Setting S.M.A.R.T.E.R Goals
There are probably some areas in your life that could use some fine tuning. It is a well known secret that by October 1st of each year you should have next year’s goal already written out. They should be reviewed with regularity in order for your brain to create a map and also to gauge your progress.
Have you ever written your goals on paper? Or do you simply wish for certain things to just happen? Most people don’t set goals because they don’t know how. They were never taught. So here’s a quick step by step guide for you to follow if you want to improve your health and any other area of your life.
Step #1: “S” – Specific
The first step in setting S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goals is to be specific – very specific. The more specific you are about your goals, the better and more able you’ll be to accomplish them no matter what method you use. This means that you don’t just say you want to make more money or lose more weight, you have to say exactly how much money you want to make or how much weight you want to lose. You have to put a real and exact figure on it. Make it measurable.
Why is this so important? Well, in goal setting, in order to make it visceral to the mind and more clear, you have to be able to quantify that goal. Without specifics, there’s no real target, just some obscure direction. When the goal is obscure, it allows the psychology of your mind to override your goals. You succumb to things like emotion-numbing activities, to easily avoid doing something that wasn’t that concrete in the first place.
Specifics are the fuel in the engine of your goals. You have to provide specifics if you’re going to achieve anything at all. When you write out your goals, be absolutely as specific as possible. And never be afraid to be too specific.
Step #2: “M” – Meaningful
The second step in setting S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goals is to set goals that are meaningful enough to you that you’ll get out there and do whatever it takes to achieve them. This is the “why”. When your goals have a deep enough meaning to you, you’ll do whatever it takes to achieve them. This doesn’t have to do with vanity or superficial reasons, but more profound and life-altering reasons why you want to achieve something.
People don’t want more money because they want more paper with deceased notables on them. No, they want more money because of what that money will bring them: time, freedom, family, security, contribution, and so on. You have to attribute a strong enough meaning to your goals, beyond being just specific about them. So, next to your specific goal, write out what that goal means to you and make sure that it’s something important.
Step #3: “A” – Achievable
The third step in setting S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goals is to set goals that are achievable. Now, there’s certainly a school of thought out there that says that you can accomplish whatever you want, whenever you want it. But, when you’re setting goals, especially when they’re short-term goals (i.e. within 1 year), make sure that they’re achievable. This doesn’t mean that you can’t shoot for the stars in your long-term plans, such as 5 years down the road or even 10 years down the road. It just means that you have to pick goals that you can achieve in the short term.
For example, if you’ve never made more than $100,000 in a year, don’t say that you’re going to be a billionaire in the span of one year. Set goals that you can actually achieve so that you build on your momentum. Your short-term goals should be something within your reach, but not so easily attainable that they won’t take much work or effort on your part. This will also help you to build that all-important momentum. Once you achieve your year-long goals, you can broaden those into much greater hopes and dreams down the road.
Step #4: “R” – Relevant
The fourth step in setting S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goals is to set goals that are relevant to your life. This means that the goals should be inline with and in harmony with what you actually want out of life; they should match up with your core values. If your core values are contradicting your goals, then you’ll find yourself merely getting frustrated and giving up.
When you set goals that are relevant, you have to dig deep down inside and truly understand what you want out of life. If one of your core values is freedom, then setting goals that have you bound to a desk most of the year won’t help you to live a fulfilled life. Remember, your goals shouldn’t be designed with the notion of succeeding to be happy, but rather, with happily succeeding. Set goals that are relevant and inline with what you truly want out of life.
Step #5: “T” – Time-Bound
The fifth step in setting S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goals is to ensure that they’re time-bound goals. You have to set an exact date on when you plan to achieve these goals. Focus on goals that are in 3-month intervals. If you plan to achieve a 50-pound weight loss in one year, then break that down into 3-month intervals. That’s 12.5 pounds every three months.
When your goals are time-bound, they’re measurable, and you should hold yourself accountable by measuring those goals on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. How close are you to achieving your goals? How much further did you get from achieving your goals? Without making your goals time-bound and measurable, you won’t be able to see your progress.
Step #6: “E” – Evaluate
The sixth step in setting goals using the S.M.AR.T.E.R. method is to ensure that your goals are evaluated. By evaluating your goals every single day, you’ll be much more likely to achieve them. Why is that? Well, long-term goals (and also goals that are 3 months or 6 months out), can easily be ignored if they aren’t evaluated every single day.
Make sure that you setup a system for evaluating your goals and you make the evaluation of your goals habitual. Don’t ignore this all-important step. Your mind has a very clever way of allowing you to ignore your goals by pushing you into emotion-numbing behaviors when those goals aren’t closely evaluated.
Step #7: “R” – Readjust
The final step in setting goals with the S.M.A.R.T.E.R. method is to re-adjust your approach. If, for example, you find yourself pursuing a goal but continuously hitting a brick wall, readjust your method and techniques. For example, when a plane has a goal of flying from LAX to MIA, it has to constantly evaluate its progress and readjust its approach to ensure that it reaches its target. The plane constantly evaluates and readjusts until it arrives in MIA. You should be doing the same for your goals.
Readjust doesn’t mean that you have to throw your goals out and start all over. What it means is that you have to try different approaches until you find yourself getting closer and closer to your goals. That’s why constant evaluation on a daily basis is so important. If you don’t evaluate you can’t measure your progress.
Here are 7 areas you should consider goal setting in:
Health Goals
Career/Business Goals
Free Time/Family Time
Financial Goals
Relationship Goals
Personal Growth
Making a Difference
Example of goal:
“I want to lose weight” is vague. But it might become… “I will weigh 150 pounds by December 1st at 5 PM. This will enable me to travel with my family without limitation and pain.”
Now, notice in this example, it states how much, why and by when. A specific amount that you can measure by a specific time that can be measured.
For instance, if you were to tell me that you wanted more money, I might pull out a dollar and give it to you. You would probably protest, saying “No, I meant a lot more money, like $20,000!” But there is no way I’d know how you’d define “more money” unless you tell me, right?
Similarly, your boss, your staff, your friends, your spouse, your brain, God, and the Universe can’t figure out what you want unless you tell them specifically what it is. What exactly do you want and when do you want it by?
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