9 things successful people do differently

By Heidi Grant Havlorson. Harvard Business Review Press. 2012.

This is a great little book, roughly 100 quarter-size pages, that distills years of research and thousands of studies into nine specific strategies on successful goal setting. “Successful people set very specific goals and seize opportunities to work on them.” They focus on the goal and what else needs to be done. They believe in success AND the hard work needed to get there. They focus on progress—not perfection—and believe they can and will improve with dedicated effort. They persist in the face of obstacles and grow their willpower by being focused and having contingency plans to get back on track.

Here are Halvorson’s nine strategies for successful goal setting:

• • Get specific
    Ask yourself, How will I know I have succeeded? “Losing weight” is not specific. Fitting into a specific clothing size or item is specific.

• • Act on your goals
    Make specific plans and contingency plans. Example: At 8am on Monday morning, I will develop my top three goals for the day and start on number one. I will identify critical actions and a timeline for each. I will plan, in advance, for any obstacles that may interfere. If I have an 8 am meeting on Monday, I will take this action immediately upon returning to my office.

• • Know how far you have to go
    Measuring progress discourages backsliding. Keep your eye on the target by measuring how far you have to go.

• • Be a realistic optimist
    Wide-eyed wishes don’t make success happen. You need firm plans that think through the obstacles and find solutions. Believing the road to success will be rocky leads to greater success because it forces you to take action. Need inspiration along the way? Fuel your optimism and hard work by thinking back on past successes.

• • Focus on getting better, not on being better
    Believe you can grow your ability. If you bank on being able, pitfalls will derail you. If you believe you can grow your ability, pitfalls simply point out obstacles that require more learning. Think progress rather than perfection.

• • Have grit
    Commit to and persist in pursuing long-term goals (Carol Dweck). Don’t assume you are either good at something or not. Every ability can be improved with grit and persistence and a commitment to get better.

• • Build your willpower muscle
    Self-control is like a muscle; it can be trained to get stronger. Set specific positive goals, not avoidance goals like “eat less.” Start with easy goals, such as going to bed at a particular time. Pace yourself; don’t tackle too much at once. You want to build momentum with small successes; failure (or perceived failure) depletes willpower. If you falter; fortify your willpower with reminders of past successes or other disciplined people you admire.

• • Avoid temptation.
    Think about temptations/obstacles in advance, and have a plan for how you will avoid/address them. Tackle one major issue at a time. Avoid thinking you can make an exception “just this once.” If success is your goal, it’s better to avoid temptation entirely.

• Focus on what you WILL do (not what you won’t)
  We can’t act on negatives like, “Don’t think of an elephant.” Denial or negation plans actually backfire because they get us thinking about what we are trying to avoid. It’s much more effective to set “if…then” plans. Replace the negative with what you DO want. For example: “IF I am tempted to say yes (too often); THEN I will wait 24 hours before responding.”

Summary:

“Successful people set very specific goals and seize opportunities to work on them (using strategies like “if…then” planning).” They focus on the goal and what else needs to be done. They believe in success AND the hard work needed to get there. They focus on progress—not perfection—and believe they can and will improve with dedicated effort. They persist in the face of obstacles and grow their willpower by being focused and having contingency plans to get back on track.

Each of us can do exactly the same things successful people do in setting and accomplishing goals. Each of us can be successful.

Reviewed by:  Larry Nyland.

For more strategies, read Heidi Grant Halvorson’s book, Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals.