Setting and attaining goals is essential to achieving academic, professional, and personal success.

In this post, we’ll present up to date statistics on achieving goals.

People often have well-articulated objectives in mind and set out with a strong sense of purpose to attain them, but they frequently lose momentum weeks later when they look back on their progress. New findings suggest ways to overcome this issue, demonstrating real-world evidence that writing down your objectives, committing to action steps, and building a support network help you achieve them more successfully.

A widely accepted goal-setting technique is to make a “SMART” goals, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

SMART goals should also be measurable so you can track your progress, and they should be things that you could realistically accomplish. See Smart goal examples.

Another goal setting method that has become popular is the law of attraction and manifesting.

Finally, they must be attainable for you to do within a specific timeframe.

Key Facts About Statistics On Achieving Goals

Goal-setting has been around since the beginning of time, however, it was popularized by Englishman Alec Mace to encourage individuals to achieve more with their jobs and lives. Here’s a summary of the history and figures surrounding goal setting.

• In the United Kingdom in 1935, Cecil Alec Mace conducted the first empirical investigations into goal-setting as a team and personal development.
• People who have written objectives are 50% more likely to accomplish them than those who do not.
• Goals should be written down, according to motivational ‘gurus.’
• 19% succeeds with their new years resolutions, whereas (13%) of New Year’s resolutions are already achieved by January 15th.
• Only 3 out of every hundred people make a goal written down on paper.
• It’s been scientifically proven that sharing your objectives with a close confidant improves your chances of success.
• The first step in making the intangible tangible is to set objectives.
• The most successful people on the planet understand that what you obtain by achieving your aim or goals is less important than what you become during the process.
• The most effective objectives are time-bound and quantifiable work since they are more likely to be accomplished.
• You will be giving up something to achieve your objective.
• Most people (64%) have a vision in mind, but they are unwritten aspirations.
• According to Harvard research, most Americans (83%) do not have any objectives.
• Goals kept in mind are more likely to be jumbled up with the other 1500 thoughts per minute that most people have.
• The act of recording a goal is an extremely effective motivation tool.
• Writing down objectives encourages us to avoid being vague.
• The majority of gurus think that goals should be carried with you.
• The Harvard ‘Written Goal Study’ and the Yale’ Class of 1953′ goal study, on the other hand, had a disability.
• Gail Matthews’ research at Dominican University has shown that writing goals down, sharing them, and providing confides with one’s progress reports are all effective methods for attaining meaningful goals.

The second stage, in which many goal setters fail, is to plan the actions you’ll need to take and then put your strategy into action. Consider the following questions while planning your approach:

• What tasks do I need to accomplish to reach my goal, and how much time will they take?
• What resources do I require?
• Who can assist me in reaching my objectives?

You must also anticipate possible challenges and develop potential remedies. To maintain focus on your objective, discover a buddy or network that can keep you on track and touch base with your pals once a week to resolve difficulties and stay focused on success.

According to recent research by Psychology Professor Dr. Gail Matthews, taking the preceding steps is critical to attaining objectives, providing empirical evidence that backs up the practice of writing down goals and committing to action steps.

Her study also notes the efficacy of goal setters getting a buddy to hold them accountable for executing their action tasks by providing weekly progress updates. Matthew divided participants into five groups in his study and gave them various instructions.

The first group had unspoken objectives; the second wrote their aims down; the third wrote down both objectives and action commitments; the fourth composed goals and actions and handed them to a buddy; and the fifth group shared their written objectives and activities with a friend, providing monthly.

The research results revealed that participants who wrote down their objectives, performed activities, and reported progress to a friend regularly achieved their objectives at a higher rate than those who did not.

This figure is 33 percent greater than those individuals with unwritten goals, with a success rate of only 43 percent of objectives completed.

This research demonstrates the importance of:

• writing down your goals
• developing an action plan
• establishing a support system

to keep yourself accountable for achieving them

Statistics for Goal Setting and Success

When it comes to setting goals, it is important to keep some key goal setting statistics in mind:

 

• People who wrote down their goals had a 20% higher chance of achieving their goals.

Gail discovered that those who wrote their objectives down exhibited higher success than those in Group 1.

• 42% higher chance of success when objectives are written.

The last section of the Goals, Action, and Results section of the High-Performance Goal Research Summary shows that writing goals can help people stay focused. Written goals may assist in achieving superior results based on the activities carried out.

• Followers of scheduled action commitments and accountability are 76% more likely to achieve their objectives.

The rate of goal accomplishment was 76 percent higher among Group 5 participants. It’s much easier to follow through with action promises when you write down objectives, including a plan for your work schedule.

Furthermore, you may give and receive feedback on your progress reports from coworkers. Getting feedback at work helps people learn and improve while boosting productivity. That’s why we built a Facebook group of accountability buddies. You post your weekly assignments and check in to see if you’ve completed them at the end of the week. It can’t get

• The development of self-efficacy was aided by giving weekly progress reports to encouraging coworkers, following actionable tasks in line with written goals, and performing daily reflection sessions.

The consequences also revealed that staff accountability, reporting, and reports increased employee performance by 40%.

• 86% of the population does not have any objectives.

In 1979, Harvard Business School conducted a study on goal-setting among the graduating class. The findings of the study indicate that 83% of students in the class failed to set any objectives. It was discovered during their survey that 83 percent of students in the class did not create any goals.

• The percentage of people who have written goals but no real plans is approximately 13%.

Only 13% of the candidates in the study had created objectives. They did not, however, create a clear plan of action.

• Only 3 percent of individuals have established goals and concrete methods for achieving them.

The third group of pupils completed their objectives and had a well-defined strategy. Seven steps to developing and achieving your objectives in life are outlined below.

• Achievers are more effective than those who don’t have a goal.

After ten years, 13% of students who had written objectives without a concrete plan surpassed their goals, whereas 84% of those who did not write down their objectives exceeded theirs.

• 3% of individuals who write down specific objectives with practical strategies succeed ten times more than those that don’t.

The top 10% of students scored at least ten times more than the bottom 90%.

• Only 41 percent of Americans make New Year’s Resolutions.

Now it’s time to look at some interesting New Year goals and statistics in the United States. In a study conducted in 2016, it was discovered that 41% of Americans make New Year resolutions.

• According to the Journal of Happiness Studies, only 25% of individuals who start New Year’s resolutions keep them for more than a week.

At the end of the first week of the year, at least 25% of Americans have given up their New Year’s Resolutions. By the conclusion of the second week, it has dropped to 71%.

• Only 9% of people making New Year’s Resolutions succeed in accomplishing their goals

Even though their numbers are declining, 9% of movers said they successfully kept their goals until the end of the year. What is this all about? The answer is simple: it’s all about how you plan and declare your new year’s intentions. I’ll show you how to create effective new year resolutions in this section.

• 35% of people fail to keep New Year’s Resolutions because they had set unrealistic goals

The individuals in the previous study published in 2014 said that creating objectives made them feel unrealistic.

• Those who make New Year’s resolutions are 10% more likely to accomplish them than those who don’t.

According to a 2002 study conducted at the University of Scranton, New Year’s resolutions are effective. By the end of the year, around 46 percent of those who made pledges were at least 10% more successful in meeting their objectives.

• Setting ambitious goals can help you accomplish more in life.

In 1978, Becker Lawrence J researched the combined impact of goal setting and feedback on residential energy conservation performance. The families that set difficult goals spent significantly more money than other participants.

• Feedback increases the motivation to achieve goals.

Becker discovered that families who received feedback three times a week saved more than others.

Sources:

• Michigan State University Extension
• Forbes
• PCSB.ORG
• Unstats.un.org