SMART Goal-Setting (and Goal-Getting)

Goals ? Seriously !

Do we really need them at all in our life ?

Isn't that how many many of us feel about the importance/ relevance of goals in our life ? So many of us live with this notion that life is all action and we can do without goals. Aren't there so many of us who are continuously running without any sight of finish line ! And little do we bother about the destination till life stares us in our face and asks us this - What are you working towards ?

We spend so many precious years of our life, doing something(maybe many things) but achieving nothing (or little). We are living our life in "busyness" but without "business" (Related Post: BUSYNESS : The Utopian Paradox). Without goal(s), our life is like a "rocking chair", which when set in motion, keeps moving to and fro, but doesn't reach anywhere. 

 

Is it justified that we expend our life in working, without knowing what and why of it ? Goals are what brings purpose to our lives and satisfaction to our efforts. The sense of achievement and accomplishment guide our growth and makes our lives meaningful. The sooner we realise the importance of goals in our life, the sooner we will make something worth of our lives.

Let me share why all this talk about goals. It's for the simple reason that goal-setting can't be talked about in isolation, without a reference to goal(s) and goal-setting. Whenever we talk about goals, we need to talk about it from 2 perspective which are, 1. as an entity(noun) and 2. as a process(verb). 

Once we have a clarity about our goal(s), it's time to ensure that we establish it in the right manner and this is where the productivity tool comes into the picture. The tool i want to discuss about is perhaps the most popular and powerful tool for the purpose (of proper goal-setting). The tool is SMART and is an acronym that stands for Smart (S), Measurable (M), Attainable (A), Relevant (R) and Timely (T).

History and Background of SMART

George T. Doran, a consultant and a former Director of Corporate Planning for Washington Water Power Company,  is credited with using the SMART term for the first time in 1981, in his paper for the November issue of the Management Review. The paper was titled "There's a SMART way to write management goals and objectives".   

The initial research on the subject of goal-setting was done in 1960s and in 1968, Dr. Edwin A. Locke published his Goal Setting Theory to establish/ study the link between goal-setting and performance in organisations. The five principles of Locke's Goal-Setting Theory are as follow :

• Clarity - the goal should be specific and clear

• Challenge - the goal shouldn't be too easily achievable and should be such to stretch the person to some extent

• Commitment - the goal should have the buy-in of the stakeholders, right from the beginning/ start

• Feedback - regular and consistent feedback ensures the goal is on track

• Task Complexity - breaking the bigger goal into small and easily manageable and achievable pieces

Elements of SMART

Let's delve deep into the 5 elements of the SMART goal-setting tool

• S - Specific : This element deals with clarity about the outcome, objective and actions. 

• M - Measurable : This element deals with measuring the progress towards accomplishment of the established (specific) goal.

• A - Attainable : This element deals with the resources (skill, knowledge, competency, etc.) needed to accomplish the goal. This is where SWOT analysis could help (Related post: SWOT Matrix : Know Yourself First) 

• R - Relevant : This element deals with determining the alignment of the goal with the overall bigger goal or purpose of life.

• T - Timely/ Time-Bound : This element deals with the timelines/ deadlines/ target dates associated with the goal.

How to create SMART goals ?

Making use of few prompts or asking ourselves relevant questions could help us immensely in creating an effective goal. Let's look at the questions and prompts that could help us

• Specific
• Why do i want to achieve this goal ? (This also is the motivation for pursuing the goal) ?
• What is it that i want to accomplish via this goal ? (making the outcome as specific as possible and going in as much detail as possible would help) ?
• Who all are involved (stakeholders) in the goal ? This is where we need to be clear whether the goal can be achieved through individual effort or other's support/ help is also required ?
• Few optional ones could be 
• When is the goal to be focused upon ? This is relevant if "time frame" is a concern
• Where is the goal to be pursued ? This is relevant if "location" is a concern

• Measurable
• What tangible metrics or methods can be used to measure progress ?
• What are the identified milestones for measuring the progress ?
• What information should be measured ?
• Which "data sources" and "information collection methods" can be used ?
• Which of the two measurement methods - qualitative or quantitative would be most effective for the purpose ?

• Attainable 
• What are my strengths ?
• What are my weaknesses ?
• What resources are needed to accomplish the goal ?
• What competency needs to be focused upon ?

•  Relevant
• What is my purpose in life ?
• Which big goal" am i trying to accomplish ?
• How accomplishing this particular goal help towards achieving the "big goal" ?

• Timely
• How much time is available ?
• How much time is needed for each of the identified mini-goals ?

Please note that the above questions are neither mandatory, nor comprehensive. They are just suggestive and you may make use of any other prompts/ questions for the purpose.

Tips for SMART goal-setting

• Spend sufficient time in gaining clarity about your purpose/ passion in life. A small exercise that could help you in this is as follows -  "Sit in a quiet, comfortable place and position, away from distraction and close your eyes. Now, imagine yourself in future, a few years ahead (3 years/ 5 years) and notice yourself. Note how do you see yourself, in terms of work you are doing, environment you are working in, people you are surrounded with. Start refining the details as much as you can." Practising this consistently would sharpen the image and you would clearer about your passion, about what excites you, about what lies in your subconscious. 

• Don't work on too many goals at a time. Identifying 1-2 goals is preferable and feasible

• If the goal is big, break it into easily manageable mini-goals

• Use rationality and not emotion to choose the goal to work on 

• Ensure that the goal you select aligns with your overall purpose/ passion

• Wherever possible, merge mini-goals is they are aimed at achieving the same outcome.

• Try identifying the MIG (Most Important Goals), maybe 1 or 2. The easiest way to identify MIGs is to look for goals that will have the maximum impact on your life which means achieving those goals would build positive momentum in your life and have positive impact on other areas of your life too.

A bit about Goal -Getting

A set goal is only as good as on paper. There's a tendency to fall in "comfort zone" after setting the goal. Relevant, timely ACTIONS is what will enable us to accomplish the the goals. One of the effective strategies (that i ,also, personally use) is Reverse Planning or Backward Goal-Setting . This is where we start with the end-goal in mind and then work our way backwards. 

Another strategy is to work towards milestones, which comprises of achieving mini-goals. This way, we can control getting overwhelmed about the enormity of the goal and can plan to take mini-steps. Celebrating achieving the mini-goals add to the confidence and takes us closer to our main goal. (Related Post: The Art of Achieving Goals) 

Ending Note 

Remember, the process of goal accomplishment has 3 key stages, as mentioned below and as covered by me in this post. Just reiterating and summarising in a sentence the role of each the 3 stages below:

1. Understanding and Awareness about GOALS - This is the "WHY" of the process

2. Identifying and Setting the GOALS - This is the "WHAT" of the process. (I would cover the tool under this section)

3. Achieving the GOALS - This is the "HOW" of the process

In a nutshell, Goal-Getting to Goal-Setting is all about covering the WHY, WHAT and HOW of the Goals  !

Plenty of templates for SMART Goal-Setting at http://templatelab.com/smart-goals/

N.B. - The images used in this post/ article have been sourced from the internet

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