What are Smart Goals?
It seems that some people can set goals, big crazy goals, and crush them again and again. How in the heck do they do that?
If you’ve failed at reaching your goals before and are ready to get serious and really figure out how to make your goals happen, I’ve got a plan for you.
One of the best ways to guarantee your goal-setting success is to make sure each of your goals, or your New Year’s resolutions, fits the SMART goal formula. And around here, we love to do things SMART.
SMART is actually an acronym. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.
When your goals have these SMART characteristics, you are much more likely to achieve them.
GOAL SETTING SUCCESS
Setting short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals for yourself is the key to continually achieving success.
If there are things you want to achieve or ways you want to grow, setting goals as stepping stones is an important way to get there. But you’ve got to set them SMART.
Download the Smart Goals Worksheet and get on track to reach your Smart Goals this year!
Follow this strategy to set SMART goals:
SMART GOALS ARE SPECIFIC.
This means your goal should be numbers-based or very detailed.
A smart goal will be something like “Go from 165 pounds to 155 pounds” or “Make $5000 a month” Both are specific goals without vague phrasing that could be left open to interpretation.
The more detailed and specific your goals are, the clearer they will be when you achieve them.
For even more goal getting power break your large goals into smaller short-term and medium-term goals, with each smaller goal crafted just as specifically.
SMART GOALS ARE MEASURABLE.
This is yet another reason why SMART goals are detailed and numbers-based.
To know whether or not you reached a goal, you have to be able to measure your progress.
SMART goals are goals you can track and measure. They have a clear end or point of attainment.
Imagine setting out to run a race with no finish line. How would you know when you were finished? How would you even know how to prepare if you didn’t know how long it was or what direction to start running in the first place.
Being able to measure your progress is extremely important in goal setting and reaching your goals.
It will help you figure out whether or not you’re actually moving in the right direction since you can clearly measure and track both your positive and negative progress along the way.
SMART GOALS ARE ATTAINABLE
SMART goals are goals you can actually attain.
We’re not five years old trying to fly to the moon tonight; we need to be more down to earth. (haha)
SMART goals are not extremely farfetched goals like “Lose 100 pounds in 90 days” or “Gain 1 Million new followers by next week.” If there’s no way to even achieve the goal, why even set it?
SMART goals are ones that you’re physically and mentally capable of achieving; however, we don’t want to be too easy on ourselves. We still need to challenge ourselves and push our boundaries a bit.
SMART GOALS ARE REALISTIC
SMART goals are not only attainable; they are realistically attainable. They’re a combination between a specific achievement that you can reach and a time frame that realistically aligns with your achievement.
For that reason, your SMART goal would be “Lose 10 pounds in 90 days,” rather than “Lose 10 pounds this week.” Or “Gain 50 new subscribers this month” rather than “1 million subscribers this month.”
SMART GOALS ARE TIMELY
Smart goals have time-realistic frames. When you create a realistic time frame for your goals, it gives you something to work for.
To simply “Make more money” without a time frame lacks motivation. “Make $5000 a month by June 1st” has a realistic time frame and details that give you something specific to work for and a time for completion.
Setting SMART goals is really the best way to guarantee success at reaching the goals for what you want.
By setting goals that are SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely, too, you can and will achieve the success you deserve!
Download the Smart Goals Worksheet and get on track to reach your Smart Goals this year!
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