I’ve had occasion lately to sit down and think about where I want to be in five years, which led to the thought of how I go about achieving my goals, some of the simple lessons I’ve learned over the years, and how I’ve gone about doing it in the past. This method works for me and combines the traditional “SMART Method” with Project Management techniques. I imagine there’s probably enough information to write a detailed book, I’ll try to keep this post as summarized as possible. I’ve broken the subject into three posts that I’ll give every Saturday until it’s done.
This weeks I will talk about defining your goal, and go through the basics of the SMART Method.
Define your Goals:
How can you achieve something you haven’t defined? If you know you want to do something, but don’t know what, or how, sit down and brainstorm, start with the vague and narrow it down from there.
The SMART Method
Specific - Your end goal should be something you can track progress towards, “being popular” is a fun goal, but it needs to be quantified “Having 10 friends I can call at 2am” is more specific.
Measureable – You can’t measure a vague notion like popularity, but you can something specific like (ten friends) but you should incorporate a definition for what a friend is. If it’s just someone who will talk you through a nightmare at 10am, write that down.
Do you have examples of measurable goals? They don’t necessarily need to be real, fun examples are good too.
Attainable - It needs to be something that’s possible (so maybe 10 friends you can call at 2am isn’t realistic) learning how to jump ten feet into the air is not a realistic goal with current medical technology, and if you’re not working on that technology then listing it as a goal is a waste of your personal resources.
Do you have an example of an unrealistic goal? Do you have any unrealistic goals?
Realistic – Just because a goal is attainable, doesn’t make it realistic, it’s sometimes a balancing act between the two. Is it possible to make 10 million dollars in two months? Yes, is it realistic, but not for me.
Time Sensitive – I think this part is put in there mostly to have a closure on their acronym. In all seriousness a goal needs a time limit. Without a time limit there’s nothing to measure it against and now way to say how well you’re doing towards your goal. I’m a big charts and graphs kind of guy, and with any goal time is one of the two legs on the chart.
What are your goals? What are my goals? I have a relatively (vague) short term goal of moving out of the arm-pit of Oregon, how I intend to do that are with a series of (specific) short term goals.
I also want to point out that if you don’t write down your goals than they’re simply a wish your heart makes.
Bibliography
August 9th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Very timely! I’ve struggled with my weight for years and I’ve probably lost and gained back at least 100 pounds in the last 15 years (not all at one time mind you!). I think a lot of it has to do with not setting those goals but just going along and doing whatever I feel at the moment. Thanks for the push!!
Rene @ http://wingsaway.blogspot.com
August 9th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
How deep and prophetic. I am struggling with work right now, trying to keep my head above water; looking foward to the day I retire and not having to take anyone’s guff anymore. That is my goal and I’m working hard to get it. Sometimes I feel their goal is to make many people as miserable as they can. They make the big money, but don’t want to do the work that comes with it. Can’t wait to read what comes next.
August 10th, 2008 at 2:00 am
I would like to achieve multiple orgasms.
Every.
Single.
Time.
Hey, you asked…
August 10th, 2008 at 3:24 am
Rene, Hopefully this three part post will help you with it. I think there are a lot of tools available for tracking these kind of goals, and I have to admit that the most success I’ve ever had watching my weight came from keeping track of far too much. Thank you for your comment.
August 10th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Carolyn, I know what you mean about work, I’m really excited about part 3 of this as it relates to the philosophy of things like that. I shouldn’t ruin the ending, but it’s about realistic goals. It’s miserable to work at places where there’s no love. But if they’re hiring, and pay well, let me know and maybe I can help
August 10th, 2008 at 3:39 am
Claudia, I think that’s a totally realistic goal, but it depends on so many things. I do believe it’s a realistic long term goal, but as with any goal you have to plan on putting the work in, and it might be a good idea to chart your progress.
August 11th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Claudious, Love your focus on goals. A great passion of mine.
As well as making your goals SMART, make them shine too. They need to be a beacon of light to inspire and motivate you. I tell my coaching clients, do your goals pass the shower test?
Excuse me whilst I get personal with your personal cleansing habits.
Shiny goals are the ones that you hold in your head every day. When you stand in the shower in the morning your goals should make you smile, make you think, make you inspired to leap out of the shower and get into action.
Here’s an example of a shiny goal.
Great goal: I’d like to lose 20kg by the time my father visits me.
Shiny goal: Walk with my dad again wearing my wedding dress.
Incidently, I did it (well not literally). But I lost 20 kg in the last 2 years and when he arrived at the airport last December I was the same size I was when I got married. I’ve been trying to lose that weight for about 10 years but it was the vivid, shiny goal that kept it alive for me and really made the difference.
If getting out of Oregon is your goal - think of place you’d rather be. It’s amazing what you can put up with to get to your ideal place. I took a highly paid, pressurised nightmare job commuting to the smoke of London because it gave me the final push of money I needed to break my life once and for all and move to NZ. You’re seeing the rest of my story live out on my blog!
JT
August 12th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Julie, I love that this is what you do for a living, and that through your experience there’s so much more to learn. I have never thought of this side of goal management. I know that it’s something you should “want” but it really brings it home to ensure that it’s something that you daydream about. I can see the beauty in that. I do spend a lot of time in the shower thinking about where I want to be, and what I want to do… which is probably why I eventually get to where I want to go. I once spent a lot of time thinking about games, and it did occur to me that non-productive thinking in the shower was a waste of a great opportunity.
Thank you for your comment Julie!