HomeBlogSticking to objectives

Sticking to objectives

By: Jemma Came, Marketing & Programmes Assistant, 4 April 2016 Categories: Learning, development & personal growth

We recently held a webinar on sticking to objectives, the first Juniper Berries webinar of 2016. We shared our top tips and explored tools and techniques to make setting objectives a more rewarding and motivating experience.

Objectives or goal setting can feel forced upon us - expected of us by our employers, college lecturers, and even parents! But with that increased sense of urgency to form a set of objectives, performance indicators and life goals, are we any closer to achieving greater efficiency or success?

If you consider an average day, you will realise that you subconsciously set and achieve goals constantly, however small they may be. It could be as simple as getting to work on time, getting the kids to school, ticking off the to-do list, while other actions may be contributing to larger life or business goals.

So how can we consciously set meaningful goals that we feel connected to and motivated to achieve? How can we ensure we stick to our objectives?

Objective setting encourages the following:

  • Personal growth
  • Ownership/responsibility
  • Improved efficiency
  • Direction and focus
  • Prioritisation of tasks
  • Greater control
  • Development of skills
  • Engagement and motivation

We asked our webinar attendees how their New Years’ resolutions were going six weeks on: who signed up for a gym membership… and who stopped going? Many of us set unrealistic goals that neither motivate nor inspire us and are disappointed when they aren’t achieved.


“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan”. (Tom Landry, Dallas Cowboy’s coach of 29 years. Landry helped his team to 20 consecutive winning seasons and two Superbowl titles.)


To set inspiring goals, try asking yourself four key questions:

  • Do I really want this goal?
  • How will I benefit?
  • How badly do I want it?
  • Am I willing to do what it takes to achieve it?

How to start considering your objectives/goals

The GROW model is a great tool to help you when starting to consider your objectives.

Goal – where do you want to be?

Reality – Where are you now?

Options – What could you do?

Will – what will you do?

Most importantly, ensure your goals are SMART. This means they should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.

SMART Objectives should clearly state what you are expecting to achieve, using action words to describe what has to be done. For example:

Not SMART: Encourage more customers to join the After Sales Service Scheme.

SMART: Conduct after-sales and service calls to customers to increase membership to the “After Sales Service Scheme” by 5% within the first three months of the year.

The time bound element of your objective is key. If there is a particularly long timescale involved, you may need to break your objective down, identify the steps you need to take to achieve your overall objective and work out how long each step is likely to take so that you can agree a realistic target date.


Why not have a go yourself?

We look forward to hearing from you. Until then, good luck setting and sticking to your objectives!