When you make resolutions and goals for yourself, do you make them SMART goals? Learn how to set goals in life that you can actually achieve!
When I was in high school, I had this psychology teacher whose projects drove me absolutely crazy.
She was the kind of teacher that wasn’t a big fan of giving guidelines. She wanted students to have more autonomy in the classroom and her way of doing so was allowing a lot of choices for our class structure.
As a whole, I didn’t have a huge problem with this, but when it came to class projects, I simply couldn’t function.
When she assigned projects, she never handed out a rubric to go with them.
Instead, she told us to do what we felt was good work and she would judge for herself whether that was true.
Now, I know that many people thrive off of this kind of freedom, but me?
No, I much prefer clear rubrics and firm boundaries.
Not only were the expectations unclear, but the due date itself was adjustable.
The date would be pushed back countless times before the time was up for good.
Though I did do some good work in that class, I never felt like I did enough.
Do you know why?
Because my idea of enough was not established when I first started the projects.
The same is true for our goals and resolutions.
We might say what we want for ourselves, but if we don’t make a clear way to measure our success, then we will always be left feeling like we didn’t achieve anything.
Today, I want to share with you a foolproof explanation of how to set goals that you can feel confident you achieved by the deadline.
I will be using the structure of SMART goal setting because I’ve always felt this was the best one.
And before you leave, remember to grab your own free goal-setting worksheet to help you learn how to set goals in life that you can achieve!
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How to make smarter goals with the SMART goals acronym
What are SMART goals?
The concept of SMART goals was introduced by George Duran, Arthur Miller, and James Cunningham in a 1981 article all about setting management goals.
Since then, it has seen lots of use from both people in business and people at home.
The concept is simple- it presents us with an acronym that helps us remember the key aspects of an effective goal so that people can consistently create goals that can be achieved.
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What does SMART goals stand for?
The SMART goals acronym serves as a guideline of how to set goals in life that you can actually achieve.
It demands that goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.
Let’s look at each of these aspects of the SMART goals acronym.
S- Specific
The goals you set should not be so broad that you are not connected to the goal itself.
It needs to be one singular, specific idea so that you can reasonably achieve it.
Example: “I want to be better with my phone” is too broad of a goal because there are too many things you would need to work on at once. “I want to stop using my phone while I eat by the end of this month” is a much more specific, clear goal to set.
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M- Measurable
Smart goal setting requires your goals to be easy to monitor and measure.
When the year is over, you should be able to know definitively whether or not you achieved your goal.
Not only will this make it more obvious when you do achieve your goal, but it will give you more motivation to do so.
Example: “I want to drink more water” is too unclear. How much is more? Are three cups enough to say you achieved your goal? Instead, you might say, “I want to drink three water bottles consistently at least five days every week by November.” When you look at your habits, you will be able to prove definitively if you achieved your goal or not.
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A-Achievable
The consideration when learning how to set goals in life is to think about how achievable your goal is.
You need to feel confident that this is something that you have the means to do with enough effort.
Make sure that the success of your goal doesn’t rely on anyone but yourself.
Example: “I want to have $3,000 dollars in my bank account by the end of this month” is not a goal that you can achieve simply through effort. Things can happen in the world around you that might affect your success. You might lose your job or have your car break down or give your money to someone who needs it more. Who knows? Instead, you could say, “I want to create a budget that limits my spending to $500 a week so that I can save money.” This might still lead you to save the amount of money you were hoping for, but the goal itself was something you could do without having to rely on outside influences.
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R-Relevant
When goal-setting, you need to consider if your goal is relevant to what you are currently doing in life.
If your goal is completely unrelated to your priorities, you definitely won’t have any interest in achieving that goal.
Create a goal that means something to you.
Example: “I want to write a page of a story every day” might be a good goal for someone who wants to publish a book, but not for someone who has no interest in writing. Consider how your goals will help you achieve something even bigger later on.
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T-Time-bound
It is probably pretty obvious why you might want to make your goals time-bound.
Without a deadline, you could put off doing it indefinitely.
It is important to put a due date on your goals so that you get to work on them right away!
Example: “I want to create a morning routine” is not clear and doesn’t give you any sense of urgency. Instead, you could say, “I want to create a one-hour morning routine that I can reasonably do every day by the end of this month.” This is a goal that has a clear guideline and a day for you to have it completed so that you can move on to the next goal.
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How to write SMART goals in 3 simple steps
1. Brainstorm a list of goals you might want to achieve
This is your chance to let your mind go wild without needing to filter anything.
Write down any goals or dreams that come to your mind.
Basically, do a Brain Dump for your future goals.
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2. Pick ONE goal that you are excited about
This is another step that doesn’t require any careful consideration.
Look at your big list of goals and choose one that gets you really pumped to try.
Try to limit yourself to a maximum of three goals, as any more than that will be too overwhelming.
Once you’ve picked the goal you want to try, move on to the next step to determine if this goal is a good one.
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3. Check if the goal you picked is a SMART goal
Test your goal to see if you need to make any changes.
Make sure that your goal covers every aspect of a SMART goal.
If it does, then you can stop at this step! If not, then you need to make a decision.
One option is to edit the current goal to make it more suitable.
If this does not seem possible, then go back to step 2 and choose a different goal to try.
Repeat the process until you have a goal that feels right.
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SMART goals examples
Smart goals for students
- Finish all assignments this term at least one day in advance
- Arrive on time to every morning class in the first term
- Introduce yourself to 5 new students each semester
- Study for upcoming exams for 15 minutes a day 4 times a week
- Find an extra-curricular group to join in two weeks
Smart goals for writing
- Write 100 words every day
- Read one book every month
- Connect with one new publisher once every three months
- Take a writing class of your choice once every year
- Ask a friend to edit recent work once every three months
Smart goals for business
- Have lunch with at least one coworker every month
- When the work day is over, close your email app for the rest of the day
- Come up with a possible solution for one work problem and test it out. After three months, reflect on the results
- Find one opportunity for professional development every year
- Clean up your work space once a week
Smart personal goals
- Exercise for 30 minutes 5 days every week
- Decide on a personal hobby and take 30 minutes to focus on that hobby 4 days every week
- Go out for coffee with a friend once a month
- Do 10 minutes of stretches every morning
- Donate to a charity of your choice once every three months
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Whether you are new to SMART goals or you’ve heard of them before, I hope that you were able to find something here that helped you to understand it better.
If you haven’t already, make sure that you grab the free goal-setting workbook on this page, as well, so that you have all the tools you need to create your own goals.
And remember, as much as we might want to succeed in a goal, a failed goal is still a worthwhile achievement.
Failure still teaches valuable lessons and helps you move forward. As always, aim for progress, not perfection!
Have you ever set SMART goals before? How did it go?
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