S.M.A.R.T. Goals: What They Are and How To Use Them More Effectively!
S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Part of living an intentional life is looking ahead at where you’d like to be and taking steps to get closer to those goals vs looking in the rearview mirror thinking “coulda, shoulda, woulda”. Life is an iterative process and those who act intentionally will be more likely to live the life they want.
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“Activity is not the same as achievement” be intentional with your goal setting and make sure they are steps toward where you actually want to be vs a “list of random things” you think you “should do”. I talk about the core concepts of breaking down a larger meaningful goal into smaller but intentional steps that moves you closer to where you want to be in my post Activity Is Not The Same As Achievement.
Once you’ve identified what these smaller steps are it’s time to take action! and that’s where S.M.A.R.T Goals come in!
What does S.M.A.R.T. stand for?
S.M.A.R.T.
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Achievable
R - Relevant
T - Time Bounded
Here are a couple notes I have about the more formal S.M.A.R.T. Goals method.
While these goals should be Achievable, don’t lowball yourself. The point is to set ambitious goals that you’ll have to stretch yourself and grow to achieve. If you fall a little short that’s ok, you’ll still make progress toward the outcome you desire. Too many people set the bar too low and make little to no progress toward the where they’d like to be in the future. With all of this in mind lets take a look at a simple goal such as trying to lose 20lbs which many of us may be feeling like we’d like to do after a month of eggnog and Christmas cookies.
S - Specific: Lose 20 LBS, so this is a specific goal it’s easy to verify if the goal has been met with a simple yes or no answer. you might further specify the goal by setting a target weight. if you weigh 200lbs today, Then your goal is to weigh 180lbs
M - Measurable: Weight is naturally measurable so we are able to check this box here. other goals are more abstract and may require some creative thinking. I would encourage you to make sure you are measuring a relevant metric to your goal. for example if you want to make more money you might be tempted to make a goal that say you’ll work more hours. however fi your a salary employee this may not actually translate into more money on you paycheck. make sure the efforts are directly correlated to the outcome you are seeing.
A - Achievable: Make sure the goal is something within your control. wanting to look like a runway model may not be achievable for your body type. A better example of this could be investing, your goal might be to increase your net worth by $20K this is largely out of your control. the markets could go up, or it could go down. A better goal would be to contribute $20K to your portfolio within this calendar year. Regardless of what markets doe this year this is still within your control.
R - Relevant: This should be largely self explanatory but you’d be surprised how many people miss this. If your goal is to lose 20lbs you should focus on actions that actually put you closer to this outcome. many people will focus on long workout plans with personal trainers when in reality their diet likely has a much larger affect on the outcome of this goal. I’m sure we’ve all heard the phase “You can’t out run a bad diet”
T - Time Bounded: The above goal is to lose 20lbs which is open ended. do we want to lose 20lbs in 1 month for a wedding or do we want to lose 20lbs within the year to be healthier. without a deadline there is no reason to take action now. by putting a time bound on the goal we are able to track our progress and make adjustments is we are falling behind.
Specific: by being specific the chances your your efforts generate the outcome you want are significantly improved
Time bounded: This is possibly the most important aspect of the smart goals. An idea that’s not acted on is just a dream. by putting a timeline in place you are forcing the process to move from dreamland into reality
Actionable: this is similar to being specific but I want to point out that the whole point of smart goals is to create action steps that you can actually implement. A goal to lose 20lbs is very different than a goal to work out 30 min a day, stop drinking alcohol, and cut sugars from you diet.
If you don’t pick the right actions then S.M.A.R.T. goals aren’t very useful. using the weight lose example if your action item is to exercise 30 minutes a day to lose 20lbs in a year, but your diet is the root problem, well then it’s unlikely to be a successful plan. You have to correctly identify the action that will turn your goal into reality.
Another con is many people fear failure and therefore set easy goals that don’t force them to change behaviors to grow and improve as individuals. a secretary who sets a smart goal to file all of here paperwork onetime, despite already being successful in this category isn’t gained much by successfully continuing to file her paperwork onetime. The point of a S.M.A.R.T. goal is to identify and area you want to IMPROVE and set actionable steps to make that vision a reality.
Theme bounded nature of this system is one of its strength but it’s also a limitation. while having a deadline for a goal is always good, if you are able to achieve the goal early it’s always good to do so. That being said you shouldn’t sit on your hands just because you reached your goal early, ask yourself what’s the next step to your bigger goals? As I talked about in my article Activity Is Not The Same As Achievement S.M.A.R.T. Goals should be sued as stepping stones on your 5 year road map to build the life you truly want. Don’t take your foot off the gas pedal keep going!
Not all worthy goals are easy to measure, goals like spending more quality time with family or living more intentionally are hard to quantify That being said you can still take specific actions within a period of time to help you reach these goals, so I still find this system useful.
To wrap this article up I personally use SMART Goals and find them very helpful. especially around career goals, fitness, and finance. here are my personal goals for 2023 as an example
However it is important to aknolege that S.M.A.R.T. Goals is just one tool to improve,
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