As the year ends, we often turn to setting New Year’s Resolutions or goals for the coming year. However, as many of us know, these lofty, fantastic goals often don’t last through January. But why? More often than not, the problem is not our desire to change and be better but rather the way in which we set goals. SMART goals will help us make sure our resolutions last longer than a few weeks or months but throughout the whole year.
What makes a goal SMART? It’s not about the intelligence of your goal; it’s an acronym for five things you should keep in mind while setting goals or resolutions.
S is for specific. If your goal is specific, you know exactly what, where, and when you should be working on your goal.
M is for measurable. A measurable is something you can track, and tracking your goal helps you to see your progress (or lack thereof). You can adjust your goal as needed because you can see how you are progressing.
A is for achievable. While it’s nice to make big goals, conquering smaller tasks leads to success more than trying to tackle something big all at once. Make sure your goal is something that pushes you but is still within your reach.
R is for relevant. A relevant goal is something that actually matters to you and relates to other goals you have. It is a worthwhile goal that will help propel you to achieve more goals down the road.
T is for time-bound. This means that you set a time frame within which you will progress towards your goal. This also means that you set a specific time for working on your goal.
A couple of examples of SMART goals follow:
- Each day at 7AM, I will run with my brother for at least 30 minutes, so I will be more prepared to run a 5K at the end of the year.
- Every Thursday when I get home from work, I will water my plants.
- On the 28th of every month, I will go over the month’s spendings with my husband in order to evaluate how we are progressing towards our goal to save enough money to travel to Europe next year.
Taking the time and effort to set SMART goals helps you set goals that really will help you make changes and work towards your dreams. To read more about SMART goals, head to this post.
