How to Make Realistic and Attainable Goals in Life Using the SMART Goals Template
We are half-way through 2022, and, I have a quick question for you. Have you achieved your New Year’s resolutions? My guess is that most of you would say “no,” because research shows that 80% of people abandon their New Year’s resolutions by the beginning of February. Why? Because although New Year’s resolutions may be the closest that most people will get to planning their goals in life, resolutions are more an expression of desires rather than “true goals.”
However, setting goals is essential to achieving personal and professional success. When you don’t have clearly defined goals, your road to success can be long, unfulfilling, and stressful. Let’s look at a conversation between Alice and the Cheshire Cat in the classic story, Alice in Wonderland, to understand why many people do not achieve their goals in life.
ALICE: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
CHESHIRE CAT: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
ALICE: “I don’t much care where.”
CHESHIRE CAT: “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
ALICE: So long as I get SOMEWHERE
CHESHIRE CAT: “Oh, you’re sure to do that. If you only walk long enough.”
Do you care about where you are going professionally and personally? If your answer is yes, then you need understand that to be successful, you must have clearly defined goals in life. Goals are your specific roadmap for getting to your desired destination.
And if you seek to arrive at place where you feel more fulfilled professionally and personally – a place where you are productive in a meaningful way– then the road that you take must be intentionally and strategically planned out.
However, just thinking about your goals is not enough. That is simply the beginning. Research shows that people who write down their goals, create action commitments based on them, and share weekly progress towards their commitments with a supportive friend have a 76 percent chance of achieving their goals in life. I am sure that we all want to be amongst this group of people. But, how? How do we start on this path of successfully achieving our goals in life?
I believe that it begins by writing down goals that are specific and measuring your progress towards them. Using the SMART goals template can help you take this initial step. When people make resolutions or even goals, they are often vague with no actionable steps.
“This year I am going to lose weight.”
“This year I am going to write more.”
“This year I am going to work on getting promoted at my job.”
Vaguely stated goals that lack relevance to your values and are not informed by the habits that you need to achieve them are not goals but wishful thinking.
Therefore, it is not surprising that 80% of people abandon their resolutions by February.
So, how can you make realistic and attainable goals in life? I encourage you to use the SMART goals template. SMART is an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. Setting SMART goals allows you to know exactly where you want to go, how quickly you want to get there, and how many steps it will take to get there.
Let’s look at each component of the SMART goals template and understand how they can help you attain your goals in life.
Understanding SMART Goals
S – Specific
A goal that is specific answers the 5-Ws: “who, what, where, when, and why.”
M – Measurable
You need criteria to determine when you have successfully achieved your SMART goal. You also should have milestones or benchmarks that can track your progress.
For instance, “I want to exercise for 30 minutes daily at least 5 times per week,” is measurable compared to “I want to exercise more.”
A – Achievable and [Audacious]
Audacious is not part of the SMART acronym but I believe it should be. Often, we think that if a goal is achievable, it shouldn’t be bold. However, a goal can be both bold and achievable. I believe that part of the purpose of making goals is to push yourself to step outside of your comfort zone and attain something that you don’t already have.
So, you don’t have to play it safe. Be bold. However, if you don’t have the resources or skills to achieve your goal, identify how you can acquire those skills and resources. Or are there mentors or colleagues or friends who can fill in the gap and provide what you are lacking in skills?
R – Relevant
Your goal should be important to you. Each goal should really be a component of the bigger picture of who you want to be and where you want to go either personally or professionally. And, if it is a professional goal, it should align with the bigger mission of your organization.
T – Time-bound
Time is finite. Therefore, we don’t have endless amount of time to achieve our goals. Therefore, your goal should have an associated deadline or timeframe that motivates you to action.
(I have created a FREE downloadable template that provides specific and detailed questions for each of these SMART components and a goal planner that can help you clearly define your goals in life. Make sure you grab this freebie).
Now that you understand the SMART goals template, let me share with you some principles that can help you maximize the usefulness of SMART goals.
7 Steps to put the SMART goals template to use and achieve your goals in life
1. Let your values inform and guide your goals
Your goals are your goals. Not your boss’. Not your spouse’s. And not your colleague’s or friend’s. They are your goals.
Your goals should reflect who you want to be, not who you ought to be.
Your values – the standards and principles that weigh heavily on your personal life scale – is the compass that can help define your goals.
2. Make goal setting and strategic planning more than a once-a-year occurrence
To only think about your goals at the beginning of the year significantly decreases the chance that you will achieve them. Personally, I dedicate half a day to strategic planning and goal setting every quarter. I use the opportunity check my progress and even re-evaluate if each of my goals are still valuable to me and worth pursuing.
3. Write down your goals
Many professional development and business articles often quote a Harvard Business study that only 3% of individuals write down their goals. I have not been able to find the original research article so I’m uncertain if it is a real study. Nonetheless, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence all around us that people rarely write down their goals. However, as I stated in the beginning, writing down your goals is essential to achieving them.
A study found that people who vividly describe their goals are 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to accomplish them. Using the SMART goals template to write down your goals is a great start, but your written statement about each component of your SMART goal should be vividly described (even with images when possible) so that someone would know exactly what you are doing just by reading them.
This doesn’t apply to just your yearly goals. The actionable commitments related to your yearly goals should be broken down into smaller steps that can be incorporated into your weekly planning sessions. (Not familiar with weekly planning? Make sure you look out for the next blog article to learn what is and how to do it effectively).
4. Create visual reminders of your goals
I like to be reminded of my goals not just during my strategic planning sessions, but throughout my week. So, I have digital stickie notes of the goals that I’m focused on during a particular time period on my laptop. Consider some visual cues that you would like to create to remind you of your goals.
5. Set up an accountability system
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having an accountability set up for your goals. Look around your personal and professional circles and think about a friend or colleague who can hold you accountable to actionable commitments associated with your goals. This should be a person who is committed to your success but is distant enough for the accountability relationship to work.
6. You can have several goals but focus on ONE at a time
“Success demands singleness of purpose. You need to be doing fewer things for more effect instead of doing more things with side effects. It is those who concentrate on but one thing at a time who advance in this world.”
As ambitious women, we will have many goals in life. Yet, while we may have many goals, all of them cannot receive equal amounts of our energy, time, and focus on a given day or week or even month. I found this question from real estate tycoon, Gary Keller’s book, The ONE Thing, to be extremely valuable in my daily and weekly work towards my goals: “what’s the ONE Thing I can do, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” This question has saved me from going into rabbit holes and helped me to de-stress when I’ve had so many goals and to-dos that I didn’t even know where and when to start.
7. Be flexible
Life is unpredictable so plan for the knowns but leave room for the unknowns.
Wrap-Up
Without being intentional and strategic about planning your goals in life, your journey towards increased productivity will be long. A long journey can lead to stress and burnout. With a long journey, you will get “somewhere” if you walk long enough, but your final destination may not be what you anticipated nor wanted. Therefore, use the SMART goals template and these 7 guiding principles to achieve your goals in life.
Do you need help with goal planning? If so, don’t forget to download your FREE goal planner with a SMARTS goal template that will help you clearly define your goals and break them down into smaller action steps.