Reaching Your Goals: 7 Tips to Dramatically Increase the Odds

How to Significantly Improve Your Chances of Reaching Your Goals
Leadership simulation assessment data tells us that leaders are getting better at setting smart goals, but project postmortem results highlight that most teams stumble trying to turn them into reality. The daily effort, shifting priorities, and unexpected obstacles make goal achievement far more complex than simply writing down objectives. So how can you actually increase the odds of reaching your goals?

Do You Consistently Hit Your Targets?
Think back to the last few objectives you set — how often did you fully achieve them? Many of us struggle not because we lack ambition, but because sustaining focus, commitment, and energy over time is harder than anticipated. This challenge applies equally to professional projects and personal aspirations. Without deliberate strategies to maintain change momentum, even the clearest goals can remain out of reach.

Recent Research about How to Increase the Odds of Reaching Your Goals

• A recent ATD study found people have a 65% chance of completing their goal if they commit to reaching that goal to someone else.
• And if you have a specific time and place to be held accountable to proving you have reached your goal with the person you have committed to, your odds of reaching your goals increase by thirty percentage points — to an amazing 95%.

How to Boost Your Chances of Reaching Your Goals in 7 Field-Tested Steps
By nature, any high-performance goal worth pursuing comes with challenges — obstacles are inevitable. Yet, with determination and a clear plan, your likelihood of success can rise dramatically.  The seven steps outlined below are grounded in research on human behavior. They offer a practical roadmap to shift habits, maintain momentum, and significantly increase your odds of reaching your most important goals:

1. Be Ruthlessly Clear About Your Target and Why It Matters
   Define exactly what you want to achieve — and why it matters to you, your team, and your organization — over the next ninety days. Your goal should stretch your capabilities while remaining realistic. For example, if you aim to grow your client base by 10%, and you currently have 30 active clients, your target would be three new clients within 90 days. This is both ambitious and achievable, provided you create a concrete plan and dedicate the time and effort required to hit it.
2. Break the Goal Into Manageable Pieces
   Take your 90-day goal and divide it into months, weeks, and days. Break the objective into realistic, relevant, and actionable targets—small steps that build steadily toward your ultimate outcome.

   For example, if your goal is to add three new clients in 90 days, aim for one new client per month. Then pinpoint the leading sales activities that drive that result. You might decide to schedule three new prospect meetings each week. To make that happen, identify the key actions that support it, such as reaching out to five satisfied clients daily for referrals.

   The key is to break each step down until it’s crystal clear and easy to execute — so simple that taking action feels almost automatic, with minimal resistance.

3. Set Up a Supportive Environment
   Design your workspace so it actively supports focus and minimizes distractions. Turn off notifications, set boundaries for phone calls, and carve out uninterrupted time for the work that matters most.

   Prioritize your highest-impact activities and let everything else wait. When your environment reinforces your goals, staying on track becomes far easier — and more sustainable.

4. Share Your Goal with Others
   Research shows that accountability significantly boosts follow-through. Establish regular checkpoints to track and share your progress with key stakeholders.  Transparency not only adds a healthy layer of motivation, but it also keeps your supporters informed — so they can celebrate wins, offer guidance, and step in when challenges arise.
5. Visualize the Impact of Achieving Your Goal
   Sure, adding new clients boosts revenue — but the real power lies in how success will make you feel. Connect your goal to the personal and team-level satisfaction it brings.  Picture the pride in your contribution, the recognition from colleagues, and the sense of accomplishment as you help more clients than ever before.

   Feeling the emotional payoff makes the effort tangible and strengthens your commitment to see it through.

6. Make Your Goal Part of Your Identity
   As you work toward your goal, see yourself as the kind of professional who consistently reaches out to new prospects and steadily grows your client base.  Adopt the mindset of a successful sales representative — someone recognized for proactively seeking opportunities and turning them into results. When your goal becomes part of how you define yourself, taking the necessary actions becomes second nature.
7. Celebrate Small Wins Along the Way
   Reward yourself for sticking to your plan each day. It could be a relaxing drink with friends, a refreshing bike ride through your favorite park, or any small treat that feels meaningful to you.  Looking forward to these mini-rewards reinforces positive behavior, keeps motivation high, and makes the journey toward your goal more enjoyable.

The Bottom Line
High performance comes from your ability to set meaningful goals and follow through with consistency and focus. By applying these seven strategies, you dramatically increase your chances of turning goal ambition into  goal achievement.

If you want to learn more about creating high performance as a leader, download How Much Should a Leader Push to Get the Most Out of their Team

by Tristam Brown: CEO

Tristam Brown is an executive business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.