This time of year is my most favorite. While Thanksgiving and Christmas are great, I really love the opportunity to reflect on the previous year and prepare for the upcoming year. I am very committed to the goal setting and planning process. I like to review how I have done the previous year and determine my designed future for the upcoming year. It is a great time to reevaluate and make sure that I am on the right path and that my goals align with my values. I have been setting goals for over 25 years and first got turned on to the process when I saw Zig Ziglar as a young person. It has completely changed my life. I am who I am today (and more importantly who I am becoming today) because of goal setting. I talk more about how I go about the goal setting process in my podcast episodes 10 & 11 which you can listen to on by clicking on the “podcast” link above.
This week, in keeping with the theme of the podcasts, I wanted to talk specifically about SMART goals. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. A few years back, the company I was working for rolled out a new employee performance and personnel development system. As part of that roll out, they sent trainers into each office to work with all employees to help us understand and create goals that are SMART. You may be familiar with the process or this may be a new concept to you, but either way I think we can all benefit from a refresher on making sure that the goals we set are SMART.
Specific- Goals must be written in way that is specific. The more specific that you can be the better the goal. For example you do not want to have a goal of “losing weight”. How do you determine success; when you lose 1 ounce, 1 pound, or 20 pounds? A better goal would be “lose 20 pounds by December 31st”. This makes it easier to track your results and confirm that you are moving in the right direction. Be Specific.
Measurable- Similar to making your goals specific you want to make sure that they are measurable. You can do this by establishing concrete criteria and tracking performance. Remove ambiguity from your goals and give them a concrete measurable element. Ask yourself this question “How will I know that I have accomplished my goal”? If you cannot answer that question then your goal is likely not measurable enough for the SMART criteria. Be Measurable.
Attainable- I like to shoot for the moon, go big or go home right? Having large goals that are stretch is great but having unreasonable and unrealistic goals will not keep you motivated and committed. Goals that are SMART are attainable, not easy but attainable. The attainability of a goal can be dependent on a number of factors including timing, resources, commitment level and opportunity. You can attain most goals that you set your mind to, if you plan properly and work hard enough. For example, I could have a goal to play hockey in the NHL. It’s a long shot, but it might be attainable just not this week. I need a lot more practice and a time machine to reduce my age and then a “chance”….on second thought- that goal is not very SMART for me. It is missing the R. Be Attainable.
Realistic- Ok- I will never play hockey in the NHL. For goals to be realistic they must be goals that you are willing and have the ability to accomplish. Goals should always represent substantial progress but they must also be actually attainable. A more realistic goal for me would be score a goal in my adult recreation hockey league. Be Realistic.
Timely- Attach a time table to all of your goals to give yourself a date to be accountable to. A timetable adds a sense of urgency that creates the motivation to accomplish. Someday won’t work- as Sean Ogle said, “God gave us 7 days in a week….and someday isn’t one of them.” By when will you accomplish your objective? Be Timely.
As I sit down this week to ink out my goals for the next year it was a good reminder to make those goals SMART. I am a huge advocate of goal setting and I have noticed a positive increase in my goal accomplishment as I have focused on being more specific about my measureable goals that are realistically attainable in the time frame I have given. Be SMART.