Setting goals is a fundamental aspect of personal and professional growth. Now that the year is ending, many of use revisit the past 12 months with the hope to learn from our past, be grateful for all the blessings and obstacles while starting to plan for the goals we want to get closer to next year.
"Setting goals helps trigger new behaviours, helps guides your focus and helps you sustain that momentum in life. Goals also help align your focus and promote a sense of self-mastery."
Some types of goals
- Personal Goal
- Professional Goal
- Educational Goal
However, not all goals are created equal. To increase our chances of success, it's essential to create goals that are clear and actionable. This is where SMART goals come in.
SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Time-bound. By incorporating these five elements into your goal-setting process, you can create a clear roadmap to success.
What are SMART Goals?
SMART goals are designed to provide clarity, direction, and motivation. Each component of a SMART goal ensures that your objectives are well-defined and attainable. Here's a closer look:
Specific
A specific goal is clear and unambiguous. It answers the questions: What do I want to accomplish? Why is this goal important? Who is involved? Where is it located? Which resources or limits are involved? Specificity helps you focus your efforts and clearly define what you want to achieve.
**Example:** Instead of saying, "I want to get fit," a specific goal would be, "I want to lose 10 pounds in three months by exercising four times a week and eating a balanced diet."
Measurable
A measurable goal includes concrete criteria for tracking progress. This helps you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continue the effort required to reach your goal. Answers these questions to find out: How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?
Example: "I want to save $5,000 for a vacation in 12 months by setting aside $417 each month."
Actionable
Some people use the word achievable but i personally believe this is a limiting concept, who am I to say what's not yet achieved is achievable or not? I want you to dare to aim as high as you wish. An actionable goal is is about taking action. It should stretch your abilities but still remain possible to act towards to. This involves assessing the skills, resources, and time available to you. Setting goals that we can't take action towards to can lead to frustration and demotivation. While thinking about this portion of the SMART approach, remember in the end, you will only know what's "possible" or not until you try.
Example: "I will read one book per month to improve my knowledge on various subjects," rather than "I will read 100 books this year."
Relevant
A relevant goal to you, a relevant goal is the one that aligns with your values and desires. Working on setting a relevant goal ensures that your goals are worthwhile and match your other efforts and needs. Relevant goals (when met) drive an individual, a team, or even an organisation forward. Itf a goal is relevant it will guide you to answer yes to these questions: Does this seem worthwhile? Is this the right time? Does this match our other efforts/needs?
Example: "I want to learn Spanish to improve my career prospects, as many of our clients are Spanish-speaking."
Time-bound
A time-bound goal has a deadline, which helps you focus on the task and prevents everyday tasks from taking priority over your long-term goals. Explore these questions: When? What can I do six months from now? What can I do six weeks from now? What can I do today?
Example: "I will complete my certification course in digital marketing within six months."
Benefits of SMART Goals
1. Clarity: providing a clear direction and a specific action plan. Eliminating chances of confusion and helping you stay focused.
2. Motivation: setting achievable and time-bound goals, you create a sense of urgency and motivation to work towards your objectives.
3. Accountability: setting measurable goals allow you to track your progress and hold yourself accountable. While celebrating small victories along the way.
4. Improved Planning: SMART goals require you to think through your plan, anticipate challenges, and identify necessary resources.
5. Enhanced Performance: accompanied by clear, specific goals, you are more likely to perform better as you have a defined path to follow.
How to Set SMART Goals
1. Define Your Goal: Start by writing down what you want to achieve. Make sure to be as specific as possible.
2. Make It Measurable: Determine how you will measure your progress and set a line to let you know that you have achieved your goal.
3. Ensure It’s Actionable: Consider the resources, skills, and time available to you, and the ones you need to gather. Think of setting a goal that is challenging and possible at the same time.
4. Check Relevance: Make sure your goal aligns with your broader objectives and is relevant to your current situation.
5. Set a Time Frame: Establish a clear deadline for achieving your goal. Break it down into smaller milestones and set a contingency plan B deadline if necessary.
Want to deepen your approach to goal setting?
Self-coaching and journaling enhance SMART goal setting by increasing self-awareness and accountability, helping individuals clarify their goals and track progress. Through reflective practices, these tools enable the identification of obstacles and strategies for overcoming them, ensuring goals remain relevant and achievable. Additionally, regular journaling provides a structured way to celebrate milestones and make necessary adjustments, keeping motivation high and focus sharp.
In this book you will discover how to become your own life coach and maintain your personal growth even when you're not working with an accredited coaching professional. Prepare to embark on a transformative journey, to learn how to you can effectively enhance your life using a powerful coaching framework based on the GROW model, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), and a dash of journaling techniques.
While navigating the pages of this workbook you will be provided with a structure to help you set and achieve your goals. You will explore a step by step journey and learn to identify what you truly want, assess your current situation, explore various strategies, and commit to actionable plans.
SMART goals are a powerful tool to help you achieve your objectives, whether they are personal, professional, or educational. By ensuring your goals follow this guideline you create a clear path to success.
Start today, and watch how these practices transform your goal-setting journey into a fulfilling and successful endeavour.
"Be brave to follow your dream & start living today as if they are already a reality"
Carla Carolina Watson is a mother, Wellbeing Coach, Hypnotherapist, NLP Practitioner, Yoga & Breathwork Teacher and energy worker.
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