The ability to sustain focus on a single goal is fundamental to goal achievement. And organizations are discovering that teaching employees about their brain is helping them to hold that focus, achieve goals faster, and improve self and social awareness too. This science-based education provides compelling motivation for changing behaviour to increase productivity and engagement.
This is also true when it comes to setting actions for achieving your goals. When employees understand how their brains work, and the chemistry required to sharpen focus and increase engagement in a task – they set about trying to create that state for themselves. Who wouldn’t? Our brains are wired to move toward rewarding experiences. Neuroleadership, as a field, provides practical tools for people to take responsibility for their experiences and impact in the workplace.
There is a way to maximize the emotional pull that a goal has on you.
Successful goal achievement, however, requires much more than setting a goal you are passionate about. It comes down to taking action each day and learning from new experiences and information. The right type of actions help you build new wiring that nudge you closer to the finish line.
What do the right kind of actions look like? Research shows that being able to cross actions off as you achieve them is highly rewarding to our brains. Literally drip-feeding your brain with the neurotransmitter dopamine, which keeps you curious and motivated.
A well constructed action is also very specific.
When you have a clear task that will be completed in a particular timeframe, completing the task provides a mini ‘win’ and serves as a step closer to the bigger goal. It‘s easy to let yourself off the hook when actions you set are ambiguous or complex.
Your brain is wired to seek out socially rewarding experiences. So it‘s important you‘re clear about who to involve and who is impacted by your actions. Identifying how actions benefit those you care about, can ramp up the ‘high’ experienced from carrying out a task.
And finally, it‘s important that actions you set are truly things you can influence and do yourself.
Noesis delivers neuroleadership consulting and training to organizations handling everyday change and major transformation initiatives. We help our clients permanently and scientifically improve leadership.
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