You take a flight but you don’t know where to go, did you get into any destination? You write a letter and post on post office without mentioning the address, did that letter ever sent to anybody? Goal setting is the same as that. Many people set goals but they don’t set clarity of goals. They don’t set the destination of goals. A goal without any plan is just a desire or dream. SMART goals is the tool of setting achievable goals whether it is personal or professional.
We continuously make an effort to achieve but we can’t. We face a lot of problems while achieving the goals. This is because your technique of goal setting is faulty. Here we are going to discuss the SMART goals which help you to make your goals achievable.
WHAT’S IN IT
Introduction to SMART goals
Different organizations as well as individuals want to make their goals achievable. There is the process of setting the goal in an appropriate way so that we can achieve them. SMART goals is one of the tools or techniques which various organizations use. This technique helps you to attain and track your goals. You can verify at every point if what you are doing will get the desired results. SMART goal technique is also widely accepted by the goal setting theory by Edwin Locke.
What SMART goals stand for
SMART goals is the analogy which indicates five characteristics of any goal. SMART stands for these things.
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Achievable
R = Realistic/ Relevant
T = Time-bound
Specific
THe first character of SMART goal is specific. It says that the goal should be specific. We may have set many goals but are they really specific goals?
A specific goal is that goal which gives you the clarity of your goals. If you know everything about your goals then that becomes your specific goals.You should ask the question with how, what, where, when etc regarding your goals. If you have all the answers then it becomes your specific goal.
For example: if you want to become millionaire then to make your goal specific ask yourself yourself these questions:
What are you going to do to achieve this goal? How much time will it take you to do that? In what age do you want to achieve that goal?
So, finally you can set goals like “I am going to be a millionaire at the age of 25 with my business”. This is how you can set the goal.
Measurable
SMART goals suggest that the goal should be measurable. If you set the goal in which you cannot measure the progress you have made then that goal will never be achieved. You should know how much you have achieved and how much you have remained to achieve. You should break your goals into measurable units so that you can easily complete them.
For the example of measurable goals, if you set the goal like “I want to lose my weight”. In this goal you cannot measure the progress of losing your weight. But if you set like “ I have to lose 10 kg in 3 months” then the progress can become measurable. Infact, you can break it down such as how much you have to lose in one week to achieve that goal in a specific time.
Achievable
The third analogy of SMART goals setting is the achievable goals. Every year many people set new year's resolutions but most of them fail to achieve at the end of the year. It is because they set goals which are very difficult to achieve. Research shows that we will get motivation to do any works only if we have chance to complete them. If you didn’t see any proof of achieve in life then you’ll demotivate to do that work.
So, before setting any goals check whether that goal is achievable to you for now or not. If not then please do not set that goal because that goal will not give you success rather it can put you in the mental burden. For example, if you set the goal to be a billionaire in one year, then it is technically not possible to do so. If you set this type of goal then your goal become unachievable.
Relevant/Realistic
The other important character that SMART goals setting suggests to us is the relevance of your goals.Your goal should be relevant to yourself. Suppose you are very good at drawing but your parents force you to become an engineer and you set the goal to become an engineer. Is that a relevant goal for you? And are you going to achieve it? Obviously it is not a relevant goal for you. Your goal should be something related that makes you motivated to work.
Another meaning of R is realistic. You set a goal which is completely unrealistic and you dream to achieve it. This is the foolish thing. You can only achieve the realistic and practical goal. So, check before setting the goal that whether your goal is relevant to yourself or whether your goal is realistic or not?
Time-bound
The other character that the goal should have is time boundness in goal. Every goal should have some deadline to achieve it. Goals which are bounded on time have more possibilities to be successful rather than which are not bound by the time.
Time adds value to the goal. Suppose you want to lose your weight but you haven’t set any time to achieve that goal. Now, you don’t have the measure of how much you have to lose and in how much time. Ultimately, you are not going to do any of the effort to achieve that particular goal.
So while setting a goal you must set using the SMART goals setting process and give a certain deadline to any of your goals. Because if you set the time limit then your mind will motivate you to do more work. To complete the task in time you can set the reward, if you complete the task in time.
These are some the five characters which you should follow while setting the goals. If you set the goals using the SMART goals setting model then the probability of achieving the goal will be increased.
Tip to make smart goals
Here are some of the tips for the SMART goals setting.
Think about Big picture
Always think about the end goal. Many times when we put any goal we take action for sometime but eventually we don’t continue them. But we should focus on the result, what we are going to achieve at the end of the day. So always think about the result which is big in the process. It will help you to stay focused. Break goals into smaller action plans.
Once you think about the big picture, you break down your goals into smaller actions. This will help you to know how measurable and attainable your goals are. Also this will provide you momentum to execute your goals in the right direction.
Write them down
Goal setting is not wishful thinking. You should write your goals systematically. It will help you to go from one point to another smoothly. If you write the goals then you can have a plan of how to execute the goals IT will help you to take you to your desired result more effectively.
Track the progress
You need to track the progress on some period of time. You have to review your goals. If your goal is a team goal then you should organize a weekly base meeting to discuss the target. If you have achieved some of the achievement then praise it, reward yourself. But if you have left something then try to improve on that. Basically , give and take feedback from the tips.
If you are setting a goal for yourself then also track your goal progress. Check how much you have completed, how much you have to complete. Give proper feedback to yourself.
Conclusion
SMART goals setting is a method to take one step closer to your goals. The five characters in the SMART goals setting process give you the clarity to work towards your goals. Breaking your goals into smaller actions making them attainable is necessary to achieve the goals. At ast, if you succeed in your goals then don’t forget to celebrate that goal and give reward to yourself. This will motivate them to achieve more goals like these.
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