Why setting up SMART goals suck!!

Hey all I'm new here and wanted to really be able to contribute some of the things I've experienced in life, what I've learned and things I've messed up on and things I've succeeded at in hopes to maybe help you move to the next level in life. Hope I'm able to do that here and on this forum because of all the value this forum has to offer.

I've always had a 'thing' for personal and professional development. Never had any interest in it until about 5 years ago when I lost myself and was pretty depressed and suicidal over certain situations. I won't bore you with my story just yet. Hehe. What I do want to share is something I've experimented with last year in setting something up a bit more differently than S.M.A.R.T. goals.

This is from my blog. You can check it out if you like - the link is in my signature.

================================================== ==
Going along the same lines of my New Years Post about resolutions and why they don't work I wanted to shed some light on what SMART goals were and why you should avoid them like the plague or at least use them them with this other concept I'm about to introduce.

In previous books and education on goal setting many of the 'media' says to layout goals like this:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-Based

There are many other forms of a SMART goal but we'll stick with this for easy deduction.

When beginning to set a goal you must be specific. Meaning you must have ABSOLUTE clarity on what you want your outcome to be. For example setting the goal Losing Weight is not specific enough. Instead you'd want to set a goal that dictates how man pounds you'd like to lose. For example: I'd like to lose 3 pounds in 9 days.

Is that specific enough??? You bet.
Can you measure it? Yes you can.
Is it attainable? Meaning... is it possible? Yes it is. It's been done by numerous of people before... who says you can't do it???
Is it realistic? Yea. It is.
Is it time-based? Is there a dead line??? Yes.

So basically... that's setting goals in a nutshell.

But here's the problem. When you set SMART goals you're left with just that, an unfulfilled goal that you have to 'work' for. And who in the world likes to work??? I don't. My belief is that work must equal play. Because why in the world am I going to lose 3 pounds in 9 days when I HATE WORKING OUT?!

See even if we set SMART goals many times we probably won't follow through with it because it's "work". And that's why SMART goals suck. lol. But if we can find a way to attach a meaning to it that's not only inspiring but empowering as well we'll have a much greater chance of achieving your goal.

Can we make this easier??? You bet!

By building 'character' we not only have a greater chance of achieving and succeeding at the goals we set but we also become more whole and more fulfilled during the process and even more so when we accomplish and reach our goals . This is what I like to call "character based goal setting".

What is Character Based Goal Setting?

Character based goal setting is a way to develop the type of character you need so you AUTOMATICALLY follow through with the goals you set. For me... I had a hard time succeeding when I set my SMART goals up. I either would achieve my goals or not achieve them. It was hit or miss all the time. But my experiment last year with Character Based Goal Setting proved to give me amazing results. And it still continues to this day.

Instead of going after the goals I set; I decided to find the common character trait I needed to develop in order for me to achieve all the goals I set out for in 2010. It took some work to set up my SMART goals and to really see what I was looking to accomplish last year to set myself up to win. But it worked. Instead of setting up the goal of "I want to spend time with my family more and still have fun with friends and still be able to run my businesses without sacrificing my whole self and have my family back." (My family and I were going through some major downs for the past few years that it tore the family up.)

Instead of finding out ways to do those things I decided to build my character. I chose to develop more "balance" in my life. And that was my overall character trait - a chunk up from all those specific gory details. And by doing that I realized at the end of the year I had achieved balance in my life. Balance became a part of my life.

Now I have my family back. I have the relationships I've always wanted in my family, which was something I never had as a kid at all. I've lost weight and actually have kept myself on my regimen all the way to this day (I added Integrity to my 2011 Character List). And my businesses are flourishing with balance also. I'm able to do multiple things and venture and partner with many other businesses and people to create very high quality long lasting, life transforming products, business systems and business models. It's an amazing life.

But this isn't about me. It's about you.

And it's in my experience that SMART goals only work half-assly, yes that's a technical term. Hehe. You must ALSO develop a certain CHARACTER or set of characters in order to achieve your goals and actually FEEL fulfilled and successful. Because there's nothing worse than achieving your goal and thinking to yourself, "Wow is that it? Is this all there is? That sucks."

Character based goal setting allows you to look at one specific thing to improve in life that is the underbelly of all the goals you set. Goals don't get you anything except to say "you got it". If you're cool with that - that's awesome. I prefer a deeper meaning to it all though. I rather have a deep association to becoming someone better each time I set a goal.

The plus side to character based goal setting is that by setting up Character traits you want to improve in your life allows you become more whole - you get to choose to become more of you.

I don't need a 'car' or 'money' to say I'm whole - it's superficial. But instead what I do need is to develop my character and myself to be even more than I am today. Not just for myself but also to be an example for others.

No thing, person, or money will ever be able to give me that. And it's work. Yes very hard work. And at times it's painful to open your eyes to see the true you and to develop more of that day in and day out.

I'll never stop growing. It's what drives me. It's what makes me happy. It's what I live for. And I could see why most people may not take to this concept very well. SMART goals are cool but in my eyes they're only half the battle.

To do better it's my belief that we have to become better also.
================================================== ======

I hope you all enjoyed this and I look forward to your replies.

I'll follow this up with specific how-to's once I finish the webinar next week and I'll post the audio here. If anyone is willing to give me feedback on this little concept of mine I'd love to hear it.

Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to speak up in this community. I'm sure I'll learn a lot from you all!