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WHY YOUR GOALS MUST BE SMART?

by afokalakala
7 replies
SMART Goals

If you ask most people what is their one major objective in life, they would probably give you a vague answer, such as, "I want to be successful, be happy, make a good living," and that is it. They are all wishes and none of them are clear goals.

Goals must be SMART:

1. S--specific. For example, "I want to lose weight." This is wishful thinking. It becomes a goal when I pin myself down to "I will lose 10 pounds in 90 days."

2. M--must be measurable. If we cannot measure it, we cannot accomplish it. Measurement is a way of monitoring our progress.

3. A--must be achievable. Achievable means that it should be out of reach enough to be challenging but it should not be out of sight, otherwise it becomes disheartening.

4. R--realistic. A person who wants to lose 50 pounds in~30 days is being unrealistic.

5. T--time-bound. There should be a starting date and a finishing date.

Please comment your opinion on this and add something yours...
#goals #smart
  • Profile picture of the author chukster
    Good advice. This is the same advice they gave project mangers and business analysis when they are undertaken a project
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  • Profile picture of the author WarrenPeterson
    I write and teach about goals with my coaching clients. It is one of our starting points, no matter where they currently are in life. I have a book at Amazon about this as well: Successful GoalsSuccessful Goals .

    SMART goals matter, but they are not nearly enough. There are other elements that need to be in place for goals to work. I call them the power elements.

    To really create and reach goals, you need to have some level of these other elements in place. The most important is the strong positive emotional reason why. That 'why' is perhaps the single biggest reason. If there is no serious positive emotional reason why behind the goal, it won't be met.

    The why could be a negative association, "I'm going to do this to prove everyone wrong about XYZ." or if could be a positive association, "I'm going to do this because it will change my life due to XYZ." I am a big advocate of using the positive association and not the negative, but for many the negative works.

    Someone could have all the pieces of a SMART goal in place, but without a real 'why' driving them, they won't succeed.
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Harris
      I find most of the time,
      when I ask some one "what do you want in life?"

      They usually give me a blank look..

      So then I rephrase my question, and try "if you could have anything you wanted, money being no object, what would it be?"

      This one seems to be easier as most of the time I get a response and,

      99% of the answers I get start with "Well, I Don't want,"

      Having an emotional driving force behind a goal is indeed a powerful accelerator..

      Unfortunately many people don't seem to be at the stage of having a goal let alone a SMART one..

      My own experience was that of resisting writing down my goals for years.. Funny, who ever thought it would be so had to sit down and write out some things I would like to achieve in my life..

      BUT.. WOW! what a difference it made and still makes daily..
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    • Profile picture of the author iblamemonkeys
      Is the why that I have trouble holding on to
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      • Profile picture of the author iblamemonkeys
        Very personal list but some mostly material reasons:

        Why I want to earn £10,000 a month:

        So I eat good quality food and afford to play squash: get healthier
        I can save for a cruise to New England or Scandinavia
        I can afford to save money towards a house
        I can rent a car for business if needed
        So I can feel better about myself and buy some nicer clothes
        I can hire a gardener / cleaner etc to help me around the house
        I can buy a dishwasher
        I can get some carpet fitted on stairs and sitting room
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  • Profile picture of the author robertoslaw
    Your goals should be smart, otherwise it's pointless.
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  • Profile picture of the author eternalsongbird
    Thanks for the advice. I myself think that if I choose a goal from early time, then I can smartly reach to this. The selection of goal should be perfect.
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