The other day, I was chatting with a mate whose teenage kids were “DOING HIS HEAD IN.”
Like most of us, he thought he’d done his best to raise well-behaved little people, but try as he might, what he’d got was the opposite.
After a heartfelt and emotional conversation, we concluded that maybe he was setting goals for his children without considering them. His ideas of what they should and shouldn’t be were different to their own.
The Be, Do Have Model
I explained the ‘Be, Do, Have’ model to him, and following that, he and I tried an experiment.
He sat down with his children and asked them to write down what they wanted to HAVE in life. He asked them to write down a list of everything they wanted. The list included everything from degrees to gadgets to money, houses, and statues built in their honour.
Next, he asked them what they thought they needed to DO to get what they wanted. They wrote down things like getting money, getting jobs, and working hard.
Finally, he asked them, “Who do you think you need to BE to DO the things that you need to DO if you want to get the things you want to HAVE?” this question was by far the most challenging for them to answer, but he pushed them.
After some time, they came up with a list.
- I need to be a hard worker
- I need to be someone who takes my studies seriously
- I need to be someone who likes to learn new things
- I need to read books
- I need to have a growth mindset
- I need to be good with money
- I need to be well-organised
The changes happened almost immediately. Invariably, without really knowing it, the teenagers had set clear goals for what they wanted. They started to focus on the things that meant something to them.
Before he knew it, his unruly and unpleasant kids became disciplined, organized, and focused. Children, like adults, have their minds and typically put themselves first. You can’t control what they do. You can only control the rewards, consequences, consistency, and responsiveness.
A Valuable Lesson Learnt About Goal Setting
Beyond that, the experiment also taught me an important lesson.
We can’t simply copy and paste other people’s goals and expect to achieve them.
Our goals belong to us, and we alone need to take charge of them.
So, how do we set goals? We go into detail about them. We see the bigger picture and break them into actionable steps to help them get there. It’s an oldie but goldie, but to make sure your goals are reachable, they should be SMART.
This blog post looks into SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Why Should We Be Setting SMART Goals?
Here are three reasons why SMART goals are the best goals:
1. SMART Goals Gain Clarity
With SMART goals, you can better determine where your business is headed. SMART goals reduce confusion and enhance productivity because you and the rest of your team are on the same page, working towards the same goal.
2. SMART Goals Help You to Align with Your Objectives
Business owners are sometimes guilty of jumping into tasks not part of their objectives or long-term plans. With SMART goals, you can align your goals and tasks with larger business strategies. They remind you of the bigger picture and enhance your sense of purpose, ensuring your efforts are in the right direction.
3. SMART Goals Improve Decision-Making
When faced with choices or changes in your business, you can always refer back to your SMART goals and evaluate options based on how they align with each other. This provides a sense of direction and purpose for individuals and organisations.
Let’s take a look at each of the five SMART goals:
- Specific goals
- Measurable goals
- Attainable goals
- Relevant goals
- Time-bound goals
1. Specific Goals
In his TED Talk, If you want to achieve your goals, don’t focus on them, Reggie Rivers says that if you focus only on your end goal, you won’t reach it. You’ll also need to control the behaviours leading to your goals.
For example, if you decide to go on a weight loss diet, you’ll probably start with a goal – I want to lose ten pounds by the end of the year. But if you only focus on that, it’ll be hard to achieve it.
Because the next thing you’ll do is go from your goal to the scale. And when the results don’t happen overnight, you’ll give up. Essentially, you have to be very specific about your goals. It helps you to see the bigger picture.
You need to control everything you eat and don’t eat. You’ll need to get up and exercise every day, and you’ll need to say no to yourself even when you’re desperately craving that piece of chocolate cake.
Specific goals are detailed. What behaviour do you need to change to achieve them? What habits do you need to break? The more specific the goals, the easier it is for your brain to develop a strategy to achieve them.
Here are two ways to make sure that your goals are as specific as possible:
Include Details and Parameters
Be sure to specify the seemingly minor details. Ask yourself the 5Ws and H:
What is the goal? Who is involved? Where will it take place? Why? When will it take place? How will it take place?
Everything you deem relevant should be penned down.
Avoid Generalisations
Specific goals should avoid vague terms such as “Improve” or “Increase.” Instead, describe the improvement you are aiming for in more detail.
For example, if you are talking about improving your marketing skills, you could narrow this down by saying you will take specific courses on digital marketing for the next XX months to provide better services for your client.
2. Measurable Goals
When you’re setting goals, you’ll need to be able to track your progress, and the only way you can do that is by making your goals measurable. Otherwise, you may think you’re progressing when you’re not.
Making measurable goals gives you a sense of excitement as you get closer to achieving them. It gives you the motivation and push to keep trying and to keep going. Eventually, you’ll get the hang of it.
How do you measure your goals? You could want to run 1 km a day or consistently read 15 pages of a book daily. You can adjust your life to help you achieve them by making them measurable.
Here are two easy ways to make your goals measurable:
Quantify Your Goals
Setting a goal is not enough; you must also quantify it. Use numbers, percentages, or other measurable units to strive for. That way, you can easily monitor how close you are to achieving the goal.
Break Goals Down into Milestones
How will you know that you are on the right track? Break your goal down into smaller, achievable milestones. Each milestone should have its own quantifiable metrics.
3. Attainable Goals
Your goal should stretch your abilities but remain possible.
There’s no point in setting a goal if you can’t work towards it.
Your goals must make sense to you. Yes, we’re all dreamers, and we envision the perfect future. But what’s the point of setting a goal which is not realistic? It’s a complete waste of your time.
Let’s take a look at these two examples:
Person A: I will increase our company’s social media following by 500%.
Person B: I will implement a new hashtag strategy in our social media platforms and measure the increase in followers every two weeks for the next quarter to evaluate its success.
Which of the two seems more attainable?
An attainable goal encompasses all the aspects of the other goals. Given your current mindset, motivation level, timeframe, skills, and abilities, you can reach it.
That said, setting a realistic goal requires you to look deep within yourself and your capabilities. You’ll need to be really honest with yourself. It’s not only about what you want to achieve but also what you can achieve.
An achievable goal will answer these two questions:
How Can I Accomplish This Goal?
If you cannot answer this question, you may need to go back to the drawing board. When it comes to achievable goals, you can easily pinpoint how you can accomplish them. Make this easier for yourself by breaking it down and seeing how viable it is to do so.
How Realistic is this Goal Based on the Available Resources?
With the resources that you have now, are you able to achieve this goal? And if not, how likely will you have all these resources in good time to achieve your goals? These are the kinds of questions that you should ask yourself.
4. Relevant Goals
A relevant goal matters and makes sense to you.
Because at the end of the day, if your goal doesn’t matter to you, then there’s no point in having it.
You can’t take someone else’s goal and make it your own. It would help if you only worked towards things that align directly with your intrinsic values.
So, how do you make sure that your goal is relevant? It should answer these questions:
Does this Goal Seem Worthwhile?
A relevant goal must be worth the time and effort required to turn it into a reality. This makes you more motivated to pursue it.
Is this the Right Time for this Goal?
Relevance is strongly tied to timeliness. Relevant goals are pursued at the correct time. Make sure that your goal is a priority, considering everything else on your plate at that time.
Am I the Right Person to Achieve this Goal?
You must also evaluate whether you’re the best person to achieve this goal. If you are swamped with other work, it might be best to delegate to someone else.
5. Time-Bound SMART Goals
I watched a great YouTube video the other day that said, “Your day is your life.” The speaker said that her awareness of her mortality makes her conscious of the fact that she may not have tomorrow. So, she aims to work with it today. Within these 24 hours, how are you tapping into the areas in your life that matter to you?
When we set goals, they may seem like dreams. But breaking them down in terms of time makes them much easier to achieve.
What do you aim to have done by the end of today, this week, this month, and this year? Setting time-bound goals creates an all-important sense of urgency and necessary focus, helping to set priorities and prompt action.
Here are two ways to make sure that your goals are time-bound:
Allocate Timeframes to Specific Actions
Instead of having an overall time frame for achieving all the goals, it might be worthwhile to allocate a time frame for every action, as this helps to keep you on track as you set new milestones.
Factor in Contingencies
To ensure that you achieve everything you set out to, you need to include a buffer time for unexpected delays or challenges. This will ensure that you have achieved the goal by the end of the time you set for yourself.
In Conclusion to ‘Setting SMART Goals’
Setting goals should be a deliberate effort. You have to sit down and reflect on what matters to you. Setting goals will help you turn your dreams into reality by guiding you on exactly how to achieve them.
This blog talks about SMART goals, why they are essential, and how to make sure that your goals are SMART:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time-Bound
“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” ~Andrew Carnegie
If you need help achieving your goals, get in touch, and let’s chat about you, your dreams, and what needs to happen to get you there.