Take AIM in 2021—a new way to set your new year goals

Finally, 2021 is here—a new year with new chances to grow and succeed. That’s why setting goals is so important. They guide our growth, keep us on track and give us a way to look back and celebrate all we’ve accomplished. But keep this in mind:

Merely setting goals isn’t enough. You want to set the right goals for you, your team and your company.

Goal-setting is an art form, one mastered by the best leaders, from sports coaches to business executives. 2021 is your chance to master it, too.

You’ve heard of, and likely even used, the SMART Approach to setting your business goals—Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reasonable, and Targeted. But here’s a highly effective approach you might not have tried.

Introducing the AIM Approach. 

A = Acceptable Minimum

I = Ideal Goal

M = Maximum Stretch

How does it work? Instead of setting a goal that’s a single number, you create a range of possible results that go from your Acceptable Minimum (the lowest outcome you can allow) to your Ideal Goal all the way to your Maximum Stretch (the highest outcome you could hope for). Setting these three target goals will help you find ratios that accurately enable you to figure how much time, effort and resources it would take you to reach each goal.

Taking the AIM Approach will give you and your team a couple of big advantages as you set and pursue your goals in 2021.

1. You’ll set goals that are reachable—with a stretch.

Photo by Randy Tarampi on Unsplash

Photo by Randy Tarampi on Unsplash

Shoot for the stars! That’s tempting advice to give your team. Because even if they fall just short, they’ll still produce big results, right? Not so fast.

When people and teams achieve their goals, it elevates energy and inspires more activity, which builds belief and begets more success. But the opposite happens when they fall short of their goals. It’s deflating. It leads to decreased activity…or even apathy.

That’s why it's important to hang goals at a height that’s realistic and reachable, with a little bit of stretch on the part of your team—meaning if you get your team members to stay committed and give their very best.


2. You’ll give your team some success wiggle room.

When it comes to goals, specificity is important. But many times leaders set goals that are too exact—a single sales figure or number of new clients. That makes success or failure very all-or-nothing. AIM redefines success in a way that increases your team’s chances to achieve it, and it creates a way for you to have a good (or even great) 2021 and still have room to improve in 2022.

Here’s how it works for setting timelines.

Whether a timeline is a few weeks or several months long, somewhere in the middle sits…the ideal delivery date. You’ll identify it by again using the AIM approach (with the A being the latest acceptable date, and the M being the earliest, most ambitious date). And once you do, circle it on your calendar.

  • Before the Ideal Date: You’ll give your team all the freedom, space and autonomy to pace themselves and reach the goal on their time.

  • On/After the Ideal Date: You’ll get and stay in contact with the employee, and work with them to cross the finish line together.

In either case, your employee feels ownership of the work and is proud of it when it’s finished—and you get everything you need on time.

As you’re applying the AIM Approach and setting your 2021 goals, remember…


Inspiring your team is a marathon, not a sprint.

Think of picking up a golf club or sitting at a drum kit for the first time. Or deciding to learn a new language. Some things take months or years of practice and patience—but some people want to feel like they’re “getting it” (even mastering it) right away, or they lose interest or commitment.

You’ll no doubt have goals that will take all of 2021 (or even beyond) to reach. That means you’ll have to channel your inner football coach and keep the team engaged and inspired for the long season ahead—by giving the right sideline pep talks, setting incremental goals and rewarding the team for reaching them.

The AIM Approach will do more than help you to hit your yearly numbers—it will keep your team feeling committed and confident. That’s how you can start to master the art of goal-setting and drive success in 2021 and beyond!

Brian Kaplowitz