Get SMART With Your Goals
SMART Goals: Closest Thing to Guaranteed Success
Setting SMART Goals
It’s been said that there are no guarantees in life and I’m willing to go along with that. But I believe that SMART goals, are the closest you’ll get to guaranteed success.
So what are SMART Goals? Let’s take it one step at a time. SMART goals always consist of the following aspects:
S = Specific: Your goals must be decisively “Specific”
M = Measurable: Must answer the question “how?” How many? How much? How will you measure your progress?
A = Achievable: If you go through the necessary steps and follow your plan, you set the stage to achieve your goal(s).
R – Risky: Does not refer to risk involving life or death or loosing the shirt off your back. The risk can be something like stepping out of your comfort zone or treading in unknown territory.
T = Time Limited: Your specific, measurable, achievable and risky goal must take place during a specific time period. Otherwise, procrastination prevents you from ever moving forward.
I know that this may all sound a bit scary to you to, but at the same time, the prospect of achieving your goal as your visualize SMART goals in action, must be pretty exhilarating right?
Let’s say you’re getting pretty bored with your current job and you start considering the possibilities for promotion. You review job descriptions that are considered a step (or two or several) above your current status. You identify a specific job that you would be a good fit for you, but that job requires some skills that you don’t have. As it turns out, your employer offers training for the specific skill and you will be able to use that skill in your current job to gain more experience. Now you have a measurable goal (attain a needed skill to qualify for a promotion). It’s reasonable to assume your specific, measurable goal is achievable once you put your plan in motion. In this case the risk is minimal in that there may be competition for the desired promotion, but that should not be a deterrent. Instead it should serve as motivation to increase your success rate of getting the job my honing your craft and your marketability. Finally you have a time limit in mind that is two-fold:
- What is the time frame for mastering the necessary skill?
- What is the time frame for which you’d like to be in your new job?
So now that you know how to increase your rate of success for the achievement of a goal, can you think of anything for which you’d can establish and apply a SMART goal?
“Every day presents another opportunity to hit the reset button on your life.” Charita Cadenhead