Developing S.M.A.R.T. Goals for Success
Developing goals is key to continued growth and progress. If you face challenges with attaining your goals, setting S.M.A.R.T. goals can help you realize success! S.M.A.R.T. goals are critical in creating actionable plans for continuous goal progression.
What Are S.M.A.RT. Goals?
S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Bound) is a strategic planning tool used to establish objectives that help you reach your targeted goal. Use the S.M.A.R.T. goals approach to develop strategies for success in your personal or professional development.
Your S.M.A.R.T. goals should:
Address a Specific Topic
Setting a clearly defined goal makes developing an effective action plan more manageable. Establish explicit details about your goal expectations and avoid creating a vague goal that’s unrealistic to achieve.
Define Measurable Results
Measuring the progression of your goal helps you identify and celebrate your progress. You need to measure your goals to determine if you were successful in your efforts. Therefore, create measurable, trackable, and realistic goals. One way to measure your goals is to set milestones to complete before moving to the next step. To track your progress, you can use:
Notetaking
Productivity apps
Spreadsheets
Prove to be Attainable
Establish specific and ambitious goals that make you a little uncomfortable but also create practical expectations for yourself. Therefore, research and review what steps are necessary to accomplish your goal. Determine if you have the appropriate resources, time, and effort needed to achieve the goal. This analysis will help you realize if the goal is attainable or not.
Be Realistic
Extremely lofty goals are often not attainable. To ensure your goals are attainable, examine them to identify if they can actually be accomplished in the timeframe you’ve established. Stay motivated to make continuous progress by thinking pragmatically about your skills, abilities, habits, and work ethic.
Here’s examples of unrealistic goals:
I will run 90 miles 7 days a week from now through 2024.
I will increase my business from $50 a month to $40,000 a month in 2 weeks.
I will renovate my entire house in 3 hours.
Time-Bound for Success
Establish a specific deadline for your goal. Having a practical deadline can create an efficient and achievable S.M.A.R.T. goal. Also, setting a realistic completion date for your goal increases the likelihood of you experiencing success.
See below for examples of S.M.A.R.T. goals:
I will apply for a $5,000 business line of credit by April 25, 2022.
I will run 1 mile 3 days a week until June 15, 2022.
I will read 2 books a month until the end of the year.
The S.M.A.R.T. goals strategy can be leveraged to create realistic and attainable goals. If you would like support in developing S.M.A.R.T. goals, contact Sammi@MelanatedBusinessCoaching.com to get started!