important goal, letting you plan around obstacles before they arise. I can hire a strong marketing team, choose a sunny location with the right capacity, and pick an early-year date so attendees aren’t competing with holiday plans.
Setting and Making Your Goals
Your goals carry more weight when they align with your vision of your future self – your lighthouse. Once you know which direction you want to steer your ship, applying the SMART criteria will help you make small course corrections when needed, and keep you motivated throughout your high-performance journey of goal setting for success.
