Attaining Goals
January 7th, 2009
Attaining Goals:
A fellow blogger and twitter friend (not sure fellow is the right phrase for a woman, maybe fellowet, LOL) posted a quick note about donedieting.com today which in combination with a name like Goalgirl led me to read her blog. We have all figured out by now I’m all about goals so I really like the resources presented on her site. (http://thatgoalgirl.com/blog/ twitter.com/goalgirl)
One of the things I found interesting on her blog today was the acronym SMART. I’ve seen and used the phrase SMART goals many times but have never really blogged about what SMART goals are and what it means to set them
The acronym SMART has a number of slightly different variations. In the description of what each letter in SMART means, I’ve ordered them in what I believe is the most important.
S – Significant, specific, stretching
- Significant leads for “S” because it is about the height of the goal. If you don’t set the goals high enough to have significant impact on your life then your aiming way to low.
- Specific comes in at a close second because we require the details to plan our goal and make it clear. If I where to tell you my goal for next year is to make more money, what would that truly mean. If I made 50,000 last year then 50,000.01 is more money, right. Not a significant goal.
- Stretching is very important. If I know for sure I can lose 50lbs this year without a doubt, then am I really doing my self justice by setting that as my goal. Set your goals high enough that it stretches your abilities, your creativity and your imagination. Now a word of caution. There is a fine line between setting goals that stretch and setting goals that we just won’t commit to.
M – Meaningful, motivational, measurable
- Meaningful made the top of “M’s” list because it’s your “WHY” trust a man who knows from experience, there are going to be times where you will be thinking “why am I doing this again”. Your “why” had better be strong enough to keep you moving in the correct direction.
- Motivational is more than just it motivates you. Motivational goals can and should motivate the people around you. Keeping yourself motivated is a key but you’d be amazed on how motivating your friends and family can be when they see your hard work and determination.
- Measurable is key to fostering our since of accomplishment. If a goal is not measurable; who do we know when we got there? How do we know when we are off track? How can we plan to achieve our goal?
A – Attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented, agreed upon
- Attainable / achievable: This is without question the reality check of goal setting. If I where to ask a four year old what their goal was for this year I’d likely get the answer “what”. After explaining what a goal is the answer would be something like I’m going to learn to fly. “I’d say, in a plane?” no like a super hero. Now I don’t like to discourage anybody, but make sure that it is fairly possible to hit your goal.
A good test if a goal is attainable is the ability to start planning its success in your head. Example “If I workout real hard, watch what I eat, and lose about 2 lbs / week I could loose over 100 lbs this year.”
- Acceptable: This is can mean many of things, but in my mind, this is talking about subconsciously. You have to be able to believe in your goals with your mind, heart and soul. Setting a goal of gaining weight when I’m morbidly obese would have been subconsciously unacceptable to me.
- Action-oriented: I believe that this is referring to cause and effect. (Read my post on this.) A goal shouldn’t be an effect. A goal should be something you can act upon. If you can’t put an action plan together on steps to achieve a goal then you should think about rewording or refining the goal.
- Agreed upon: This comes into play when your goals affect others around you or require their assistance. Getting the spouse to agree on your weight loss diet is a key to success.
R – Realistic, reasonable, rewarding
- Realistic: within your availability of resources, knowledge and time.
- Reasonable: If it goes against reason you’re going to be fighting your subconscious.
- Rewarding: The reward whether mental, financial, physical or all three must be worth the effort.
T – time-based, trackable
- Time-based: This means that you have to give your self a date that the goal will be complete. Give your self enough time to complete the goal, but not so much time that you don’t feel motivated to perform at you max.
- Trackable: The ability to know where you are in the progress of achieving a goal is a key motivator and tool for planning
