By: The Capella University Editorial Team with Lorinda Mohwinkel, Senior Career Coach and MBA alum
Reading Time: 9 minutes
We all set goals with the best intentions. But those goals often get swept under the rug when the demands of work, family and daily life take over.
The gap between your aspirations and a manageable workload can make your goals feel out of reach. But it’s not because you’re aiming too high. It’s because your strategy doesn’t reflect the reality of your life.
Goal-setting strategies help you connect the dots between where you are now and where you want to be. Metrics, milestones and outcomes make it easier to stay motivated and on task as you work toward your goal.
Discover why goal setting matters for success, explore five proven goal-setting strategies and get pro tips from a Capella alum who’s put these strategies into practice.
Finding a path to achieve your ambitions can be challenging, especially if you’ve set your sights on a big career move. Goal setting can help you overcome those struggles and may help set you up for success. Here’s how.
It’s easy to lose focus when tasks, family members or odd jobs compete for your attention. Defining a clear and achievable goal gives you something tangible to work toward, a way to focus your daily priorities.
Instead of setting a vague goal like “learn more about project management in your spare time,” try focusing on a specific milestone such as “earn an MBA in Project Management in 11 months.” This kind of clear goal can give you something achievable to work toward and helps you stay focused.
Goals give you a sense of purpose. It’s easier to build momentum and achieve something great when each task is anchored to a bigger, more meaningful outcome.
Setting a goal to complete your BSN in nine months to help qualify for a management role is a strong motivator. With Capella University’s FlexPath format, you can complete your RN-to-BSN program in under 9 months for less than $10,000.*
*Based on the fastest 25% of students. Your program length and cost will vary by transfer credits, the per-session cost and how quickly you complete courses. Books, supplies and other fees apply.
That kind of clear timeframe can help you stay committed as you work toward pursuing a management role.
But goals also help you stay accountable. You’re more likely to hold yourself responsible and seek support from mentors, peers or advisors – resources Capella makes available to every student. And with that sense of purpose, you’ll find it easier to push through challenges, knowing your efforts will pay off.
Setting goals gives you benchmarks so you can measure your progress. By making them specific and measurable, you can track growth over time, celebrate small wins and adjust when needed.
If your goal is to complete your BS in IT, Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence specialization at Capella University, you can use each of Capella’s 10 core courses as milestones. Every completed course provides visible proof that you’re moving forward, which can help you identify any areas where you need to refocus.
Regardless of who you are, what your life is like or where you want your career to go, goal setting can get you there faster.
But no two people are 100% alike. We all have different work, family and social obligations, so you need to set and track goals in ways that fit with your lifestyle.
To help you get started, here are five of our favorite strategies.
The idea of habit stacking was popularized by S.J. Scott in his 2014 book Habit Stacking, and later reinforced by James Clear’s Atomic Habits, which helped bring the concept into mainstream productivity and self-improvement discussions.
Habit stacking is a simple goal-setting strategy that involves linking a new goal or habit to an existing routine. Start by listing the habits you already do every day. Then, attach a small, goal-related task to those habits.
If your goal is to finish your degree this year, habit stacking can help you stay consistent by linking study time to an existing habit, like reviewing course materials for 10 minutes each morning as you drink your coffee. Linking these two habits can encourage lasting behavior change and make it easier to fit study time into your day.
As you set your goals, use the WOOP goal-setting framework to state what you want to accomplish and plan for potential challenges. WOOP stands for:
Suppose you want to finish an online Bachelor of Social Work module in four weeks. The outcome of achieving this wish is that you’ll stay on track to graduate on time.
Meanwhile, the obstacle might be that you’re too tired to study after putting your kids to bed. Your plan could be to wake up 45 minutes earlier in the morning to study rather than trying to study at night.
Once you get in the habit, creating WOOP goals is a simple way to guide yourself toward a goal and create action plans to overcome the hurdles standing in your way.
Need help getting started? There are lots of WOOP goal templates worth exploring.
Capella does not endorse and is not affiliated with any of the tools mentioned in this article.
The balanced scorecard is a framework often used in business, but it can be just as effective for study and personal development. Instead of focusing on one area, it helps you set and track goals across four dimensions:
If you’re earning a degree while working full time, your balanced scorecard might include:
This structured approach works especially well for working parents or part-time students juggling multiple responsibilities. It can help you make steady progress in school without losing sight of everything else that matters.
You’ve probably come across SMART goals before. It’s one of the most popular frameworks for creating clear, realistic and trackable goals. SMART stands for:
Research shows SMART goals increase your chances of success while helping prevent the frustration that comes from setting unrealistic targets. Researchers have also found that setting realistic goals prevents mental setbacks.
For example, if you’re working full time but want to pivot to pursue a career in social work, you might set a SMART goal to earn your Bachelor of Social Work, a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). That could mean completing two online classes per quarter until you finish your program requirements. Breaking your program down into quarters or weekly milestones makes progress easier to manage.
Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff introduced PACT goals as a flexible alternative to SMART goals. They emphasize consistency and adaptability, which is especially valuable for working adults balancing career development, school and family. PACT stands for:
Let’s say you want to earn an MBA but need flexibility. Rather than setting a fixed end date for your business degree, you might create a PACT goal to complete one FlexPath assessment every weekday after dinner. This keeps your education purposeful and measurable while leaving room for the realities of work and life.
If you want to see how setting goals can really help you pursue a degree and get ahead in your career, take some tips from Capella Senior Career Coach and MBA alum Lorinda Mohwinkel.
Here are her top five tips for how you can pursue career opportunities by setting a few goals.
Mohwinkel says the best way to create new habits and keep focus is to visualize the goal.
“Bright colored sticky notes stuck around the house in key areas help me track and motivate my progress, since they’re hard to miss.”
Prioritize your to-do list with what’s most important to help you move toward reaching your goal.
“Make a list of tactics and to-dos, and consider what the priority order should be,” says Mohwinkel. “Focus your energy on one task at a time to prevent feeling overwhelmed by the large scale of your goals, tackling things in more bite-sized goals.”
Another important technique is to set up different time blocks throughout the day to complete certain tasks.
“A former mentor taught me about calendar blocking at work, and now I implement the same in my personal life. No work meetings or personal appointments before 9 a.m., as I use the morning to answer important texts and emails and to prepare for my day. Family dinner is blocked each day at 6, and laundry is done every Tuesday evening. Just like your belongings, when your tasks and responsibilities have a place, they stay more organized.”
There are also a few tools specifically designed to help you with time blocking. Try apps like Calendly, Google Calendar or Fabulous to create daily schedules that support your goals.
(Capella University does not have affiliations with Notion, Todolist, Calendly, Google Calendar or Fabulous.)
Mohwinkel recommends celebrating the small goals achieved along the way.
“You can only take one step at a time. Celebrate when those steps accumulate into smaller goals! Take time for relaxation and fun between classes. And don’t wait until the final finish line to give yourself a pat on the back.”
While her advice is to enjoy feelings of accomplishment along the way, Mohwinkel counsels not to be afraid to appreciate the days when things aren’t going well.
“Although it can be hard, I try to be grateful for the good and the bad. Being grateful for the barriers and challenges we face can teach us a lot about ourselves and capabilities. If things were always easy, we would never learn or grow!”
Reaching meaningful goals starts with a plan that fits your reality. When you build strategies around your time, energy and priorities, progress becomes easier to measure and celebrate.
SMART goals, WOOP planning and habit stacking are just a few methods that help turn dreams into reality. Each gives you tools to track milestones, celebrate small wins and stay motivated when life gets busy. And you don’t have to do it alone.
At Capella, you’ll have dedicated support every step of the way, from academic coaches to career advising. With FlexPath, you set your goals and work toward your degree on a schedule that fits your life. Ready to get started?
See if FlexPath is right for you.
Goal setting is the process of creating specific, measurable objectives and then developing a structured plan to achieve those objectives.
Goal setting improves productivity by keeping you focused and motivated to spend allocated time working toward a core objective. It also helps you identify and eliminate activities that don’t align with your goals.
Goal-setting characteristics include self-awareness as well as strategic planning and problem-solving skills. There are many other strategies and tools you can use to help with time management and maintain focus to support you in achieving your strategic goals.
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