Goal Setting

Articles

Dec 1

Planning is a large component of adult life and extends into most facets of our lives. Our abilities and skill in planning might not come naturally or may take development. Many individuals may not take the time to sit down and try to identify their goals in life overall. Big ideas might come to some individuals easily, while others may have difficulty imagining what they could achieve. In either case, it is important that creating goals has a process in place to achieve the most successful outcome. Just as a cross-country road trip would involve planning of stages and timing, successful goal setting will involve planning specifics. One popular way to help keep your goals on track is to use the mnemonic device “SMART.”

SMART Goals

SMART goals use an acronym to help reinforce elements of your objectives to help you evaluate, track progress, and adhere to a plan.

Specific

Be as specific as possible when setting goals. When you have a clearly realized vision, you can better plan the steps that are needed to make that goal a reality. The more details you have worked out, the better you can evaluate what will be needed to achieve the objective.

Measurable

How will you determine whether you are succeeding with your goals? Each goal you set should have a way for you to measure your success. Taking the time to determine the successful outcome of each step would help make your goals stronger. Setting milestones and signals of progress along the way also can help motivate you to stay on track with your goals.

Achievable

Consider what could prevent you from achieving your goal. You might need to prepare for your goal in certain ways or have something prepared in order to take the next step. Be realistic about what is needed to make your goal achievable and be sure they are represented in your plan accordingly.

Relevant

How well do your goals align with the things that are most important to you? If you struggle with the relevance of your goal within the spectrum of things you care about, consider whether your goal is something you are pursuing for others. The relevance of your goals should bolster the things you find purpose in and help you articulate what you want in a broad perspective. Ask yourself why this goal is important to you.

Time-Based

Although you may not be sure how long something may take to achieve, planning the steps and specifics of your goal should involve timing. Even if you were incorrect in your planning, you can adjust your goal to fall in a more realistic time-frame, whether that is more or less time. If you have a target date to achieve your goal, it helps you stay on track and motivated to reach that date. Once you do, you can reflect on what you can improve upon or change to help you achieve your next goal.

Start Planning Your Goals

Overall Objectives

To get started planning your SMART goals, begin with the big picture. What are your major goals for the next decade or your life overall? Take the time to think about this question and what ideas come up in your mind. Brainstorm these ideas to consider the most important goals for your life.

Breaking Down Details

Once you have the larger goals established, start to break things down into more detail. If you want to set a goal to buy a house, what steps do you need to take to make that happen? Start to work through your SMART list to solidify a great plan for each of your milestones and goals overall. This may involve looking at time periods increments and breaking down what happens within five years, one year, six months, etc. Many people find a checklist of items to accomplish very useful to give themselves a framework to take a step forward.

Staying the Course

Referring to your checklist of items will help you stay on track to achieve your goals. Keep in mind that things change with time, and over time you will likely need to make updates to your checklist. Every day, review what is on your list and make any adjustments needed. Priorities can shift and opportunities can present themselves that alter your initial plan, so remember to try to be open and flexible as life events can sometimes be unexpected.

Adjusting for Achievement

Not all goals will happen with good planning. Sometimes you must make adjustments to your plan along the way to suit your needs and allow you to achieve your goal. You may find that the first milestone took much longer than you expected or was very difficult, so you may consider breaking that goal down to understand how to make your next goal easier or quicker to achieve.

One very important aspect to emphasize is that perceiving your “failure” as a “failure” is not a productive perspective. It can bring about negative feelings or disappointment if you don’t meet your goal, but because you have SMART goals in place, you can learn a lot from your experience. The outcome is always going to help you understand how to do things differently and how to be more effective with your next attempt.

Although you may continue to have the same goals over time, you could potentially change your mind based on your experience or on something you have learned. Scrapping your original goal and planning a new goal you feel more passionately about maybe the best course of action. As long as you are using SMART goal planning to set your objectives, you will have a great chance of achieving what you want with more clarity.

As 2021 comes to a close, it is a great time of year to reflect on the things you have accomplished and what you have awaiting you in the new year. Take the time to reflect on your goals for next year and use our Year-End Reflection worksheet to help you identify the things that were and are still important to you.