“What is holding women back from achieving their goals?, why do women find it harder to do so?”

I was having a conversation with a young woman just the other day and she asked a simple yet very important question, she asked – “What is holding women back from achieving their goals?, why do we as women find it harder to do so?”

I contemplated this question for a while and though it has been some time since I posted here on Linkedin I thought to myself I should share my answer with all you young ladies out there in the world who are trying their best to achieve.

Now, the plain fact is that In both the private and public sectors, women face occupational segregation, and multiple barriers due to cultural mindsets, stereotypes and plain old male egotistical attitudes. Women are less likely to be called for a job interview than men with the same characteristics.. A recent MIT study found that a major factor preventing women from being promoted is that they are consistently judged as having lower leadership potential than men.

Some of you may disagree, you may find that there are a lot more women in the workforce and ultimately achieving their goals today than say fifty to sixty years ago, or to put things in perspective, in our parents and grandparents time. You may think that in this day and age that old adage of women belong in the home barefoot and pregnant is going the way of the dinosaurs. But let’s face it, those women who are actually climbing the ladder of success in whatever field they choose to be in had to work damn hard to get there, much harder than their male counterparts who, with the right qualifications and work ethics climbed that ladder with ease, while in some cases have left the lady who are much better qualified than they are on the ground floor looking up.

Hard Work Alone Doesn’t Get Women Promoted

Women are good at working hard. If that was really the answer, full stop, wouldn’t there be more women in leadership, making equal pay?

Working hard for your success means more than putting your head down and putting in a great deal of effort; it also means taking control making sure that others know you are working hard and it also means asking for the rewards.

Case in point: We may be unduly influenced by swagger (also known as self-promotion — something research has shown men to do more without inhibition) and therefore under-value those who toil away earnestly but more quietly.

Indeed, one study concluded that “Of all the strategies used by women, making their achievements known—by ensuring their manager was aware of their accomplishments, seeking feedback and credit as appropriate, and asking for a promotion when they felt it was deserved—was the only one associated with compensation growth.”

Self-promotional behavior — including asking for what you want/have earned — matters.

Yet research shows that women, even the most senior ones, still struggle with it.

Even if we recognize women for their achievements, women need to voice their skills and show they’re ready to take the next step if they really want to land that promotion.

The bottom line is this: Don’t buy into the career advice that it’s enough to work hard.

Working hard is only one part of the puzzle. If you want that promotion or raise, use your swagger and ask for it.

10 tips to achieve your goals 

Setting goals is just the beginning. After taking the time to identify what your goals are, achieving them is a whole other ball game.

Working to achieve your goals can feel overwhelming at times. Here are some effective goal-setting tips on how to achieve life goals to the best of your ability.

1. Have SMART goals

You’re not going to achieve your goals if they aren’t SMART. If you haven’t heard of SMART goals already, they are goals that are:

• Specific. There’s no point in setting vague goals that don’t achieve anything specific.
• Research by the creators of goal setting theory, Locke & Latham, found that in 90% of studies conducted, specific and challenging goals lead to higher performance than when people were set either easy goals, “do your best” goals, or no goals at all.
• It’s important for both you and your employees to have clear and established aims, to avoid potentially setting goals so broad that they are overwhelming and therefore too difficult to set into action.
• Measurable. Once you have a specific goal pinned down, it’s important to be able to measure the success or completion of the goal.
• This doesn’t have to be in the traditional sense, like on a numeric scale or a statistic, it just has to be measurable in some sense, so that it is clear when you have reached or are close to reaching your goal.
• Attainable. A SMART goal must be within reach. Lean on data, analytics, and research to help set attainable goals. 
• Relevant. It is essential that any goals set for teams or individuals are relevant to company-wide aims.
• Of course, goal completion is important, and having goals met or worked towards is the overall idea when setting them, but this is only really beneficial when the goals are productive in the workplace environment and will contribute to company success in some way.
• As a manager, it is particularly important that you help your employees link their goals back to the wider team and company-wide goals. One of the best ways to motivate your employees is to make sure they know how their work is contributing to the bigger picture.
• Time-bound. Goals must be time-related. It’s not productive to set a deadline too far in the future for a simple task, or an unrealistically short deadline for something complex and time-consuming.
• This common pitfall can be incredibly demotivating for staff. They’re either left with an abundance of time in which they are not pushing themselves, or left feeling stressed and demotivated when they fail to complete goals in the time frame provided. 

By setting goals that have these characteristics, you’re setting yourself up for greater success.

2. Write them down

Don’t just daydream about your goals — put pen to paper and write them down. This makes your goals more tangible and makes them seem more real.

A study by Dr. Gail Matthews of Dominican University of California shows the effectiveness of writing down goals. According to his research, people who write their goals have a better chance of accomplishing more than those who do not write down their goals.

3. Make your goals visible

To keep your eyes on the prize, put your written goals somewhere you’ll see them. It should be a place you visit regularly so that you’re constantly reminded of where you want to be.

If it’s your personal goals, put them on your bathroom mirror or fridge as a nudge every morning of what you want to achieve.

For teams, your group goals should be somewhere all your team members can see them. This could be a bulletin board or incorporated online into your group management software.

4. Break it down

Because goals are often long-term and abstract by nature, make them more digestible by breaking them down.

Use a “goal ladder” by writing your main goal at the top rung of the ladder. Work your way through the rest of the ladder steps, writing down the smaller goals you need to achieve in order to achieve your main goal.

5. Develop a plan

Now that you know what you’re working toward, it’s time to figure out how you’re going to get there.

Write down the individual steps you need to take to achieve goals. Creating an action plan will keep you on track. As you work your way through each step of your plan, cross it off so you can see how much further you have to go and feel optimistic about your progress.

6. Take action

Goals aren’t going to achieve themselves. Once you’ve got a clear plan of how you want to achieve your goals, it’s time to get proactive.

Put your plan into action. Even the smallest act makes you one step closer to your goal.

7. Keep perspective

It can be easy to become obsessed with achieving your goals. You might reach a point where you feel you would do anything you have to in order to get closer to achieving your goal.

But this can lead to burnout and even abandonment of your goal.

Avoid burnout by living a balanced life. Take breaks from your plan and look at the bigger picture. Practice kindness toward yourself and give yourself time.

8. Identify potential obstacles

Be realistic in that you’re going to face challenges along the way. Recognize what these problems might be and make a note of them.

Being aware of your potential obstacles will make them less intimidating if you are faced with them along your journey toward success.

9. Be accountable

Trying to accomplish a goal entirely by yourself can be lonely and overwhelming. Accountability helps you make consistent, steady progress and keeps you striving toward your goals.

Keep yourself accountable by sharing your goals with a friend. If it’s a group goal, have your team share their goals with another team.

10. Reflect and adjust

Maybe you haven’t achieved your goals in the time frame you wanted to. Maybe your goals were a bit too unrealistic. And that’s ok.

Rather than feeling defeated, take time to review your goals and see what you can change. You might need to adjust your goals or maybe just tweak your plan to achieve them.