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20 Goal Setting Statistics, Facts and Trends in 2023
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Goal setting statistics is key to professional, personal, and academic success. This article will look at some surprising statistics about achieving goals. Usually, many people have definite plans in mind and intend to achieve them.
However, they lose momentum sometime later. There are ways to solve these problems by demonstrating real-world evidence rather than just writing down goals. Setting goals is a good tactic that can be used to achieve success.
Unwritten and Written Goals
Source: Dominican.
1. Individuals who write down their goals have a 20% greater chance of reaching success.
The act of writing down your goals increases your chances of achieving them. This happens because putting your ideas on paper forces you to clarify your thoughts and understand them better, thus achieving them.
2. When you write down your goals, you increase the chances of achieving them by 42%.
Seeing your goals written down in front of you as reminders of what you need to do helps you stay motivated and on track.
3. About 13% of all people have written goals but need the plan to execute them.
Having written goals is the first step to achieving them, but when there is no plan, it may take longer to achieve success.
Because if you fail to create a plan, it will be harder to keep track of your development and make adjustments as they come your way.
4. 3% of people write their goals with a plan to execute them.
Each written plan will help the individual to have a sense of direction and structure. This can be motivating and will keep the individual on track. Because then they feel more motivated to stay focused on the order of their goals.
5. 3% of people who have their goals written down, and a concrete plan are 10 times more likely to achieve the goal than those with no plan.
People who create goals, write them down, and have a plan to achieve those goals tend to be more successful than the other 97% who have no plan at all. Those people who take the time to develop a plan and set goals are:
– More committed to achieving what they want because they create an effective plan.
– Have a clear and particular objective about what they want to achieve.
– They can track their progress and can solve problems that may arise.
6. 80% of the leaders set their objectives.
According to Harvard Business reports, the vast majority of leaders and managers create clear and defined goals, measurable, time-bound and specific.
7. 36% of large companies create a standard approach to setting goals.
There are several methods of setting goals, and 36% of these organizations have a company-wide approach to setting goals, which is very helpful when measuring business success in achieving those defined goals.
8. 84% of all people do not do goal setting.
Although goal setting is essential, according to research done by Harvard Business School, 84% of all people still need to set goals. This explains why most people are average, and only a tiny percentage perform well.
9. People are about 90% more likely to reach their goals if they are challenging and relevant.
Those individuals who are more challenging are more likely to reach their goals. Because if they have plans that are too easy, they may not stay focused and strive for success.
But on the other hand, if the goal is too difficult, many may become discouraged and give up. So it’s all a matter of balance between the two.
10. 76% of organizations have a goal cascade effect.10. 76% of organizations have a goal cascade effect.10. 76% of organizations have a goal cascade effect.
Only 76% of organizations cascade their goals. This means that 3 out of 4 CEOs cascade the company’s goals down to the next level.
11. 51% of senior managers are aware of the goals.
As we have just seen, only 51% of a company’s top management team knows about the progression and what the company’s goals are.
12. Individuals who follow the right way, the programmed actions, and the goals have 76% more chances to succeed.
Having a good plan helps you to have fewer problems, such as forgetting or diverting your attention from what you should be doing. Because if you set a schedule, you will need to make a specific effort to accomplish your goals and commitments.
13. Showing weekly progress reports to a support team can increase your success in reaching your goals by 40%.
According to the Journal of Applied Psychology study, showing progress reports helps the individual, holds them accountable, and provides extra motivation to keep working in a focused way toward the goal. And presenting these reports is also a way to receive feedback, as it helps the individual make improvements.
14. 25% of New Year's goals are likely to be abandoned in just one week.
These end-of-year goals are usually broken because they often need to be attainable. So people end up setting very high ideals, and if they cannot meet them, they give up. These goals are usually vague, so it is challenging to have a deadline to meet. For example, “losing weight” is very ambiguous because how much weight do you want to lose? Do you need to work out more and eat less? Goals like this are usually broken.
15. 9% of people fulfill the goals they set at the end of the year.
One in ten people can achieve those year-end goals, while the other nine cannot. And the higher rate of achieving success is due to the following:
– Setting goals at the beginning of the year gives people a fresh, good start to the year.
– Many people are motivated to change their habits, making the past and future clear.
– Working with others who are also committed to achieving goals.
Therefore, those committed to fulfilling their goals in a specific career or a new job have many chances to succeed.
16. 77% of people make their New Year's resolutions for just one week, which drops to 64% for the next two weeks.
In a series of studies, month 64 percent reported success.
3 out of 4 people fulfill the resolutions they made at the end of the year one week later. But that number drops to 13% within two weeks.
So most people abandon their New Year’s resolutions within 1-2 weeks, and one of the main reasons is that these people need to adjust their goals.
17. 50% of people manage to keep their end-of-year goals for 3 months.
According to a study by the University of Scranton, only half of the people who made their New Year’s goals could keep them by the end of 90 days.
18. 46% of people fulfill their new year's resolutions in the first 6 months.
As the studies by Macross JC, Mrykalo MS, and Blagys MD show, 46% of individuals who sought new challenges for the new year, still need to meet their goals within six months.
The drop in the percentage of people making their new year’s goals from 3 to 6 months is negligible. These new habits adapt as they are nurtured in the first three months.
19. 44% of Americans make goals to be accomplished in the coming year.
44% of all Americans tend to make goals for the next year or so at some time during the year.
20. 12-18% of people make goals for the beginning of the year.
Studies show that 1 in 9 people are likely to make goals to accomplish next year. In this sense, this number is smaller compared to the amount of Americans who also make them because almost half of the population makes some resolutions for the new year.
People have different goals in life. Some want to be successful and wealthy, others want to be happier, and others want to make a difference in the world. Now let’s see which goals are the most popular that people want.
- Eat better and healthier
- Lose weight
- Exercise more
- Spend less
- Saving more
- Stop drinking alcoholic beverages
- Stop smoking
- Reduce stress at work
- Improve performance at work
- Spend more time with family
- Reduce the amount of time you use social networks
Now, let's look at some reasons to set these goals:
- Setting goals to meet our needs, like drinking more water and eating healthily
- Set goals to get your needs met for affection, family, and intimate relationships
- Set goals to have a better life at work or in your personal life
- Set goals to fulfill your commitments
So goals provide something for people to work on and to measure progress. They feel a sense of accomplishment when they achieve their goals, which can bring happiness and improve their quality of life.
Final Thoughts
Therefore, setting goals is very important, no matter the reasons. There is no denying that writing them down is a fundamental step toward achieving them. Therefore, knowing how to balance your goals is crucial because it prevents many mistakes or something from getting in the way along the way.
It is possible to achieve any destination you wish with dedication and effort. And the data above show that many give up during the process because they pursue goals that could be more specific and need an ideal plan to succeed.
The statistics addressed are great because they showed the reality proven in facts and taught us that good habits are fundamental for all goals to be completed. We hope this article was helpful. So, define your goals effectively and achieve the success you so much desire.
Paul Martinez is the founder of EcomSidekick.com. He is an expert in the areas of finance, real estate, eCommerce, traffic and conversion.
Join him on EcomSidekick.com to learn how to improve your financial life and excel in these areas. Before starting this media site, Paul built from scratch and managed two multi-million dollar companies. One in the real estate sector and one in the eCommerce sector.