Achieve Your Goals The SMART Way

goal setting

Every woman and her dog bangs on about setting goals.

If you’ve worked in a corporate setting, you’ll be familiar with goal setting and probably cringe as your Performance Review swings round and you have to retro fit what you’ve done in the last 12 months with what you said you’d do in the last 12 months!

Goals aren’t just for career related aspirations. They can be really motivating for things you want to achieve in your personal life.

What is goal setting?

Goal setting is the process of establishing an outcome (a goal) to serve as the aim of one's actions - Locke & Latham, 2020

It’s well known that if you want to be successful having a destination (a goal) that you’re working towards with steps you need to take along the way (smaller tangible goals) and then a measure for how and when you’ll get there is a great way to keep you on track and get you to where you want to go.

Goal setting is a crucial aspect of personal and professional development, but sometimes, setting goals can feel overwhelming or unattainable.

And sometimes we don’t really ‘get’ the benefit of setting them and fail to understand the impact and purpose, as well as how to set effective goals and put them into practice!

Knowing what you’re working towards and having a plan for it are two very different things and that’s where goals setting comes into its own.

There are lots of different goal setting frameworks and each has its own merits. For the purposes of this post, we’re going to explore using the SMART framework as a tool to help you set goals that align with what you want for yourself with practical steps for HOW to create them so they work for you.

First up, why the feck set them?

Setting goals gives us direction and motivation, helping us to stay focused on what we want to achieve. They also give us a sense of purpose and help us measure progress. When we set goals, we're more likely to take action and overcome obstacles because we have a clear target in mind. They better set us up for success.

It’s like knowing you want to go to Barcelona, not having the full address, options for how to get there, things to consider along the way or anything in between.

Having this clarity, setting and achieving goals can improve our self-esteem, confidence, and sense of accomplishment. They help us to achieve things we didn’t think we could and by pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones. We grow as humans and growth is essential to living a purposeful life.

So, I’m onboard with setting them… when and how the hell do I do that?

Goal setting can happen at any time, you don’t need to wait for a new year, new job, new You! It’s important to understand what you want to achieve. Get clear on your values and priorities, as well as identifying areas where you want to improve or grow. Do the goals you’re wanting to achieve align with the things important to you and are you willing to do what’s required to get there?

If you need to invest crazy time you don’t have or do things, you’re simply not willing to do in order to achieve the goal, you should be questioning why you’re setting it because you’re doomed before you start.

Once you have that clarity you can adopt a framework like SMART to help give you some structure.

Enter stage left:

The SMART framework.

It’s simple and effective. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Let's take a closer look at each of these components:

Specific:

When setting a goal, be specific about what you want to accomplish. Instead of setting a vague goal like "get better at public speaking," you might set a goal like "deliver a 10-minute presentation without using notes." Think about this as the mission statement for your goal. This isn’t a detailed list of how you’re going to meet a goal, but it should include an answer to the popular ‘w’ questions:

What exactly are you trying to achieve?
Why is this goal important to you?
What other factors do you need to consider?

Measurable:

Your goal should be measurable so you can track progress and know when you've achieved it. Using the example of the presentation, you might measure progress by recording yourself giving the presentation and evaluating your performance.

If it’s a project that’s going to take a few months to complete, then you might want to set some smaller milestones as part of the specific tasks to be completed. These milestones are a series of steps along the way that when added up will result in the completion of your main goal.

What metrics are you going to use to determine if you meet the goal? This makes a goal more tangible because it provides a way to measure progress.

How will you measure progress?
How will you know you have achieved the goal?

Achievable:

Your goal should be challenging but achievable. That may require developing new skills and changing beliefs, mindset, behaviours. The goal is meant to inspire and motivate so setting a goal that's too difficult or unrealistic can lead to frustration and discouragement. Using the presentation example again, you might set a goal to deliver a 5-minute presentation without notes before working up to 10 minutes.

Think about: how to accomplish the goal, if you have the tools/skills needed, if not, consider what it would take to attain them!

Do you have the financial resources needed?
What skills / resources do you need to achieve this goal? Do you have those?
Who can help? Will others be able to help?
How often will they have to work on their goal?
How much time can you realistically dedicate towards achieving this goal?

Relevant:

Your goal should be relevant to your values, priorities, and long-term goals. Ensure that your goal aligns with your personal and professional aspirations and that it's something you genuinely want to achieve.

If it’s to do with public speaking like the example above, it might be based on a personal desire to be more confident or having received feedback to improve as it’s a requirement in your job role. It has to be relevant to you.

Why is this goal important?
How is this goal worth your time and energy?
Is this the right time for it?
Are you focussed and clear on what’s important?

Time-bound:

Your goal should have a specific deadline to keep you accountable and focused. Using the example above, you might set a goal to deliver a 10-minute presentation without notes within 3 months.

When would they like to have achieved this goal.
How much time will it take them to accomplish their goal?
Do you need to break the goal down further?

It’s not just about constructing a sentence or paragraph for your goal that meets the SMART framework. It’s about making sure the goal you are setting meets the SMART philosophy because it helps make working towards their goals easier to manage and track.

A fancy sentence means nothing if you don’t then back that up with the HOW.

It supports you in tracking progress towards your goals and drives the type of action needed. Game changer.

We’re clear that SETTING THE SMART GOAL is really just the start, it’s taking the necessary action which brings them alive and adds the magic needed for them to become a reality.

6 helpful things to do once you have a SMART goal in place:

Break your goals down into smaller, actionable steps by creating a plan.
Set deadlines for completion of each of the steps.
Get detailed about HOW you’re going to get these steps done.
Use tools like calendars and to-do lists to help you stay on track.
Track progress towards your goals and celebrate milestones along the way.
Reflect back on what works, what didn’t and the learnings along the way!

This builds resilience and helps you to learn from the experiences you had along the way.

Setting goals is a great way to help keep you motivated and focused on your goals and is an essential part of achieving the big (and little) things you want for yourself!

If you need some help setting or achieving your goals drop me a message and let's chat!