20 Smart Answers for SMART Goal Setting
We have all heard about SMART goal setting. In days gone by, business leaders adopted a set of principles to sustain business growth and achieve goals. These principles were known as SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based.
While many corporate giants now believe these principles to be somewhat archaic and not relevant in today’s dynamic, less structured business world, SMART goals can be expanded and revised to suitably fit our current business philosophies. Let’s break this down and delve into each one now.
S is for “Specific”
Creating specific goals is no less relevant today than it was 20 or more years ago.
But let’s ramp it up by adding Stimulating, Systematic, Synergy, and Self-talk to the list of “S” words.
Specific
Your goals need to be not only specific in detailing what it is you want to achieve, they need to also be specific to the various facets of your life.
You are wasting mental energy by stating your business goal is “to increase turnover by 20%”. By when? In which area? Using what resources? In how many increments?
To achieve your goals so they are measureable (yes, there’s the “M” word!) and successful, you have to specify how, when, where, and why you intend to go about it.
Stimulating
Your goals need to stimulate you sufficiently to take action. A half-baked goal that doesn’t excite and stimulate you is unlikely to get any further than the drawing board.
Setting goals is about raising your current standards, setting the goal posts higher and further away, pushing the envelope.
Systematic
Your goals require a systematic approach to achieve the end result.
If your goal is to increase production by 4% in the first year, you need to implement a systemized approach to attain that result. Your goal may require an initial increase in productivity of .25% per month for the first six months.
Revised systems must be introduced so your employees become familiar with the goals for the business and how they are going to implement the necessary changes to achieve those goals.
Synergy
Dictionary.com describes synergy as: “The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.”
In business as in life, more can be accomplished as a team effort than by an individual. And so, it is the same with setting goals.
Employ a support network to help you achieve your goals. Of course, in business the support of a team structure goes without saying.
A great leader understands the value of ensuring every member of the team is working towards the same goal. He or she also knows how to generate a shared sense of excitement and strength of purpose in attainment of the goals.
Self Talk
We all have an inner voice that conducts a never-ending commentary on our lives. This voice can be harsh and judgmental, or it can be encouraging and confident, depending on the messages we send out.
By believing in yourself and your ability to succeed, your inner voice can become your greatest ally and biggest fan. With practice and a positive attitude, your inner voice will stand beside you and cheer you on until you reach the goal posts.
M is for “Measurement”
In the SMART goal principle, M is for “measureable”, but it can also stand for motivation, memorable, and meaningful.
Measureable
Traditionally, goals have been set with measurable outcomes, which work when the outcome is measurable.
However, in many cases the eventual outcomes for important goals you have set are difficult to measure. In these situations, your focus needs to be on the incremental steps which are measureable rather than the final outcome.
When you have created goals that are hard to measure, visualize how you want the end result to look and write it down. Describe as vividly as possible how it will make you feel once you have achieved your goal.
Committing your goals to paper is your commitment to achieving that goal. It creates a powerful statement and a conscious promise to set about doing what you’ve only thought about.
Motivation
Motivation is the engine that will drive you to achieve your goals. Without motivation and a passionate desire to succeed, goal setting is a futile exercise.
In the same way achieving your goals is driven by your motivation, motivation is driven by the excitement and pleasure you derive from setting your goals and watching them come to fruition.
Memorable
Consider this: who do you consider memorable and why?
Memorable people create memorable goals.
Most of us want to lead worthwhile and fulfilling lives. We want to make a difference in the world. We want to build our confidence and self-esteem. We want to leave a mark and be memorable!
The people in our lives and in our history who are memorable have become so by setting goals and working towards them.
Meaningful
A goal that lacks purpose and meaning is not worth considering.
Whether your goal is work related or personal, when you perceive the end results are worth the work involved, you will meet the challenges to achieve your vision.
A is for “Achievable”
Sure, setting achievable goals is a key factor in ensuring the success of your goal strategy, but what about Action Plan, Articulate, and Acknowledge?
Achievable
When you are setting a new goal for yourself, one of the most difficult decisions you have to make is determining exactly where you are planning to stake the goal posts.
Place them too far away and the goal becomes unattainable; place them too close and the goal becomes a virtual ‘walk in the park’.
A large part of achieving your goals is the sense of accomplishment you feel when you’ve reached the summit.
Achievable goals are those that require your full attention, focus, hard work, and determination without causing you undue pain or stress. Only then can you cherish the end result.
Action Plan
Setting goals without developing an action plan amounts to nothing more than being very imaginative!
The first step in your action plan is writing out your goals. Committing your goals to a calendar transfers the goal from the intuitive, creative (but non-active) right sphere of your brain to the focused and decisive left hemisphere.
Schedule daily and weekly reviews of your goals so you can take regular action steps. Disciplining yourself to review your goals regularly and create small action steps that will lead you towards those goals is a powerful accomplishment tool.
Articulate
Dictionary.com has two very meaningful definitions for articulate that clearly describe the power of articulation. They are:
“uttered clearly in distinct syllables”;
“made clear, distinct, and precise in relation to other parts”.
Articulating your goals, whether to yourself by way of daily affirmations or to friends and family, makes achieving them more successful.
Every time you verbalize your goals, you are re-committing yourself to accomplishing what you set out to achieve.
Acknowledge
Acknowledge each achievement, no matter how small. Every positive step you take brings you a step closer to the ultimate prize – your success.
Acknowledgment goes hand in hand with reward. For example, if your goal is to increase retail turnover by 20% in the first 12 months and you achieve 5% growth in retail sales in the first quarter, acknowledge that milestone with a celebration for you and your staff.
Remember: a celebration doesn’t have to mean fireworks and frivolity; acknowledging your success can be as simple as a jazzy email to all the staff responsible. Your sense of satisfaction will come from the pleasure you’ll get in acknowledging your staff and the pleasure you’ll see in their faces.
R is for “Relevant”
Sure, keeping your goals relevant is a high priority, but so is Re-invention and Resolve.
Relevant
As we move through life, our priorities and requirements change. This means that goals you set yourself in the past may lose their relevance now and in the future.
By regularly re-visiting and reviewing your goal plans, you can ensure your goals stay relevant to your lifestyle and the life choices you have made.
If you discover a goal is no longer relevant, simply alter the outcome to suit your revised plans. You can ‘course correct’ at any time.
Although there will be times when a goal has to be discarded because it becomes totally irrelevant, always work towards replacing it with a new goal.
Re-invention
Many of our greatest leaders have reinvented themselves by implementing life changing goals and then working towards them methodically and purposefully.
Wouldn’t you like to reinvent yourself?
Would you like to be more positive, more creative, more focused, and even more successful?
YOU have the power to become the person you want to be. There’s no doubting it takes courage, persistence, and hard work, but the end results are worth the journey.
Resolve
It may sound trite, but the old adage “life wasn’t meant to be easy” is certainly a truism!
The challenge is to find a successful, happy, fulfilled person who might have had it tough to get to where they want to be. If it were easy, then everybody would already be living the life they choose.
Resolve is rising up and meeting the challenges you’ll encounter (and you will encounter them!) on the road to achieving your goals.
T is for “Time-Based”
Goals consist of two basic components – the end result and the time it will take you to achieve that end result. So, creating time-based goals is a crucial factor. But so are words like Tactical and Thought-provoking.
Time-based
Setting goals without a time frame is like setting out in your boat for a day’s fishing without the fishing rods. At best, you may enjoy the view, but you will drift around aimlessly on the water without achieving anything.
Imagine you have created a goal for yourself: “I am going to be President of International Marketing for this company”. Sure, it’s a well-defined goal but by when? In one month’s time? A year? Or maybe 10 years from now?
Goals require a purpose, but they also need to be time-based. In our fast-paced society, time has become our enemy, but it has also become our life raft.
In order to accomplish all the tasks we set ourselves every day, we need to schedule time for each task. Goals are merely tasks with more emphasis put on them.
So, setting goals that you are determined to achieve requires that you implement time-based markers along the way in addition to a time-based conclusion.
Of course, these time markers don’t need to be set in stone; be flexible enough to alter the time parameters as life dictates.
Tactical
All of us employ tactics just to make it through our everyday lives. We leave home at a specified time to arrive at work on schedule, or we re-arrange our schedule to get to the gym on time.
These are simple examples of using tactical thinking to achieve a desired result. The same strategies apply to setting goals.
Being tactical doesn’t require military precision. Instead, being tactical requires smart thinking to enable you to set realistic goals and strategically work towards accomplishing them.
Side stepping obstacles that may stand in the way of your goals, or removing those obstacles altogether is also using tactical planning.
Thought provoking
Our goals need to challenge us.
The majority of us are content to sit inside our comfort zones without ever venturing outside the safety of our enclosed boundaries.
Ask yourself: “Is that how I want to live the rest of my life?”
To live an extraordinary life rich with personal fulfillment, love, success, and whatever else you desire, your goals need to be extraordinary and thought provoking.
A life without the exciting promise each new day brings, together with the stimulation each new project builds, is a life of quiet desolation.
Reward yourself with the life you so richly deserve by planning goals that are brave, bold, and thought provoking!
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