Use James Clear's Goal Setting System to Achieve More Without Working Harder
You don't need more will power, you need a process that supports your goals
"I wish I'd never taken this blasted promotion. I just want to do my job and go home, but the work keeps piling up."
Bob was an overwhelmed new leader coping with the culture shock of his first office job. His complaint was familiar. New leaders often don't understand what a management role entails. Unless they have a gift for admin, they struggle with the sudden onslaught of emails and unfamiliar tasks.
I'd been called in by Bob's manager to 'fix' him, something that happens a lot when you're a Learning & Development Manager.
"Bob isn't coping with the new role. Can you help him? He's already been on a time-management course, but it didn't work."
It turned out that Bob was keen, intelligent, and had a good attitude. But he didn't know how to manage his workflow. The time management tips in the course didn't make any sense to him as they were in management speak.
Plus, the other students were experienced office workers, and Bob wasn't. He was used to being out on the transport network, and working at a desk was unfamiliar to him.
Bob knew what he had to do, and he understood his goals and KPIs, but he had no idea how to structure his day to get it all done.
This is where James Clear's method comes in.
I like his method because it's simple, saves time, and makes getting things done less stressful.
Clear's premise is that having goals without a system to get them done won't work. In addition, Clear also says you need to believe you are the sort of person who can achieve those goals.
Bob knew about SMART goals - he'd just had some training and knew his KPIs. But he didn't have a system and was rapidly starting to believe he was the sort of person who couldn't achieve them.
The process is:
Goals + A system + An identity change = Success
And it sounds more complicated than it is.
This process has also helped me with Substack.
I have to post on Notes, write a long-form article every week, grow an email list, and create products or offers for paid subscribers. And I can do all those things. But knowing when to do what was more of a challenge, so I created a system.
I'm still not perfect, of course. Last week, I missed some days posting on Notes because one of our cats has been very sick and I've been back and forth to the vets. But sticking to a system has helped me get back on track.
And the new identity part? There's an identity change with every new habit I develop.
OK, so here's a breakdown of Clear's three-step process:
Step One: How to set SMART goals without wanting to vomit or throw yourself out of the window
Setting SMART goals isn't most people's idea of a fun time. So, to encourage us all, someone made up a fancy process.
Which is great, except it isn't. Fancy processes are confusing and annoy everyone.
So, here's a breakdown of SMART goal setting in plain English.
S - Specific
This bit means decide what you're going to do and add lots of details.
Want to go to Italy for a holiday?
Great.
Where in Italy?
When will you go?
What is your budget?
Who will you go with?
What airline will you fly with?
What sort of accommodation will you book?
What will you do when you get there to have fun?
It's the same for work goals.
Your boss wants you to write a report about team performance every month.
What day each month does she want the report?
How much detail does she want?
What does the report cover?
Who will read it?
What will it be used for?
How in-depth is the report?
What does a completed report look like?
M - Measurable
This is an easy one.
Just ask yourself how you will prove you've done the thing.
Did you go to Italy on the date you wanted within your budget? Did you stay where you said you would, and did you do the things you wanted to do?
For the report goal, did you give your boss a report on the due date containing the right information to the desired detail?
That's all measurable means. How will you show you've done it?
A — Achievable/Attainable
Attainable or achievable? Who cares?
It means you can do the thing with the skills, ability, and resources that you have.
If you've got no money, you can't go to Italy.
If you don't have a computer or you can't get access to the relevant information, you can't write the report.
R — Relevant
Is the goal relevant?
For example, if you are pregnant and won't be able to fly to Italy within the timeframe of your goal, your goal of a trip to Italy isn't relevant.
Relevant in a work situation means it is what you are meant to be doing
You could do all sorts of amazing things at work, but if the CEO will fire you for wasting time and not contributing to the company goals, there's no point.
T - Timebound
This means putting in time slots for all the different steps of your goal - it's just adding another detail.
For the Italy trip, you'd need to scope out when to book the flights and accommodation, confirm that your travel companions can come, and when you'll have saved up the money to pay for it all.
Work goals tend to be lumped into the 'by the 31st December' bucket, which isn't much help to anyone. Break down your goal into steps and put a deadline for each step.
That way, at the end of the year review, you won't discover three goals that you (and your boss) had forgotten about.
Step Two: You've set your fancy SMART goals, so what happens now?
It's time to make a system to ensure that you work on them.
I've seen heaps of people panic because they've let their goals slide. But if you embed your goals into your workday, they are less likely to be forgotten.
Enter the system. It's simple.
Break down your goals into the smallest possible parts and complete one bit per day.
For the trip to Italy, you could work on it every day after lunch. On day one, work out when you can get leave. On day two, check out the prices of the airline tickets. On day three, check when your travel companions are available.
Rather than being overwhelmed by an enormous goal, break it down into steps and schedule each step.
For the report writing goal on day one, you could book a meeting with your manager to discuss the report's format. On day two, you could come up with some ideas of your own. On day three, you could put the report due date in your calendar.
You can see that these steps are tiny, and once you get going, you are more likely to get going.
The key is to focus on one step at a time, schedule steps daily so they become a habit, and consistently get them done.
With my Substack articles, I write the outline on Friday, flesh out the content on Monday, edit it on Tuesday, do a final edit on Wednesday, and publish it on Thursday.
It's all in my calendar. I also have a daily checklist that I can print out because I enjoy crossing items off the list.
Step Three: New goals, new system, new you
"Every action you take is a vote for the person you want to become", James Clear, Masterclass.
If you don't believe you are the sort of person who can achieve your goals, you are more likely to fail.
For the goal of going to Italy, if you tell everyone that you hate to travel and being in a foreign country scares you, you are telling your brain to avoid travel.
This reinforces your current identity and makes it difficult to move towards a new one.
Instead, you could start saying things like:
"I love travelling to new places".
"Planning a trip to Italy is easy for me".
These statements align with your goal and help you believe you are the sort of person who travels.
Marisa Peer, a successful coach based in the UK, talks about how your brain is a giant computer that listens to your thoughts and words, assumes they reflect what you want, and makes it all happen.
In the context of goal setting, this means that if you consistently think and talk about your goal positively, your brain will work towards making it a reality.
Watch what you say and think when making changes or setting goals. Instead of saying, "I'll never get that report done on time", or "I struggle with getting my ideas down on paper", say
"The monthly report is simply a matter of gathering the facts and organizing them."
"I plan ahead and get things done on time".
This subtle language change can have a significant impact on your mindset and your ability to achieve your goal.
Final Thoughts
Knowing how to set goals is all well and good, but you need a process to get them done. If you use James Clear's method, you are much more likely to succeed.
Set SMART goals
Implement a system to make it easy to work on your goal
Manage your self-talk
In life and work, we talk a lot about goal setting, but never about how to achieve the goals we've set.
And even less about changing our mindset around achieving transformational goals.
If you follow this method, you'll have a much better chance of taking actions to change your life for the better.
Paid Subscriber Resource: ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Paid subscribers can access a SMART Goal Setting Tool to help you 1) Translate your goals in your own words to SMART goals, 2) Break down your goals into doable steps with timeframes, 3) Create positive phrases to reinforce that you can achieve the goals. Access it here.
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Wendy, this article struck a chord with me. Thank you for explaining the process of setting goals and building systems without all the corporate jargon—sometimes the simplest roadmaps are the ones we actually follow. It may take a little effort in the beginning to develop these new habits but having a system in place is really like a GPS guiding us along the way.
Enjoyed listening to your article Wendy! Love how you clearly lay out the steps to build the habit of goal setting, including the belief you can do it, to achieving success.