Goal setting Dumachova Ozoda Plans: About goal setting theory Goal ‐Setting principles Aboutsmart goals

Specific. The goal should have a clear, highly-specific endpoint. If your goal is too vague, it won’t be SMART.

Measurable. You need to be able to accurately track your progress, so you can judge when a goal will be met.

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Attainable. Of course, setting a goal that’s too ambitious will see you struggle to achieve it. This will sap at your motivation, both now and in the future.

Relevant. The goal you pick should be pertinent to your chosen field, or should benefit you directly.

Time-Bound. Finally, setting a timeframe for your goal helps quantify it further, and helps keep your focus on track.

For example, imagine you want to start running as a hobby. You could just run ‘free-form’ (i.e. wherever you please, for however long you want). However, this may not be conducive to progress.

To make this ‘SMARTer’, you could set a goal of running five miles in less than 45 minutes. This covers the “S” and “M” criteria. It’s also attainable, although it would require some effort depending on how out of shape you are.

Moving on, the goal is also relevant because you’re actively trying to get into shape. To make this totally SMART, you’d finally need to give yourself a timeframe to achieve your target. In this case, a month or two should be sufficient, as long as you plan your schedule correctly.

This approach to goal setting might sound overly complex. However, being able to track your progress in relation to each goal accurately is a great way to remain motivated. As long as you can see yourself inching forward towards the finish line, keeping the momentum going becomes easier.

5 Example SMART Goals You Can Put Into Action

Let’s take a look at some specific examples of SMART goals, with a focus on those you may set at work, or for clients. The first may not be one that crops up every day, but it’s definitely a good example of how the SMART formula works with bigger projects.

Why Set Goals? Why Is It Important To Set Goals?

Unless you want to be a monk or a yogi who takes life as it comes and has no specific aim in life, you absolutely need to learn how to set goals for your life.

When you have a clear aim in life, you won’t sit and wait for your dreams and goals to come true.

You’ll go after your dreams with a steely determination because no one is going to serve success to you on a platter.

The problem is most people lack ambition and live lives of quiet desperation.

They lie to themselves that they’ll get started on that new exercise routine tomorrow.

That they will sign up for that new course next month.

That they’ll take their family on vacation next time.

More often than not, they never end up doing it.

There’s a difference between building castles in the air and having a clear goal in your mind.

Without setting goals, you’ll lack the motivation and commitment to work towards them.

What Is Goal Setting?

Goal setting is about taking a stand and deciding what you want to do with your life.

So, what DO you want to accomplish in your life? Do you have a game plan?

A study at Harvard Business School showed that people who write down their goals are more successful than those who don’t.

Two years before Bruce Lee became a movie star, he wrote down his goal to become the highest-paid Asian movie star in the USA.

The rest is history.

Don’t underestimate the importance of goal setting for students either.

If you hope to get into a top college, you need to set a goal and work towards it.

Whether you want to reach the top echelons in your corporate career or lose a few kilos and become fitter, setting a goal will massively increase your chances of success.

You’re Already a Goal-Setter!

The thing is, you’re already setting goals every day.

They may be small goals, such as planning a movie outing with your family.

Or bigger goals such as planning a vacation on your bucket list.

Personal goals examples could include deciding to lose weight, while examples of professional goals could include planning to learn new skills or start a new career.

But, every day you aspire to do something, plan it out and work towards it, you’re practising the art of goal setting, because you’re working towards a clear result with the END in mind.

Have a Clear Vision In Mind

The first step to achieve your dream goals is to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and how you’ll feel when you achieve it.

Of course, you can change and fine-tune your goals as you acquire new knowledge and information. Most people do.

The next thing you need to do when deciding what aspirations in life are worth pursuing is to find your ‘Why’.

As the saying goes, “Find your ‘Why’ and the ‘How’ will follow.”

When you know the reason WHY you want something, it will become easier to figure out HOW to achieve the result you want and work towards it.

People are only willing to make changes in their lives when they have a compelling reason to do so.

Now your reasons could either be negative, which comes from desperation, or it could be positive, which comes from inspiration.

It’s best to identify with the positive reasons of why you want to achieve this goal.

And they are all the reasons that come from inspiration.

So ask yourself, “If I achieve this goal, what will it change in my life?”

Start your process of goal mapping by learning the goal-setting steps in the videos here.

Why Should You Set Challenging Goals?

Edwin Locke came up with a popular goal-setting theory that people who set difficult and specific goals perform better than those who set easy, generic goals.

This theory states that setting a difficult and specific goal gives you better results.

If you want your goals to be exciting, make them both, challenging and realistic.

When you achieve your goal, it should give you a sense of satisfaction.

And when you’ve reached your most challenging goal, you should feel an incomparable sense of achievement.

Setting goals not only gives you a strong and inimitable sense of purpose but keeps you of course on the destination rather than all the little distraction that come your way.

What Are S.M.A.R.T Goals?

In order to understand Goal-Setting theory, you need to understand what SMART goals are.

This is what the acronym S.M.A.R.T stands for: