Goal Setting That Actually Moves You Forward
Setting goals can feel like a chore. Most of us only experience goal setting in our jobs. Corporate calls down and says, “Give us your goals for the year” and we scratch our heads and try to pull something out of our backside.
Why Traditional Goal Setting Feels So Heavy
I know this was my experience…and I HATED every moment of it. It was a time of confusion and distraction from my daily routine, and it caused a LOT of stress for those two weeks. Questions like, “What do I put on this list?”, “What are they looking for?”, and “Does this stuff even mean anything?” would rattle around in my head until SOMEthing was put down on paper and my boss approved it. Then that list got filed and NEVER looked at again.
It felt like a fluff exercise, and I dreaded it every year. Then I started helping folks to achieve their BIG Dreams and I kept bumping into GOALS…they had to have them, so how could I make them more accessible and feel like they REALLY meant something?
It took a while for me to get through my own aversion to find the solutions. I realized that goal setting is just a process, and as a Technical Writer and Business Analyst, processes are what I did…over and over again. So, I wrote out the process of goal setting, what it is and, most importantly, WHY it is.
Name the goal
Define the purpose of the goal
Identify expected outcomes
Identify inputs
Plan/Strategize for known and unknown obstacles
Define the finish line
Identify the steps/tasks
Plan the celebration
Creating a Goal Setting Process That Has Meaning
Tying your goals back into your WHY is the single most important part of goal setting…which is why I had such a hard time with goals in my J.O.B. and corporate career. Their goals, and the goals they wanted me to have, had NOTHING to do with me. They were all about moving the corporate machine forward.
Once I had the process of goal setting put in place, things started moving forward…but I was just using a framework I knew from corporate, SMART Goals, and there was still something missing.
SMART Goals are great and wonderful…but there’s nothing within them that ties back to the purpose of the goal. I mean, I guess you could say that the Relevant part could be considered the “tie back”, but I don’t think it’s strong enough…it’s just…well, relevant, not important. It’s a thing that’s just sitting on the sideline as a piece of information hanging out watching the game.
Aligned Goal Setting Builds Momentum That Lasts
Then I came across a wonderful human, Heather Campbell, who is a marketing/advertising goddess. She came up with a framework for marketing goals that really hit home. It felt solid and grounded in values, not just moving forward for moving forward’s sake. This is the SCAMP Framework. I tweaked it just a bit, with her permission, so that it could expand to any type of goal setting.
Solid & Strategic
Core Values
Actionable
Measurable
Plan
This incorporates the WHY into your goals so that when the sh-ift hits the fan, you’re still willing to get up, take action, and make things happen.
By walking through this process with the SCAMP framework, things fall into place and your excitement and determination grow. Excitement because you can see that your goal is possible and determination because the goal is tied back to your Core Values…to what means something to you and what YOU really want in life.
When your goals are fully in touch with and aligned to you, NOTHING can stop you from achieving them. It’s the drive that moves you forward and picks you up when all seems to be falling apart around you. You see it in the athletes who are at the top of their game, in the entrepreneurs who stick through all the hard times and finally make it big, and in the people who overcome something personal (recovering addicts/alcoholics, weight loss, disabilities, injuries/disease, etc.) and continue to live in a new life where that thing doesn’t define them anymore…it motivates them.
Goal setting doesn’t have to feel overwhelming, confusing, or disconnected from who you are. When your goals are grounded in your values and broken into meaningful steps, they become something you want to move toward, not something you avoid.
If you’re ready to take what you’ve uncovered here and turn it into clear, intentional action, I invite you to download the SCAMP Planner. It walks you step by step through creating goals that feel aligned, achievable, and motivating, so you can move forward with confidence and purpose starting today.