Part 1: How To Set and Execute on Your Goals by Sofia Widengren
Hi everyone - I’m so happy you’re here to read about goal-setting! My name is Sofia Widengren and I am an ambitious and driven woman from Stockholm who has a masters degree in Civil Engineering from Uppsala University. Today I work with digitization and the cloud service Azure at Microsoft and I was previously a project manager at WSP in Stockholm.
Throughout my life, I have always been passionate about leadership (which I for example practiced early on in the scout movement), goal-setting and to run projects in various forms. Structure, organization and order is as natural for me as breathing and I love to discuss goals, visions and exciting ideas with other like-minded people. Since May 2021, I run a blog called A Degree Later where I share life after my studies, various topics such as goal-setting, general reflections and other things that I find inspiring with the aim to inspire others and have an outlet for my thoughts.
I started early on to set bold goals in everything from personal development and health to personal finance and career. When I went from my studies to work life I realized that being able to set goals was a big help in my career and led to better results. It also led to a greater exchange and better dialogues with managers and colleagues where I could show how we could get from A to B.
In this article, I want to share my greatest lessons on how to set goals, the methods that have worked for me and how you can apply them in your life.
Setting goals is an art form and something that can be tricky if you have not practiced it before. It is however something we can all truly learn to master and a habit we can continue to practise throughout life. But there are also as many ways to set goals as there are people on the planet so how do you know where to start?
The SMART method is an excellent starting point for setting goals. Below I share the key concepts of the method but don’t feel limited to it - you can mix it with other methods (which I do) and decide for yourself how you do follow-ups or at what intervals different goals are set.
The SMART method
The SMART method is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. An example might be that you want to run your first 10 km in 60 minutes. It may not be realistic to run 10 km in 60 minutes the first time you run. Instead, you can use the SMART method to complete your goal and below is an example of how that could look like:
Specific? I want to run 10 km in 60 minutes.
Measurable? I will use RunKeeper or another suitable app
Achievable? It is achievable if I implement regularity in my run training
Realistic? I have a training plan of 8 weeks, 3 sessions/week with a gradual increase in distance and intensity
Time-bound? I will complete the goal in 8 weeks
How I personally set my goals
When I set my goals, I start with deciding what time interval I need for different goals. Personally I divide my goals into long-term (10+ years), mid-term (about 2-5 years) and short-term ones (<1 year). I often set my overall short-term goals on an annual basis divided into different categories. These can be Personal Development, Relationships, Career, Finance and Health. The categories are in turn divided into subject areas where I can have more than one goal for e.g. my career during the same time period.
For 2021, the overall areas for my career were divided into Performance, Education and Salary, which I based on what I wanted to develop within. To formulate the goals and to create my plan, each area was defined specifically in the categories Goals, Mindset, Measurable, Why and When.
To get some context to why I chose the categories Specific (+A+E), Measurable, Time-set, Why and Mindset instead of just the SMART formula, I did it because I also wanted to include my mindset and my why. Specific (+A+R), Measurable and Time-set can be directly translated to Specific (+Achievable+Realistic), Measurable and Time-bound from the SMART method. However, in my goal process I already know if it is Achievable and Realistic from the start when I formulate my Specific goal, but if you are not as used to setting goals, you can also use these two as support.
As stated above, what I feel is missing in the SMART method is the “Why” and Mindset connected to the goal. If I have a strong Why, it helps me to stay motivated when I have low days. It's something to come back to and find my strength in. My mindset is how I will relate to the goal of getting there - a bit like a mantra!
An example of one of my long-term goals is that I want to be financially free, which I have defined for me in specific numbers not to get “scope-creep”. To get there, I set a goal in 2019 to learn about investments. In 2020, I set a goal of making my first investment of SEK X, and in 2021 I set a goal to invest an even larger sum but also to diversify my portfolio. This means that every year I set goals that are in line with the long-term goal.
Follow-up routines
Setting goals can be really fun and rewarding but in my opinion it is quite useless if I don’t know how to follow up. If I don’t follow up, I’m still not able to know if I got there (and in that case why/why not) and what I have learned. Depending on the goal, it’s good to have different follow-up routines with different frequencies.
A rule of thumb is that the nature of the goal determines the frequency. With that stated, once a month is usually a good frequency to start with. Once the routine is in place, many goals can be followed up every quarter instead. When I follow up, I also use these questions:
How am I doing? Am I where I should be based on the time-frame of the goal?
If I'm not where I want to be - why?
What can I improve moving forward?
Are there any obstacles to reaching the goal?
Are there any adjustments that I need to make?
What have I learned during the process?
Something I believe can be difficult to remember is that goals are not set in stone but instead are as dynamic as life itself. If you set a goal in January that is to be achieved within 12 months, you must be able to adjust your goal if something changes. For example, if you set a goal in January to invest time in "education program X at my workplace" but then you change workplace in e.g. May, it is of course okay to remove that goal. The goal is simply not relevant anymore. There is nothing wrong in changing or removing a goal that is no longer important and/or relevant to you. It is completely useless to work for a goal that will not give you anything in return. That's why I think it's important to have a clear Why and an ongoing follow up - it will make the whole process much more fun and meaningful.
A goal without a path is just a beautiful vision - so create your own path!
If you want to discuss goals, how you can move forward with your ideas or have something else that you want to chat about, feel free to contact me! I can be found on Linkedin, on the blog A Degree Later and on Instagram @sofiawidengren, @adegreelater - don’t be a stranger!
