The Problem of Retention
It’s one thing to attract people. It’s another to keep them.
Businesses spend millions chasing new customers while ignoring the ones they already have. Leaders roll out new programs to inspire employees, but turnover continues. Communities form with great excitement, then fade away when the novelty wears off.
The truth is simple. Retention is the real challenge. Without it, growth is a revolving door. You bring people in, but they quietly slip out the back. That’s a problem no business, no leader, and no country can afford to ignore. Planning for retention is essential for the future of any organization.
Effective retention strategies not only support organizational goals but also positively impact the lives of everyone involved.
The Slowjamastan Challenge
When we created Slowjamastan, I never expected it to grow into a global community. Yet today, more than 20,000 people proudly call themselves citizens. Sounds exciting, right? But here’s the catch. Getting citizens to sign up was only the beginning.
The real test was keeping them engaged. If people joined but never returned, our little nation would’ve become just another forgotten idea. Setting challenging goals was necessary to inspire ongoing engagement and ensure our community thrived. How do you hold the attention of thousands of people scattered across the world? How do you make sure they don’t drift away?
To ensure the community’s success, specific actions needed to be accomplished, from fostering interaction to creating meaningful events and opportunities for participation.
The Turning Point: Achievable Goals With Purpose
This is where goal setting came into play. Instead of hoping people stayed connected, I set a clear retention goal. My mission was simple: keep 90% of our citizens engaged and coming back for more. Achieving this goal required dedicated effort and strategic planning.
That number wasn’t random. It gave me a target. It forced me to create strategies, not just slogans. Without that goal, I would’ve drifted like everyone else. With it, I had purpose and enhanced focus on the actions needed.
Setting a clear goal led to successful outcomes for the community.
The Goal Setting Process: From Vision to Action
Every achievement starts with a vision, but it’s the goal setting process that turns that vision into reality. Whether you’re aiming for personal growth, professional advancement, or community engagement, setting achievable goals is the foundation for success.
The process begins by defining what you want to accomplish. This means getting specific about your desired outcome—whether it’s improving task performance at work, mastering a new skill, or building a thriving community. Once you have a clear vision, break it down into smart goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. This approach transforms big dreams into actionable goals, making progress feel both possible and motivating.
Effective goal setting doesn’t stop at planning. It’s about creating a roadmap for success and committing to consistent action. By monitoring progress along the way, you can stay focused, adjust your strategies, and celebrate small wins. This not only boosts motivation but also ensures you’re always moving in the right direction.
The beauty of the goal setting process is that it works in every area of life. Whether you’re setting personal goals or tackling professional challenges, having a structured plan helps you achieve more, stay motivated, and accomplish what matters most. Remember, success isn’t accidental—it’s the result of clear goals, focused effort, and the discipline to keep going until you achieve your desired outcome.
The Lesson: Engagement Is a Daily Effort
Earl Nightingale said, “We become what we think about.” If you only think about attracting new people, that’s where all your energy goes. But if you think about retention, your focus shifts. You begin to ask different questions. How do I keep people excited? How do I make them feel valued?
Jim Rohn taught that success is the predictable result of daily disciplines. Engagement is no different. Consistent progress is achieved through daily effort and attention to the needs of your community. You don’t retain 20,000 people by accident. You do it by showing up consistently, accomplishing these daily actions, creating new reasons to stay, and never taking your community for granted.
These efforts help motivate both leaders and community members to stay engaged.
My Retention Tools: Trivia, Video, Connection, and Progress Tracking
For Slowjamastan, I relied on three core tools.
First, trivia. It may sound like just a game, but it builds bonds. People laugh, compete, and interact. Trivia breaks barriers that meetings never could.
Second, personal video messages. Short, authentic clips sent directly to citizens. They reminded people they mattered. They made the community feel personal, not distant.
Third, connection. Answering emails quickly. Responding to messages with care. Making citizens feel like friends, not numbers.
These tools weren’t random. They were specific plans designed to achieve my retention goal.
Each tool involved specific tasks aimed at building engagement.
Tracking progress with these tools helped ensure ongoing engagement.
The Strategy: How You Can Apply Goal Setting #3
If you’re an HR manager, business leader, or planner, you can use the same framework. Here are some practical goal setting tips that leverage proven goal setting skills:
- Set a specific retention goal. Don’t settle for “better engagement.” Make it measurable. Setting measurable goals using the acronym SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) helps clarify what success looks like and supports effective goal achievement.
- Set realistic goals. Setting realistic goals ensures your objectives are attainable and supports motivation and long-term success.
- Choose your tools. Trivia, personal messages, or recognition programs—pick strategies that create connection.
- Show up consistently. Retention dies in silence. Keep the communication alive.
- Celebrate loyalty. Recognize those who stay. People repeat behaviors that get rewarded.
- Track progress. Tracking progress helps you stay accountable, adjust strategies, and maintain motivation on the way to achieving goals.
- Focus on one goal at a time. Focusing your efforts can improve performance and make your progress more manageable.
- Understand the important distinction between outcome goals and performance goals. Outcome goals focus on results, while performance goals emphasize the process. Mastery goals and long term goals support ongoing growth and learning.
- Use goal setting to achieve professional goals, improve academic performance, and develop new skills.
- Align individual goals with larger goals and manage other goals to avoid spreading yourself too thin.
- Leverage intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation supports persistence and enjoyment, making it easier to achieve goals.
- Consider decision making and environmental defaults. Setting up your environment and defaults can help your future self make better choices and support goal achievement.
- Use control groups in research. Control groups validate the effectiveness of goal setting strategies and help you understand what really works.
- Remember, many people want to achieve success, but only those who take action and commit to their plans achieve goals.
- Achieved goals are the result of effective planning, consistent effort, and execution.
- Set the right goals. Choosing the right goals is essential for long-term success and personal fulfillment.
- Achieving goals requires specific plans, consistent effort, and regular review.
The key is simple. Retention requires goals. Without them, you drift. With them, you build.
Conclusion: Goal Setting #3 Is About Retention
Goal Setting #3 proves that growth isn’t just about numbers—it’s about keeping people connected. I didn’t keep 20,000 citizens engaged by accident. I did it by setting a clear retention goal and living it out every day.
You can do the same in your business, your team, or your community. Set the goal. Apply discipline. And watch loyalty flourish.
Kid Corona – Keynote Speaker, National Trivia Host, Chief Border Agent of Slowjamastan
Contact me for booking information