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Goals for Happiness and Success in 3 Steps

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Goals for Happiness and Success

In order to set goals for happiness and success, you need to know who you are, what your values are and how the different aspects of your life interact.  Goals need to be driven by purpose and meaning and in order to generate happiness your goals will need to touch every aspect of your life.

“Shoot For the Moon. Even If You Miss, You’ll Land Among the Stars.”

Les Brown1

There is so much information online about goal setting, that it is hard to know where to start. Often, we are asked to write goals by our employer and asked to align at least some of them with our employer’s mission or to demonstrate how we will meet certain performance objectives. I want to help you set goals that are meaningful to you, that will benefit your company and that will improve your happiness.

  • Step 1 – Know your values and purpose
  • Step 2 – Write goals that align with your values and your purpose and which consider all facets of your life.
  • Step 3 – Schedule actions

Step 1 – Know Your Values and Purpose

In order to set goals that you actually want to achieve and that will make a difference to how you feel and how you go about your daily life, they have to align with your values and be driven by a higher purpose or mission. I suggest you establish what your top 5 values are and then come up with a high-level purpose or mission statement. I go into some more detail on how to come up with your values in my article: Don’t Quit Your Job, Change Your Mindset.

When it comes to purpose, think big. Below are some questions to ask yourself.

  • If I get to the age of 90, what would I regret not having done?
  • What makes me angry?
  • What do I wish I could do something about?
  • What do I spend time doing out of choice or as a distraction or procrastination?
  • What articles do I like to read or topics do I like to read about?
  • What are my favourite conversations in social settings?

Background Material

I have two book recommendations that will help you on your journey of self-discovery.

This book will help you discover who you are and what drives you to ultimately help you understand your purpose.

A book backed by science that I found extremely useful in terms of understanding goal setting in relation to motivation. I will explain more below.

The book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink, explores the research behind motivation. In essence, our society has been operating on a carrot and stick methodology which can: ‘promote bad behaviour, create addiction and encourage short-term thinking at the expense of the long-term view’. Bad behaviour means, that when people are incentivised by a reward, they are more likely to take shortcuts. An example given is taking steroids as an athlete in order to improve performance.

The book also says that according to research, goals are effective in terms of making us try harder, work longer and achieve more, however, there is a big caveat in relation to how the goals are set. If they are set by the individual to assist in something they intrinsically want to do, then they have a positive effect. If they are set by others, for example, to achieve certain business metrics, then there are some negative side effects including a narrower focus or blinker view which impedes innovation. Staff are also more likely to indulge in unethical behaviour. For example, overcharging a client to increase their sales. In contrast, when goals are set by the individual for the individual, the reward is the activity itself and there is no room for unethical shortcuts. 2

My takeaway is that you need to set goals you actually want to achieve, that will make you happy and fulfilled and that will serve you and your company well in the long run. To do this they need to come from you and be aligned with your values and purpose.

Now that you understand how it works make your own.

Step 2 - Write Your Goals for Happiness and Success

You might have heard of SMART3 goals. SMART stands for: Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Relevant and Time-Bound and this method for goal setting is common in the corporate world. Every time I have tried to use this framework it stunts me and I lose inspiration and motivation. Instead, I find it better to write from the heart and to avoid getting stuck in the metrics of the goal. My process for goal writing is to make each goal applicable to my purpose and have at least 1 goal for each of my core values. 

Example goal:

This goal is align with my core value of nature and synergy.

Bring sustainable design thinking into every project I’m working on through networking with like-minded professionals, filling knowledge gaps and improving communication tools.

I then assign actions to each goal. See Step 3 – Schedule Actions section below.

Action for Goals for Happiness and Success:

Write at least one goal for each value you have identified.

Step 3 - Schedule Actions

The hardest and most effective part is already done. By doing the thinking and knowing in your mind what you are working towards, your decision making will be guided to align with your goals. You will find that your goals will start being achieved naturally because your brain has been programmed to understand your wants. There is however one final step that will make things happen faster and with intention and that is figuring out how to achieve the goals and then scheduling actions. This process keeps you accountable and reminded, and therefore assists you in making faster progress. By thinking about how you will achieve the goals, you will increase the likelihood of success. I have found this to be an excellent productivity hack. If it’s scheduled in my diary, it gets done with priority. Example actions from my goal above:
  • Identify two people who will either be a good mentor on this topic or who I could team with on future projects.
  • Contact person 1 and organise a meet and greet to talk about my goal (more actions to fall out of conversations)
  • Contact person 2 and organise a meet and greet to talk about my goal (more actions to fall out of conversations)
  • Review the last project I worked on to understand what areas I need to upskill in to gain a better result next time
  • Schedule reading on topics identified 
  • Schedule reading about influence
  • Schedule the research of evidence on the economical and social benefits of sustainable projects

Action for Goals for Happiness and Success:

Write 5+ actions for each goal and put them in your diary for the year ahead. Break your goal down into bite-sized pieces so it doesn’t feel so overwhelming.

The 3 steps for goal setting for happiness and success are to know your values and purpose, write goals aligned with your purpose and schedule actions to make it happen. By following your purpose you will ignite intrinsic motivation which is great for your sense of accomplishment as well as for your company and what you will contribute in terms of creativity and innovation.

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Book Here
  1. Brown, L., (2022, 30 March). Good Reads.
  2. Pink, D. H., (2009). Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Riverhead Books.
  3. SMART criteria. (2022, March 30). In Wikipedia.
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