Day 10 of journaling every day! As I was prepping for todays prompt, I was looking for statistics on whether setting goals in this format actually helps you achieve them or not. Frankly I’m kind of baffled at how hard it is to find statistics. Every blog and article just keeps saying “people are 42% more likely to carry out their goals just by writing them down” and citing Dr. Gail Matthews’ 2007 study and faculty presentation if they cite anything at all, but I can’t find a peer-reviewed study or publication that confirms her findings. Do you know of any credible sources? If so, please share them with me! Common wisdom (and corporate culture) says that in order for your goals to have the highest chance of succeeding, you should set SMART goals that will help you by mapping out the plan of how you will achieve them. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. What was most interesting to me though were the results of this 2017 survey by Mark Murphy and Leadership IQ found that there is a correlation between setting SMART goals and not actually loving your job. Their research and analysis suggested that the problem may be with the Achievable and Relevant categories of a SMART goal. Only 29% of people who pursue achievable and realistic goals love their job, but 40% of people who set difficult and audacious goals love their job. Leadership IQ writes, “Goals that give people a deep sense of accomplishment and pride must be hard enough that their outcome is uncertain.” As you are thinking about converting your broader goals into SMART goals, I encourage you to remain audacious. Think about Achievable in terms of your motivation, your why, instead of how easy it would be to actually achieve. Do you care enough to make it happen? So for example, one of my broad goals is: I want to write more. Specific: Every day for a year, I will send out an email with a prompt for a journal entry that includes a bit of contextualization to the prompt and some of my reflection on the prompt. Measurable: I will have 365 journal entries/emails by the end of the year. Achievable: I love writing, but I've gotten away from it during the pandemic because I've felt unmotivated and depressed. Last year, I managed to email the prompt every day. This year, I am committing to the contextualization and reflection. Relevant: By writing at minimum an email about writing every day, I'll build a regular practice that will help me build my confidence in my writing, improve my mental health, and by making it public, it may solve the same problem for others. Time-Bound: My goal is to send a writing prompt every day for 2024. SMART goal: Over the course of 2024, I will email out daily writing prompts including contextualization and an excerpt of my response to the prompt, resulting in 365 journal entries, a consistent writing practice, improved mental health, and ideally make building a writing practice easier for others. We listed out our goals on January 6th. You may find today’s prompt easier by referring back to that list. Take 5-15 minutes and write about What are your SMART goals? I would love to hear about what your SMART goals are. What are some obstacles you think you might run into? How are you holding yourself accountable? How are you rewarding yourself? You can subscribe to my emailed prompts, find links to any articles or studies I mention, and read my reflections here: https://allthejoyfulthings.beehiiv.com/

Posted by laurawaltje at 2024-01-10 19:16:06 UTC