The Importance of Specificity in Goal Setting

Setting specific goals is a critical component of successful goal achievement, whether for individuals, projects, or organisations. Specific goals provide clarity and influence motivation, performance, and the ability to track progress effectively. They also enable your brain to know exactly what you are trying to achieve and focus on. Consider how often you’ve heard someone say, “I want to lose weight.” How much weight? By when? Using what method? Or someone else stating, “I want to be wealthy!”

Even in projects, you might hear, “We need to finish by the 20th of June 2025.” Finish what exactly? In project management, vague goals can lead to teams continuously working on tasks without a clear endpoint. This was the case in one of the major projects in the UK, Crossrail, until we clearly defined the completion and handover requirements to the maintaining organisation.

In this blog, we will explore the science behind specific goal setting, its practical applications, and how it integrates with my Goals Framework for achieving goals as outlined in my book Unchained: Success Unlocked.

The Science Behind Specific Goals

Research consistently demonstrates that specific goals lead to higher performance and greater persistence compared to vague or general goals. Edwin Locke and Gary Latham’s goal-setting theory posits that specific and challenging goals enhance performance by directing attention, mobilising effort, increasing persistence, and encouraging the development of strategies for goal attainment.

Additionally, specific goals provide clarity and guide your subconscious mind towards achieving them. Your subconscious mind can navigate and help you achieve the goals you set; hence, specificity is critical.

Mechanisms of Specific Goals:

1. Clarifying Expectations: Specific goals provide a clear target, making it easier to understand what is expected. This clarity reduces ambiguity and allows for focused efforts. A lack of clarity often causes individuals, projects, and organisations to fail at the first hurdle, as the team and your subconscious mind are unclear on what exactly needs to be achieved.
2. Measurability: Specific goals are measurable, enabling individuals and organisations to track progress and make necessary adjustments. For instance, a goal to “increase sales by 20% in the next quarter through targeted marketing campaigns” is measurable and time-bound, unlike a vague goal to “increase sales.”
3. Enhancing Motivation: Knowing the exact target increases motivation and commitment. When people know precisely what they need to achieve, they are more likely to put in the effort required to meet the goal. I typically take the time to understand exactly what people want to achieve and ask them to state their success criteria. Although this may seem laborious initially, your team, organisation, and subconscious mind will thank you for it.

Practical Applications of Specific Goal Setting

Individuals:

For individuals, setting specific goals can significantly enhance personal and professional development. For example, instead of setting a goal to “exercise more,” a specific goal would be “attend the gym three times a week and complete a full-body workout each session.” This specificity helps in planning and tracking progress, making it easier to stay committed.

Projects:

In project management, specific goals ensure that all team members understand their roles and the project’s objectives. A goal such as “complete the project on time” is less effective than “finish the first phase of the project by September 30th, ensuring all design documents are reviewed and approved.” This level of detail facilitates better planning and execution.

Organisations:

For organisations, specific goals align team efforts and drive collective success. For instance, an organisation might set a goal to “reduce customer complaints by 15% in six months through improved customer service training and response protocols.” Such goals are actionable, trackable, and can be communicated effectively across the organisation.

Integrating Specific Goals with the Goals Framework

In my Goals Framework for achieving goals, as outlined in Unchained: Success Unlocked, specificity is a cornerstone. The framework emphasises setting SSMTC goals—Specific, Stretched, Measurable, Time-bound, and within your Control. By ensuring goals are specific, the framework helps individuals and organisations define clear paths to success, facilitating better planning, resource allocation, and identifying the belief systems required to support the goal, along with the ‘engine’ of the framework: motivation.

Conclusion

The specificity of goals is essential for improving goal success. It provides clarity, enhances motivation, and allows for effective tracking and adjustments. Whether for personal development, project management, or organisational success, setting specific goals is a proven strategy for achieving desired outcomes.

References

1. Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705.
2. Latham, G. P., & Locke, E. A. (2018). Goal setting theory: Controversies and resolutions. In D. S. Ones, N. Anderson, C. Viswesvaran, & H. K. Sinangil (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of industrial, work & organisational psychology: Organisational psychology (pp. 145–166). Sage Reference.
3. Höpfner, J., & Keith, N. (2021). Goal Missed, Self-Hit: Goal-Setting, Goal-Failure, and Their Affective, Motivational, and Behavioural Consequences. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 704790.
4. Morisano, D., Hirsh, J. B., Peterson, J. B., Pihl, R. O., & Shore, B. M. (2010). Setting, elaborating, and reflecting on personal goals improves academic performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(2), 255.