SMART Goal Completion

SMART Goals

"If you prioritize yourself, you are going to save yourself." – Gabrielle Union

To successfully manage your life. You need goals.  If you do not have goals, you will leave your life up to random occurrences, that may lead your life into turmoil.

Goal completion is a large factor in self-love.  When we create goals for ourselves and put our efforts into completing them, it builds our self-esteem. We show ourselves that we care and that we are worthy of the lives we live. 

Goals give you focus on the actions that are needed to create the life that you want. It is a step by step plan, that you create so that you can purposefully manage your life to be successful. Goals are like a map. If you ever veer off the road you can always pull your goals out to direct yourself back to the correct path.

The best way to start creating goals is to use the 5 step SMART system. SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. This is a simple system that will easily help you create a strategic action plan for your life.

1.    Specific

When you begin writing your goals know that you do not have to rush to get it done. Take your time and be as specific as possible.  You must be specific with the goals that you set so that it can be more focused upon, easy to visualize, and more manageable to ascertain. Also, use the 5 “W” questions: What do you want to achieve? Why is it important? Who will help? Where is it located?  What resources will be needed? Also, how will you accomplish the goal? Great subjects to write goals on are your health, finances, relationships, fun, education, and career, just to name a few.

2.  Measurable

A goal must be measurable. Goals must be measurable so that you will have confirmation that your goals have been completed. If a goal is not measurable you will not have any way to know if you have completed your goal. Questions like how much, how many, when does it need to be completed, how do I know when it is completed, will guide you in measuring your goal process.  

3.  Achievable

Your goals must be sensible and achievable so that it is able to keep your interest and be effective.  You can make challenging goals to do whatever you want but make sure that it is something that you know that you can do, even when you are stretched to your max, you can still successfully accomplish the goal. Achievable goals can be accessed by asking how you can complete the goal? Do you have the resources? Do you have the knowledge skills, and abilities to accomplish the goal? If not, can you attain them?

4.  Relevant

When you are writing your goals make sure that they matter to you and aligns with who you are and your other goals. Your goals must be important to you and make a significant difference in your life. Do not write goals based on what someone else wants you to do or be.  Getting support may be crucial to getting some of your goals done but make sure you are managing them. Answering these questions will help you ascertain if your goals are right for you: Do your goals excite you? Is this the right time for this goal? Does this goal coincide with who you are? Does your location inhibit you from completing the goal? What would the impact be if you were not to achieve the goal?

    5.   Time

Every goal that you set needs an end date. Doing this will give you a deadline to concentrate on and work towards.  If a specific date is not established, the goal is too vague and will not be measurable. Goals should be measurable regarding where you are in life right now. Look at your finance, health, education, etc., and think of the actions that it will take for you to complete your goals based on them. Setting an end date and milestones will ensure that you can track your daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly actions to completing your goals. Large goals should be broken down into small goals that can be completed in simplified actionable steps. It will also make you think of what you can do today to start working on your goals. When setting your due date ask yourself these questions: When must the goal be completed? Does the deadline generate an appropriate sense of urgency? Here are resources to help mange your goals.

Why use the SMART goals system?

The SMART Goal system should be used so that you are not wasting your time, resources, and energy working on goals that are not clearly defined. Today, we have multiple areas in our lives that we are focusing on and creating the best out of them that we can. With all this needing to be done, we do not have the time, energy, or resources to waste by perusing the wrong goal; we need to get it correct the first time.

Inadequately Written Goals vs SMART Goals

Inadequately written goals are vague, general, non-specific, and not measurable. “Become healthier”, is an example of an inadequately written goal.

Smart Goals use action verbs to signify what will be produced, provides specific actions of success, are tied to your morals, can be achieved with effort, and includes a specific deadline. An example of a SMART Goal is to “Lose 15 pounds by October 1, 20xx.

Here is another example of inadequately written goals and a SMART Goal:

“Save monies for an emergency fund” is an inadequately written goal.

A SMART Goal is to start an emergency fund savings by saving three times the living expenses as a result of getting a side job, depositing at least $1000 a month in savings, to have x amount of monies by December 1, 20xx.

o   Specific- Create an emergency fund by saving three times the living expense.

o   Measurable -Depositing at least $1000 per month

o   Attainable - Getting a side job

o   Relevant – Yes this will help in cases of emergencies.

o   Time-based – By December 1, 20xx

Now that you understand the SMART Goal system review any goals that you have written and revise them if needed. Having SMART Goals ensures that you know exactly what needs to be done and by when, which will eliminate confusion, wasted energy, and resources. Self-Love co-exist with completing goals to better oneself. Start today!