Making your goals into SMART Goals is part three of our Secrets of Setting Goals & Achieving them series.
The idea behind SMART goals is that you make each of your goals; specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Let’s dive into each of these areas:
Specific
Specific in the dictionary is stated as clearly defined or identified. You can not have a successful goal if it is too vague. For example, imagine me telling you that I want to wake up early each day. What is early? To some, early could mean 5 am; to others, it could mean 8 am. Being specific with your goal helps you narrow down exactly your goal. When drafting your goal, try to answer the five “W” questions:
Measurable
Sometimes I like to bake banana bread, it’s a favorite of mine, and it freezes well for a quick go-to snack. However, I am not a natural baker; I am a natural cook, but I have had many failures when it comes to baking. I realized that when I cook, I very rarely measure my ingredients. I simply tossed in what I needed, sampled the taste, and added or changed it as I felt. When I began baking, I would try to judge the amount, like a cup of flour; I would very recklessly throw that in without properly measuring it. As you can imagine, that bread did not come out as it should have, and my baking failed. When I started to specifically measure out each of the ingredients and combine them correctly, I got to savor the delicious banana bread that turned out great in the end! Our goals are the same. We need to be able to measure our goals to understand if we achieved them or not. In both instances, I had baked a version of banana bread, one good and one bad. The only way I knew how to measure the better version was that I specifically knew what I wanted it to taste like, and the visual picture of it did not look the same in both. A measurable goal should address questions such as:
Achievable
I am all for dreaming big and reaching for the stars, but when it comes to our goals, we need to break them down into smaller ones in order to reach our big dreams. An astronaut dreams of going into space but must achieve many smaller goals before getting there. They must get educated, get accepted to the program, train their bodies to optimal health, pass the tests for space flight, and much more before they can look down to earth from the space station. Our goals need to be achievable enough that we are able to see them through in the short term and, for some, will hopefully lead to the next steps in attaining our big-term goals. An achievable goal will usually answer questions such as:
How can I accomplish this goal?
How realistic is the goal, based on other constraints, such as financial factors?
Relevant
It needs to be relevant to you, similar to part one of this series. If you can’t visualize, you may not yet be ready to see that goal through. A relevant goal can answer “yes” to these questions:
Does this match our other efforts/needs?
Time-Bound
Goals need deadlines to be achieved. I am currently pregnant, and I have a deadline for giving birth in July; that is when my baby is due, and whether it be on that specific date or sometimes around it, July is when I meet my baby. Without a deadline, our goals may simply be consistently pushed out, for instance when you have to do a task you do not want to do so, you say the common term, I will do it tomorrow, then repeat, I will do it next week, next month, next year, you get the picture. Put a time limit on your goal and stick to it. The motivation you will have to see your goal achieved by that specific deadline will help you, especially on days you don’t feel like it. A time-bound goal will usually answer these questions:
What can I do six months from now?
I hope this gives you a better understanding of how to set SMART Goals. Take some time this week to go through your goals and rewrite them with the SMART goal formula, and I am sure you will have a far clearer and more attainable goal than what you began with. Next, we close our series with part four, create your Map! We will be going over how to direct yourself to your goals and lay out a personal, practical Map to achieving your goals.
This article is for informational purposes only. It is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice. To the extent that this article features the advice of physicians or medical practitioners, the views expressed are the views of the cited expert and do not necessarily represent the views of Continued Wellness.
