Start measuring progress to reach your big audacious goals
Jan 18, 2024
If you are setting big audacious goals for the new year, look for the small wins and measure progress to maintain motivation on your way to the peak.
Does working towards achieving your goals sometimes feel like climbing a mountain? Before you get to the peak you have to trek that path of small wins and triumphs and endure the valleys only to make your way up the next rise.
Achieving goals is often not linear, it takes an initial plan to move us forward and includes setbacks and being prepared to find new paths. It can be frustrating when we feel like after all this hiking we aren’t getting anywhere.
Is this feeling only when we have our laser focus on the end goal? Are these back tracks and seemingly dead ends getting us somewhere (even back towards where we started) but we discount their value in getting us to the peak?
What if we reframed our thinking and viewed all this effort as progress. And rather than only being satisfied when we hit our goal, we see each step of progress as an opportunity to develop new skills and gain valuable learnings. Each day we make progress feels like a good day and progress is what gives us the motivation to keep going, even when there are roadblocks and setbacks, or we need to go back to the drawing board and start again.
This is what Teresa M. Amable and Steven J. Kramer found in uncovering the Progress Principle. In identifying the difference between a good day or a bad day in the office their research showed progress was a key factor “the most common event triggering a “best day” was any progress in the work by the individual or the team. The most common event triggering a “worst day” was a setback.”
Research shows us there is a direct correlation between progress and motivation. When we can see progress we are more intrinsically motivated, as opposed to when we cant.
Based on this, can we use progress as a tool to increase the number of days we regard as good?
Before you Start …
Ensure you understand what progress and setback mean to you and your team.
Is progress getting favorable interest or feedback from a stakeholder, hitting a short term target or KPI, or embedding a desired behaviour?
Is a setback lack of interest or buy in from others, saying one thing and doing another or lack of project approval.
If you are looking for ways to motivate your team consider focusing on progress. Include it in your conversations and actively look for the small wins, even on a daily or weekly basis. Progress can be easily missed when we have our head down looking at the path. Stop to look up and around you to find progress and tap into increased motivation.
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