What a Marketing Career Teaches Me About Personal Goal Setting
Conversation between a Marketer (M) and Colleague (C):
C: Did you see that new website refresh from [insert relevant company]?
M: Yes! It looks so good!
C: We should do the same thing to our website.
M: Okay, why?
C: Other businesses are doing it, and it looks good. We need to look good.
M: What do you want to showcase in the new refresh?
C: Not sure but make it look pretty!
Of course, the above hypothetical conversation is over simplified. The trend stands though. There are often clients who want a blog, social post, web refresh, or other piece of marketing material simply because someone else is doing it or it just seems like it’s what you’re supposed to do.
The concern here is that the tactic precedes the objective. Writing blogs and making social posts are great, but you need a solid business objective before you develop the day-to-day tactics that will achieve the goal. You might gather information about the trends in the industry and your competitor’s content, but ultimately, you need to hone in on what makes your business unique as a brand and market toward your business objectives, not another’s.
How similar is this to your personal goal setting? Have you made goals because someone else is doing them or it just seems like it’s what you’re supposed to do?
Family Example:
> Maybe you have a goal to save and take the family to Disney, not because your kids really like Disney but because it seems like it’s what everyone else in your season of life is doing.
Social Example:
> Maybe you have a subconscious belief that everyone around you has more friends than you do because you compare social media follower count. You want more friends because it seems like you’re missing out.
Professional Example:
> Maybe you don’t really want to assume a leadership position at work. You’d rather press into other growth opportunities outside of work. But, you’re smart and capable so it seems like you should keep climbing the corporate ladder.
If we’re not careful, we can be just like the ill-prepared marketer and chase the tactic before knowing the objective. We can do this in the “small goals,” like the work out methods we choose or the number of books we read each year. And, we can do this in the “big goals,” like choosing the profession to go into or the house to buy.
When it comes to setting goals, be sure to form your objective before your tactics. Your tactics should help you achieve the objective.
Here’s what I mean using the basis of the faulty motivation examples above.
Family Example
Objective: Create family memories by doing activities that reflect the interests of the family members.
Tactics:
Cook together as a family once a month. The kids enjoy pretending like they’re chefs.
Take the family to one college football game and one basketball game. The parents enjoy sports and want to introduce their kids to their alma mater.
Go on two long weekend trips to kid-friendly locations. Shorter trips work better for the season of life.
Social Example
Objective: Build deep, quality friendships.
Tactics:
Host monthly game nights for your local friends.
Write down the names of long-distance friends and make an effort to call these friends when driving or doing mundane tasks.
Plan an annual mountain trip for your college friends so everyone stays connected.
Professional Example
Objective: Be an avid learner in my profession. Press into growing interest in local nonprofits and find ways to use professional skills to get involved.
Tactics:
Gain one relevant professional certification.
Take 5 area nonprofit leaders to breakfast and learn about their work in the community and their needs.
Choose 1-2 nonprofits to volunteer your professional skills to for 10 hours a month total.
Of course, these are all made up objectives and tactics, but they provide examples of how you can model your goal setting in a way that leads with the objective.
When you’re making goals, lead with your objective. Doing so is one way to help ensure you’re making goals because they’re best for you, not because someone else is doing them or you think it’s just something you should do. Once you know an objective, form tactics that will support achieving the objective. This will help you stay focused on what’s best for you and limit distractions.
Try it with one area of your life you want to improve in! Download the free Objectives + Tactics Worksheet.
