SETTING SMART PERSONAL GOALS

Subject: SETTING SMART PERSONAL GOALS Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:07 pm

Monday, 18 February, 2008
“In communications that are difficult or draining, find something to appreciate about the person you're dealing with, or find a feeling of compassion or kindness. This will clear your mind and give you the coherence you need to know what to say next.” - Doc Childre and Howard Martin

Setting Achievable Personal Goals that are SMART
Goal setting is the framework for personal achievement. It is the backbone of becoming a person you desire to be. Setting and achieving personal goals will guarantee you success. Most people who do set goals have little to no understanding of goal setting and as a result fail to achieve them. We frequently hear of other’s goals or I should say ‘targets’ to find a perfect partner, lose-weight, or to help people in need. Many have personal ‘goals’ yet few achieve them. Why is this and what can you do to set yourself apart from the 95+% of people who do not achieve their poorly set personal goals?

Becoming an expert in setting and achieving personal goals is the greatest skill you can master. It ensures you desire something greater than what you have now and take the necessary steps forward to achieve them. By setting and achieving personal goals you can: communicate effectively, have the partner you want, have the friends and relationship with your family you want, look your best, feel great about yourself, no longer have self-imposed limitations such as poor confidence, and generally become the person you want to be. Setting personal goals constructs a pathway for self development but doing it correctly ensures you achieve them. It is truly the ultimate skill.

Common Problems in Goal Setting

There are several common problems people frequently make in goal setting. These mistakes are dangerous enough to prevent accomplishing goals:

Vague – A vague goal is general and contains uncertainties. Set a specific goal. The more specific a goal is, the more likely you will achieve it. What exactly do you want to achieve? Maybe it is a more intimate relationship with your partner. Saying “my goal is to have more intimacy with my partner” is vague. Convert it to a more specific goal such as “In 30 days, I will able to come home from work then talk and cuddle with my partner for 30 minutes everyday”. This is a great goal as it is specific and measurable. You need to be specific and define exactly what you want.

Personal – A great leader knows in order to get his followers to accomplish tasks in a successful manner, he must inspire the followers to take on the goals as if it were their own. You will be far more likely to achieve a goal that is personal instead of it being somebody else’s.

Difficulty – Setting the correct level of a goal’s difficulty can be a hard task. If it is too hard you will not achieve the goal. If it is too easy, the goal is unchallenging, your journey to success will be slow, and you’ll lack a significant feeling of accomplishment. The correct level of a goal’s difficulty is one that is challenging yet achievable. It is energizing because you know it’s reachable.

Public – You can avoid several reasons why people do not set goals by not making your goals publicly known. While it can be good to let others know of your goals, if they are likely to knock you off your pedestal through criticism, then making your goal public is a mistake. However, letting the right person know of your goal will encourage you in many possible ways. It is a great motivator and can redirect you back on the path towards success. If you’re aiming to build more intimacy, letting the other person know and working with them towards this goal will increase the likelihood of it being achieved. However, let a co-worker know you aim to double your income within 1 year, and your goal could be shot-down with criticism about how bad the company is, the lack of opportunities in society, or the impossibility of increasing your income.

SMART Goal Setting

There are several techniques to setting and achieving personal goals with some complimenting each other meaning you can use multiple goal setting techniques to increase the likelihood of achieving your goal. One particular goal setting technique I like is called SMART goals from Paul Meyer’s “Attitude Is Everything”. SMART is an acronym that has minor variations:

Specific – as discussed earlier, a good goal is specific and not vague. By making a goal as specific as possible, a path towards success is evident, expectations are developed, and clarity is formed. Having a specific goal will give you excellent awareness and understanding of what’s required to achieve it. Develop an exact long term goal and then break it down into goals for 1 year, 6 months, 1 month, 1 week, and day-to-day activities.

Measurable – another common problem discussed earlier is people not setting measurable goals. How can your progress be tracked so you achieve the goal in a certain time period? Do your best to quantify your goal. Say your goal is to overcome shyness, set a measurable goal where you aim to meet and briefly converse with ten new people next week. The number “ten” and within “one” week makes this goal measurable and specific. You would be able to track your progress precisely in this example.

Attainable – an attainable goal is one where you have or can develop the necessary skills to achieve. You’ve heard the saying “You can achieve anything you want if you set your mind to it.” In other words, if you are able to align your attitude, ability, thoughts, and emotions towards your goal, then it is attainable. An attainable goal is within your potential.

Realistic – a realistic goal is one you believe is reachable. It is closely related to “Attainable”. Your goal is realistic if you truly believe it is attainable. An example of a realistic goal is one that has been achieved in the past by someone. It is one where the necessary resources and time is available. Realism will lead to belief, motivation, and action.

Tangible – being able to hear, see, feel, taste, or smell your goal will greatly increase success. Creating as many tangible forms of your goal has amazing affects. Too often goals are simply floating around in our mind. The first step you need to take is writing your goals down on paper. Writing your goals on paper creates tangibility. You want to use as many senses to awaken a powerful inner desire to hunt down those goals. Your emotions will intensify with tangible goals. Also, track your progress not based on an uncertain feeling of your development but on tangible changes. Look for solid evidence that you are progressing towards your goals.

What you get once setting a SMART goal is a map for success. You will have a challenging yet achievable personal goal. You will have techniques to continue pursuing your goal. You will develop the enthusiasm and drive to keep working. I sit here at the computer on Christmas Eve writing this article, not because I’m stupid. I am able to do this because I have SMART goals (and am going no where this Christmas Smile

). Completely use this powerful goal setting technique with enthusiasm and you will come closer to your goals than ever before. Master goal setting and you will have the ultimate skill to get what you want.

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I give you free reprint rights to my articles under the listed conditions. Monday, December 25th, 2006 at 10:30 pm. Filed under Happiness, Inspiration, Success. Subscribe to Comment RSS 2.0. Leave a comment or trackback.

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9 Responses to “Setting Achievable Personal Goals that are SMART”

1 Tara
07 Jan 2007, 2:34 pm
This was very Motivating Joshua!
I learnt that I was living in the world of uncertain feelings of my self development , but now I know , I should have solid evidence of my progress!

2 Jemilat
09 Jan 2007, 5:48 pm
This is pretty good, Josh.
I like it and it has made me to realise some things I need to know about myself and realise my dream!

kudos!

3 Someone
13 Jan 2007, 8:45 am
Its was said once that knowledge is already into us, but we are not always aware of it, or we are simply looking to the wrong direction, or repeatedly hitting the wrong key… you’ve got it.
This stuff you wrote seemed so damn obvious when i finished reading it and noticed I wasn’t being “S.M.A.R.T.”, but vague and unclear about my goals. Dammit!
You hit the fly again!

4 Anie
20 Jan 2007, 8:35 pm

JOSHUA, i bet u it’s so good and encouraging. For i’ve now learned to set goals which would help me in self developement. May God richly bless u.

5 How to be an original
12 Apr 2007, 7:48 am
You’ve mastered goal-setting already, and didn’t even know it…

If you’ve read books about goalsetting (and you probably have), you know that when you do something, having goals and committing to achieving them is a very effective way to get results. Often better results than when no goals were…

6 beatrice
03 Sep 2007, 2:23 pm
woow,thats really good.its really an inspiration.its challenging.i have grown as a person now.thanks.keep it on.

7 zenith
05 Sep 2007, 11:18 am
good work josh..you really have done it man…you have put it in the simplest of writings n in the most effective way!i would love to read more of you..

8 meg
12 Jan 2008, 3:33 pm
SMART.SIMPLY SMART JOHUA, THANKS ONCE AGAIN.GOD BLESS
MEG

9 tina
12 Jan 2008, 10:50 pm
Thanks for everithing you do. God bless you.

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