“SMART” Your Goals

Having SMART goals will enable you to more easily keep track of where you are in relation to succeeding at those goals. There are many different theories about what makes a good goal. The one I have found to be most effective, however, is to pay close attention to how SMART they are.

But what is a SMART goal? Read on, because I’m about to lay it out for you.

This is the third step in the Goals series. If you haven’t read through the other two posts in this series, head on over and check it out! These tips will still apply even if you don’t, however.

In the first and second posts about goals, we talked about the importance of a mission statement and aligning your goals to that overarching purpose. The reason this is so important is that we are far likelier to achieve a goal that has personal meaning for us. And narrowing our goals to only those that align with our high level life’s purpose means every goal we set is getting us closer to that objective.

But now that we know what our high level goals are, how do we set the milestones along the way that move us towards our life’s purpose?

Through setting well-defined goals and tracking against them. In this post we will:

• Review SMART goals and how to define them
• How to create a plan now that we know what those goals are

This will prepare us for the final post in the Goals series, which will focus on how to track our goals now that we’ve set them.

Defining SMART Goals

In post #2 of this series, I talked a little about SMART goals. As a refresher, SMART goals are those that are:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-based (or Timely, depending on which blog post you read)

Let’s look at each of those in more detail, and then we will look at how it ties back to the exercise we did in Step 2.

Specific

Specificity means that you are setting goals that have a specific end result. For example, if running is important to you, you may have a goal to get better at running. The problem with this is, what does “get better” mean? And this is a personal definition, because I’ll be honest with you, running for five minutes straight would be a good goal for me, but someone who runs a lot more than I do (or ever plan to do) might find running five straight minutes to be easy. And I bless you for that.

So let’s say that, to you, “get better” means you can run for five miles without stopping. The “without stopping” part is specific, and the “five miles” part is measurable. You want to define the specific outcome you’re looking for.

Here’s a few more examples of specificity when it comes to goals. These are super simplistic, but hopefully you get the idea.

Non-Specific Goal	Specific Goal
Get a job	Get a job in teaching
Get healthy	Lose 10 pounds (this is also measurable!)
Get certified	Get a certification in project management

Measurable

Measurable means you can measure the outcome in some way that gives you a definitive answer if you’ve achieved it. In our running example, the number of miles you want to be able to run, or the amount of time you want to be able to run them in, is a good example of a goal being measurable.

This is, again, a personal thing. And it should stretch you! If you’re just starting with goals, you may want ones that are easy to achieve. But the harder a goal is, the more satisfaction you will get when you get there! So stretch yourself a little! But not so much that your goal is not…

Achievable

In my opinion, goals have to be achievable. I find that if I set a goal for myself that is wildly unrealistic, it’s super easy to get discouraged. I will either lose interest in pursuing something I can never find success in, or I won’t see any progress and lose confidence.

So while goals should stretch you (they should be a challenge), they should also be something you can realistically achieve. Think something one to two steps above your current skill level, if that helps.

In our trusty running example, for me, running five miles is probably not achievable. At least, not without putting in time and effort that I quite frankly don’t want to spend. However, running for five minutes is achievable and I’m willing to put in the time for that.

It also helps to know where you are in relation to your goal right now, today. For example, I can pretty much guarantee you that running for one minute straight is probably my max right now. If you haven’t guessed, I’m more of a walker. So five minutes is a stretch, but is also achievable.

Relevant

Here’s where the relevance to your mission statement and high level goals are critical. Your goal should be relevant to your long term purpose or goals. The exercise in step 2 has already outlined for you what those things are. If you can’t tie a goal you’re thinking about back to one of your high level goals, then it is not relevant.

Relevance is important because it’s what grants you the ultimate staying power for sticking to your goals. We get overwhelmed when we’re trying to go in too many different directions. This is true no matter how good we are at multitasking. Therefore, every goal we are actively pursuing should lead back to that one, singular purpose.

Time-Based

Give yourself a deadline. Goals without deadlines tend to be amorphous and too hard to tell if you’ve actually achieved them. Therefore, SMART goals always have a time element to them.

Now, if you think back to the goal hierarchy, you know that high level goals will last a lifetime, or at the very least several years. Mid- and low-level goals, and especially task-level and short term goals, however, MUST be time based. Otherwise, it’s too easy to defer them indefinitely. Before you know it, you haven’t made any progress towards your high level goals.

The time period you set has also impact on how achievable your goal is. Saying that “by tomorrow” I will run five miles without stopping is probably not achievable. Nor are those advertisements you see on Pinterest sometimes for “lose fifty pounds in 30 days”. I can tell you that whatever they’re doing (if that’s even real) is 100% not healthy. Plus, think how disappointing it would be if after the end of the month I’m not 50 pounds lighter! Totally discouraging. So make sure you’re being realistic about how long it will take to achieve your goal.

So, in our running example, in addition to being able to run for five minutes without stopping, I would add “within the next two months”, or even better, by a specific date. A good rule of thumb is for any goal you’re setting, add a “by when” at the end.

The Plan

Having a SMART goal means, now I can create a plan on how I will get there. Whether your goal is mid-level, low level, or task-level, you need a plan on how you will achieve it. Now is a good time to pull out your goals hierarchy, and apply some SMARTNESS. Have a look at some of the goals that might be lacking some or all of the characteristics we just talked about.

Where you find gaps (mid and/or high level goals for which you don’t have any short-term or task-level goals), it’s time to start creating your plan. It may help to think of your high- and some mid-level goals as the “what” you are trying to accomplish, with your short-term goals as the “how” you will accomplish them.

Pro tip: If you’re struggling to create a plan for a goal you think is SMART, check it against your mission statement. Is it in alignment? Or maybe it’s not as specific or measurable as it could be. Either way, a SMART goal that is in alignment with your overall purpose should enable you to create a plan (fairly easily) on how you will get there.

“…And how will I do that?”

The best way I’ve found to create a plan to my goal is to look at my goal and ask myself, “how will I do it?”. Then I keep going down the chain (“…and how will I do that? …and how will I do that?”) until I get to some task-level SMART goals that I can implement (or start on) right away.

Let’s go back to the tried and true running example. Maybe I determine that the best way for me to be able to get to the point where I can run five minutes without stopping is to go for a daily walk. Except I will run for longer and longer periods of time during it.

What, then, does this become?

Yes. Another SMART goal. A short term or task-based goal this time. So, let’s change it: I will go for a walk at least three times a week. During my walk, I will run for at least 30 seconds. I will do this for ten weeks, increasing my running time by 30 seconds each week, so that by (insert date), I will be able to run for five minutes without stopping.

Though wordy, this goal is clear, specific, measurable, achievable (I think), relevant, and time based. It is now a SMART goal AND it gets me to my long(er) term goal of being able to run for five minutes without stopping.

More Brainstorming

Now maybe my goal is something less concrete. For example, our pretend-goal from earlier to get a teaching job. Only by now, we have made it SMART: Get a job that involves teaching for a local-area school, by the time school starts next year.

This one might feel hopeless because I don’t know where to start. If “and how will I do that” isn’t helping right away, try breaking it down by brainstorming. Pull out a piece of paper (or electronic document, of course), and put on some music, if that floats your boat Then brainstorm the ways that come to mind of things you can do to support this goal.

For example, I might determine that in order to get a job teaching, I need to:

1. Update my resume
2. Find what local schools are hiring
3. Create a profile on LinkedIn and search for open positions
4. Look up local school principal(s) on Facebook to possibly create a connection
5. Apply for a position

Each of these can be brainstormed, “how will I do that”-ed, prioritized, and SMARTed, until you have a clear set of short term goals, which, if achieved, get you to your long term goal.

Moving on to Tracking Your SMART Goals

Now that you have a bunch of SMART goals, it’s time to talk about how to track against them. This is why it is good that they are specific, measurable, and time-based!

Head on over, and I’ll see you there!

What did you think? Was this useful? What other strategies have you found effective when creating a good goal or a path to a larger goal? Share in comments!