SMART Goals

We all make goals, right? At least, we all think about things we'd like to achieve or do in the future and call them "goals". If you're serious about setting a real and objective goal for yourself, and you want to increase the likelihood that you will achieve said goal, following the SMART Goal process will definitely help.

SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.

Ask yourself the following questions for each element:

-Specific: Make your goals specific and narrow for more effective planning.

What do you want to accomplish?

Who needs to be included?

When do you want to do this?

Why is this a goal?

-Measurable: Define what evidence will prove you are making progress and reevaluate when necessary.

How can you measure progress and know you've successfully met your goal?

How much?

How many?

How will I know when I have accomplished the goal?

-Achievable: Make sure you can reasonably accomplish your goal within a certain timeframe.

Do you have the skills required to achieve the goal?

If not, can you obtain them?

What is the motivation for this goal?

Is the amount of effort required on par with what achieving the goal will mean to you? In other words, is the effort involved worth it?

-Relevant: Your goals should align with your values and long-term objectives.

Why am I setting this goal now?

Does it seem worthwhile?

Is it aligned with my overall objectives and values for myself?

-Time-bound: Set a realistic, yet ambitious, end-date for task prioritization and motivation.

What is the deadline for achieving this goal?

What can I do six months from now?

What can I do six weeks from now?

What can I do today to start?

Is that deadline realistic?

When going through this exercise, it is important to remember not to choose goals that someone else has power over. For example, "Get a promotion" sounds like a good goal, but you do not have control over who else is being considered, the office politics that may be in play, or who is making that decision. A better goal would be "Get the experience and training needed so that I can be competitive and considered for a promotion". Everything within that goal is within your power to control. You control your training and gaining of experience to be competitive.

Setting SMART Goals provides clarity, focus and motivation to achieve whatever it is your are striving for. By defining your objectives and setting a realistic completion date, you greatly increase your chances of meeting them. Often, the goals we set for ourselves are vague, unrealistic, or we haven't given adequate thought to the steps required to achieve them. Going through the exercise of setting SMART Goals helps us to dig deeper and refine our targets.

Let go through an example scenario that applies to fitness...

Scenario:

Jennifer recently ran a 5k and her time was 0:31:00, putting her pace at around 10 minutes per mile. She was disappointed with this result and wants to do better in her next race.

Below is how Jennifer would use SMART Goals to reach her objective to improve her race times.

Specific:

I want to improve my 5K race time to a sub-25 minute finish by my next race in 90 days. This requires that I work on my running technique and increase my level of fitness by utilizing a combination of HIIT and 5K practice runs each week over a 90-day-period.

Measurable:

My running technique is my biggest weakness and improving it will have the biggest effect on reducing my overall finish time. I will work with a running coach who will help me measure my progress in this area. By the end of 90 days, I should be able to run more efficiently. I will aim to lower my 5K time by :30 every week over a 12-week period.

Achievable:

Improving my running technique and level of fitness will improve my finish time by at least 6 minutes. I will perform HIIT runs 2x per week to improve my overall speed and aerobic capacity. I will work with a running coach 1x per week to improve my technique. I will perform 1x 5K each week at a casual pace, and I will perform 1x 5K per week at a race pace aimed at improving my finish time from the previous week by at least :30 seconds each week for 12 weeks.

Relevant:

Running is my sport of choice and I enjoy competing. Currently, my 5K race time is not a competitive time for my age group. I want to improve my time to make myself more competitive in my favorite sport.

Time-bound:

In 90 days I will run my next race and will reduce my finish time by at least 6 minutes, from 0:31:00 to 0:25:00.

By going through the SMART Goal process, Jennifer has identified a specific goal to strive for that is realistic, measurable, relevant to her values and objectives for herself, that has a specific deadline. Because she had clearly defined her goal, she was able to determine what needed to be done to achieve it, and those things are clear and measurable. Because they are clear and measurable, she can evaluate her progress throughout the 90-day period and make adjustments as needed depending on her progress. Maybe she will find she needs to work with the running coach 2x a week instead of 1x, or maybe she finds her aerobic capacity is not developing enough and she decides to add an additional HIIT workout. She may also find that her goal of reducing her time by 6 minutes was too ambitious within a 90-day period given her work schedule, but that she is on track to achieve that goal in 120 days, so she finds a race date 120-days out instead of 90.

I hope going through the example of Jennifer and her goal of improving her 5K finish time was helpful in illustrating how using the SMART Goals process moves a vague goal like "I want to do better in my next race" to an actionable goal with clear steps like "I want to improve my 5K finish time by at least 6 minutes in 90 days".

Now it is time for you to set a goal for yourself. What's that thing that has been sitting in the back of your mind that you have always wanted to do? Play with the SMART Goals process and see if you can turn it into something you can achieve in 2021!! This is your year!