Crafting Your Reality with Smart Goals
“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” - Andrew Carnegie
What are SMART Goals?
Smart goals are designed to help you identify if what you want to achieve is realistic and determine a deadline. They are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. When writing S.M.A.R.T. Goals use concise language and include relevant information as they are designed to help you succeed, so be positive! The first thing you should do is write down your initial goal, then we can do a few things to make it S.M.A.R.T. It’s a good idea to have an accountability partner to help you ensure success.
Part 1 : Specific
A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal.
To set a specific goal you must answer the five ‘W” questions: Who? What? When? Which? Why?
Leading Questions: What do you want to accomplish? Who needs to be included? When do you want to do this? Why is this a goal? Which area of my life will this help?
Part 2 : Measurable
Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set.
When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the sense of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.
Leading Questions: How Much? How Many? How will I know when it’s accomplished? How can you measure progress and know if you’ve successfully met your goal?
Part 3 : Achievable
Goals should be ambitious, but not impossible. Do not set yourself up for failure.
Choose a goal that you are confident you can reach. But that will stretch yourself also.
It’s helpful to Break large goals into smaller goals and create a plan to do all the steps you need to accomplish the goal.
Leading Questions: Do you have the skills required to achieve the goal? If not, can you obtain them? What is the motivation for this goal? Is the amount of effort required on par with what the goal will achieve?
Part 4 : Relevant
Your goal should be meaningful to you and inspiring enough that it motivates you to succeed.
If you are not determined to meet your goal, obstacles will be very different to overcome.
Leading Questions: Why am I setting this goal now? Is it aligned with overall objectives?
Part 5 : Time-Bound
When will you finish your goal?
How often and when will you check your progress?
What’s the deadline and is it realistic?
Crafting your S.M.A.R.T Goal
Review what you have written and craft a new goal statement based on what the answers to the questions above have revealed.
SMART Goal Format: I will [your goal here] by [how you will meet the goal]. I will know I am making progress by [how you will measure the goal]. My goal will be achieved by [time goes here].
Example: I will loose 53.4 pounds by exercising 30 minutes 5 days a week. My progress will be monitored by me weighing myself each Thursday. My goal will be achieved by December 28th 2020 or sooner.
