Benefits of Setting Goals: Personal and Your Employees

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Why Setting Goals Often Feels Like a Chore (and How to Change That)

Employee action plans are often completed because the boss requires it. Too many workers feel as if their supervisor is making them go through the process only because it’s good for the company, not for their personal benefit. No wonder “setting goals” can feel like a chore instead of a privilege.

Here’s the mindset shift that changes everything:

• Every goal should answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”
• Every employee goal should also answer, “What’s in it for the team or organization?”

When you understand the benefits of setting goals for yourself and your employees, the process becomes energizing. You stop seeing a goal plan as paperwork and start seeing it as a roadmap to a better life and a more fulfilling career.

What Is a Personal Goal Plan?

Quick Definition: Goal Setting and Personal Goal Plans

Goal setting is the simple habit of choosing what you want, writing it down, and planning the actions to achieve it.

A personal goal plan is a written collection of your most important goals and the reasons they matter to you. It helps you:

• Clarify what you truly want.
• Decide where to focus your time and energy.
• Remember the personal benefits (your “why”) behind each goal.

An employee action plan is the same idea applied to your role at work: clear work‑related goals, specific actions, and a personal “what’s in it for me” that makes each goal worth pursuing.

In this chapter, you’ll use the idea of a personal goal plan across your whole life so you can see how the benefits of setting goals extend far beyond your job description.

Core Benefits of Setting Goals

Here are some of the biggest benefits of setting goals:

1. Clarity

You know exactly what you’re working toward in each area of life. Instead of drifting, you choose your direction on purpose.

2. Motivation

When each goal includes a personal “what’s in it for me,” you feel pulled forward instead of pushed. You remember why the effort is worth it.

3. Focus

Goals help you say “no” to distractions. You stop scattering your energy and start investing it in what matters most.

4. Progress

Written goals and simple action steps make progress visible. You can track small wins and see yourself moving toward your dreams.

5. Confidence and Self‑Respect

Following through on your goals builds self‑respect. You begin to trust yourself, and that confidence spills into every part of life.

These are the core personal goal setting benefits this chapter helps you unlock.

Extra Benefits of Setting Goals for Employees and Teams

When you apply the same principles to your employees, the benefits of setting goals multiply:

• Employees understand how their personal goals connect to the company’s goals.
• Performance reviews become conversations about future growth, not just past mistakes.
• Engagement increases because people see “what’s in it for me” in every performance or development plan.

Instead of “one more form,” the employee action plan becomes a shared roadmap for success.

Benefits Across Your Life and Career

Life Balance – Succeed in Every Area

Earlier in the Goal Setting for Success course, we introduced our Life Balance tool (often called the Success Wheel), which helps you look at your life in key categories.

The Life Balance tool ensures that the benefits of setting goals don’t show up in just one area while other areas suffer. Real success is balanced success.

We’ll briefly revisit five powerful life categories:

• Financial
• Relationships
• Spiritual
• Emotional
• Career

As you read, think about the benefits of a personal goal plan that includes each of these areas.

Financial Category – Security and Freedom

Financial goals are about much more than money. When you set clear financial goals, you create security and freedom for yourself and the people you care about.

Example Benefits of Setting Financial Goals

Some personal goal setting benefits in your financial life might include:

• Reduced stress because you have an emergency fund.
• Freedom to make career changes without panicking about money.
• Ability to invest in your education or business.
• Confidence that you can support your family and future plans.

Ask yourself:

• “What is in it for me if I become debt‑free?”
• “What is in it for me if I consistently save and invest?”

By linking every financial goal to a clear benefit, you give yourself powerful reasons to stay disciplined.

Relationships Category – Stronger Connections

Few things impact our happiness more than the quality of our relationships. The benefits of setting goals in this area are often emotional rather than financial - but they are life‑changing.

Example Benefits of Setting Relationship Goals

Setting relationship goals can help you:

• Spend more meaningful time with your partner, children, or close friends.
• Resolve long‑standing conflicts and restore trust.
• Build a stronger network that supports your personal and career growth.
• Become the kind of person others enjoy being around.

Ask:

• “What’s in it for me if I become a better listener?”
• “What’s in it for us if I schedule regular, distraction‑free time with the people I love?”

Spiritual Category – Purpose and Meaning

For many people, spiritual goals provide a foundation that guides every other decision. Whatever your beliefs, goals in this area help you live in line with your deepest values.

Benefits of setting spiritual goals can include:

• A stronger sense of purpose.
• Peace in the middle of stressful situations.
• Greater compassion for others.
• A clearer sense of right and wrong when making tough choices.

When your spiritual life is aligned, financial and career goals stop being just about “more” and start being about “meaningful.”

Emotional Category – Confidence and Resilience

Emotional health influences how you respond to success, failure, and everything in between. The benefits of a personal goal plan in this area are often subtle but powerful.

Examples of emotional goals and their benefits:

• Learning to manage stress in healthy ways so you don’t burn out.
• Replacing negative self‑talk with realistic, encouraging thoughts.
• Developing the habit of gratitude to stay grounded and hopeful.

As you pursue your goals, you’ll face obstacles. Emotional goals help you bounce back instead of giving up.

Career Category – Employee Goals and Growth

Your career is where personal and employee goals often overlap. You may be an employee, a leader, or both. Either way, the benefits of setting goals in your career are significant.

Benefits of Setting Goals for Employees (and Yourself)

Career‑related goals can help you:

• Gain new skills that make you more valuable in the marketplace.
• Earn promotions, raises, or new opportunities.
• Turn a job into a meaningful career path.
• Create a development plan for your team that actually excites them.

Example: Turning an Employee Action Plan into a Personal Win

Imagine a frontline supervisor working on an employee action plan with a team member who wants a promotion. Together they:

• Set a clear performance goal.
• Identify specific actions to improve skills and results.
• Add the WIIFM: higher pay, new responsibilities, more confidence, and a stronger résumé.

The company benefits from better performance. The employee benefits from a more fulfilling career. That’s the power of combining the benefits of setting goals with a clear employee action plan.

Simple WIIFM Goal Exercise

Here’s a quick exercise to put this chapter into action. It takes just a few minutes and reinforces the benefits of setting goals in a very personal way.

1. Choose one life category

Pick Financial, Relationships, Spiritual, Emotional, or Career.

2. Write down one specific goal

Make it clear and measurable. For example: “Save $5,000 for an emergency fund,” or “Schedule one weekly date night,” or “Complete a leadership course.”

3. Answer “What’s in it for me?”

Write one or two sentences describing the personal benefits you’ll enjoy when you achieve this goal. Be honest and specific.

4. If you lead others, add “What’s in it for my team or organization?”

This step turns a personal goal into a powerful employee goal when appropriate.

5. Keep it visible

Place this WIIFM goal statement where you’ll see it daily. Let the benefits of setting this goal pull you forward when motivation dips.

"Do not waste your vitality in hating your life; find something in it which is worth liking and enjoying, while you keep steadily at work to make it what you desire."

- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Success Lesson #18: How Do You Stand With Yourself?

Self‑Respect – The Hidden Benefit of Setting Goals

One of the greatest long‑term benefits of setting goals is the way it shapes your character. A personal goal plan isn’t just about achieving more - it’s about becoming someone you respect.

Ask yourself:

• How do I stand with myself?”
• “When I look in the mirror, do I trust myself to follow through on what I say I’ll do?”

Every time you set a meaningful goal and keep your commitment, you cast a vote for the kind of person you want to be.

Align Your Goals with Your Values

Goals that conflict with your values will drain your energy. Goals aligned with your values will strengthen you, even when the work is hard.

To align your goals:

• Check your motives. Are you pursuing this goal just to impress others, or because it reflects who you want to become?
• Ask, “If I achieve this goal, will I be more proud of the person I am?”
• Adjust or discard goals that don’t build your integrity or self‑respect.

As you build your personal and employee goals, ask yourself:

• “Will achieving this goal increase my self‑respect?”

When the answer is yes, you’ve found a goal that truly belongs in your personal goal plan.

Quick Reflection: Are Your Goals Building or Eroding Self‑Respect?

Take a moment and think about your current goals:

• Which goals, if achieved, would make you feel more honest, reliable, and grounded?
• Which goals are based mostly on fear, comparison, or ego?

The benefits of setting goals go way beyond money or recognition. The greatest benefit may be the person you become in the process.

Put the Benefits of Setting Goals to Work

Turn Benefits into a Master Action Plan (M.A.P.)

Understanding the benefits of setting goals is an important step. Utilize the Master Action Plan (M.A.P.) so you know exactly how you’ll move forward.

Your M.A.P. should:

• List your top goals in each important life category.
• Capture your WIIFM statement for each goal.
• Break big goals into smaller, manageable action steps.
• Include simple checkpoints to monitor your progress.

As explained in detail earlier in this course, your M.A.P. shows you how to turn your list of goals and benefits into a day‑to‑day plan you can actually follow.

Stay Motivated with “Celebrate to Motivate”

Another benefit of a written goal plan is that it reminds you to celebrate progress, not just perfection.

To keep yourself and your team motivated:

• Celebrate small wins along the way.
• Recognize effort and growth, not just final results.
• Use milestones as chances to reflect, adjust, and recommit.

As you celebrate, you reinforce the benefits of setting goals and make it more likely that you’ll stick with your plan.