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How to Set SMART Goals (+ Examples and Template)
How to Set SMART Goals (+ Examples and Template) All of us are ambitious about what we want, but only a few can see their dreams turning into their living reality. Just imagine you and your friend both are hunting for your dream job and one day, you get a call from him, “Hey! I got it!” Obviously, you’ll be happy for him, but you’ll also feel a little disappointed in yourself. Well, feeling bad about yourself won’t get you your dream job, but setting a SMART goal can. But what exactly are SMART goals? Let’s debunk this secret to help you become one of the exclusive ones. Stay with us till the end because we are not just going to talk about SMART goals through real-life examples, but we will also provide a practical guide on how to set and achieve them with a free template. What are SMART Goals? SMART is an abbreviation for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timebound. These parameters guide you in developing achievable personal or professional objectives. It helps individuals and organizations to set clear, concise, and attainable goals in a specific timeframe. For example: You want to become an employee of the month. Only manifesting it won’t help. You’ll need to turn your vague goal into a SMART goal. Here’s how you can go about it and turn the impossible into possible. The above example represents how you can make your goals achievable just by elaborating and clarifying your steps. Before we move to the actionable SMART goal techniques, template, examples, and benefits, let’s break down SMART goals in more detail. I. Specific (S) Goals “S” stands for Specific, the foundation of SMART goals. It represents a clear, concise, and well-defined objective. It answers the 5 Ws: who, what, where, when, and why. “I want to start a business.” This is a preliminary goal. A specific goal is: “I want to start a sustainable clothing business in the next six months in New York by renting a storefront in a trendy neighborhood and investing in social media marketing to create brand awareness and drive traffic to my store.” Writing your specific goal would give you clarity. When you are clear about your goal, you can easily identify the necessary actions and focus your time and energy on achieving it. II. Measurable (M) Goals “M” in SMART goals represents Measurable. Your goals should be specific and quantifiable to measure your progress and easily determine your success. “I want to learn graphic designing.” This is an immeasurable goal. “ I want to learn graphic design by completing a beginner-level course and illustrating at least five designs by the end” is a measurable goal. Determine your progress by specifying quantifiable metrics and regular tracking. This will further help you identify roadblocks and eliminate distractions. You stay motivated as the metrics show you your ongoing progress, which fuels your ambitions and frees you from procrastinating. III. Attainable (A) Goals “A” in SMART goals is for attainable goals. While aiming for the moon is great, you must also be realistic about what you want. Attainable goals branch out into two significant aspects: “I want to complete a 500-page book in 5 days.” Reading 100 pages a day is unattainable. Attainable goal: “ I will complete a 500-page book by reading 10 pages daily.” This goal is specific, measurable, and attainable. Moreover, identify the roadblocks and find their solutions to ensure your goal becomes attainable. Per se, you don’t have time to read 100 pages a day, but 10 pages are readable in a day. By removing the time constraint, you made it easily attainable. IV. Relevant (R) Goals “R” is for Relevant in SMART goals. It suggests that your goals must align with your vision and should be relevant to your life or career in some way. To become a marketer, becoming a sales agent is irrelevant to your vision. Taking a marketing certification course is a better goal. It aligns with your end goal, which will keep you motivated. Other than aligning with your vision, prioritize your goals according to your current situation. So if you want to become a marketer and don’t know anything about it, you can’t take up a job. You’ll have to take a course first. Although you’ll need to do both: Complete the course and get experience to become a professional marketer, your current situation needs you to focus on learning rather than experience. So focus on taking a course and achieving this target before setting your next goal to achieve the end goal. V. Time-Bound (T) Goals “T” is a time-bounding parameter of SMART goals. In other words, it sets a deadline to complete a specific goal. Setting a deadline is important to create an urgency to achieve that target in a given timeline. “I want to take a bar examination to open my law firm.” This is not a time-bound goal. A time-bound goal is: “ I want to take the bar examination next year to open my law firm in the next 5 years.” Without a specific timeframe, you’ll lose track of your progress and procrastinate. This can deviate your focus from your goal. To ensure you don’t procrastinate, divide your goal into achievable chunks. For example, your end goal is to open a law firm in the next 5 years. To achieve this, you can break your journey into steps. First, set a time-bound goal to complete your bar. The next goal could be to get your license, get clients, etc. By achieving these smaller goals, you’ll open your law firm in the next 5 years. How Can You Set SMART Goals? When setting SMART goals, one can easily deviate from the purpose and cause minor errors that can accumulate to become failures. So, follow the practical tips below on how to set SMART goals for your personal or professional achievements. 1. How to Specify Your Goal? The first step to identifying your goal is to be
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