How to apply SMART goals to anything.

A close friend introduced me to SMART goals last year and really, at the time I didn’t think much of them, other than another thing I need to keep on top of. It wasn’t until I looked back at them six months later that I thought ‘wow, I’ve ticked pretty much everything off that list’ and it really gave me a huge sense of achievement! Reviewing my goals has now become something I do regularly and find such an important part of my personal development. And it’s something that can be used in any aspect of your life.  

So, what are SMART goals? 

SMART goals are often described as ‘dreams with deadlines’. Everybody has goals, but the more we focus on them in detail, the more likely we are to implement them.  

This brings me to ‘S’, the first letter – Specific. The goal needs to be as clear as possible, give detail of the desired outcome and be precise with the target you’re aiming for.  

Here is an example of one I used recently: 

“Look for a venue to hold a retreat with different teachers and professionals, an offering directed at women aged between 28 and 40 suffering with similar problems to myself - anxiety, the overwhelmingness of life, being a parent (in my case, step-parent). A place where we can all come together are share our stories, listen and connect through movement and different forms of group therapy.”  

This is a 12-month goal, big, ambitious I know, but it’s really where I want to be. So state it! 

The next letter is ‘M’ this stands for Measurable. This means it has a definitive end, when you’ve achieved your goal, you can tick it off. You could write this in your calendar once a month to make such that you are making steps on the correct path. Without measuring our outcome, we won’t know when the goal has been achieved. 

Next we come to ‘A’ which stands for Achievable. Is my goal realistic? Look around you. Has someone else achieved it? If so, then you can too! It won’t happen overnight and it could take years of hard work but if it’s been done before, it can certainly be done again. Have faith in the process. 

The ‘R’ is for Relevant. The goal needs to be in alignment with you and your life, not for someone else. We will all need support from others but the important part is that you are true to your dreams and aspirations and that it will be worthwhile for you. 

Finally we have ‘T’ for Time. Your goal should have a specific timeframe that you wish to complete it in, otherwise it’s too easy to put it off. Give it an actual date that you can put in your calendar and work towards. 

So, that’s how SMART goals work, and they are extremely powerful tools to have. It’s great to start with short-term goals, the things we have piling up on the ‘to do’ list that can become overbearing. Get them out the way and ticked off.  

To get started when you feel less motivated, try using the two-minute rule. Simply spend two minutes working on the goal, if that’s all you do it’s still better than nothing. But you’ll be amazed at how often, once you’ve made a start, you simply keep going and make some real progress. These short-term goals can take anything up to 90 days to complete. 

Once your short-term goals are well under way, set yourself some medium-term goals, these are goals up to six months. Again be realistic when setting your goals, can you achieve them in this timeframe. Perhaps you want to start a course alongside your job to help you achieve something you’ve always had passion for. Write it down. It might just give you that push you needed to take the leap. 

Finally, we have our long-term goals and these can be goals to set yourself for 12 months’ time or even longer. Going back to my example - be ambitious, be brave and say what you want, aspire to step out of your comfort zone to get there. Taking brave steps along the way may make you feel uncomfortable but are important stepping stones to your success. 

To finish up, it’s worth making some reward goals. Again you can make small reward goals or larger ones. The smaller the goal, the smaller the reward; the larger the goal, the larger the reward and you can set these for longer time periods. Here’s an example of my reward goals: 

4-year luxury goal – 1 month travelling south America. 

20-year reward goal – Round world trip for one year. 

Small reward goals – trip to the spa with a friend