A SMART Goal Is A Roadmap 

Has this ever happened to you that you have set goals but hardly achieved them or there have been little improvements in your accomplishments? Not reaching our targets makes us demotivated and frustrated, and recurrent failure in our planning discourages us from setting future objectives; but have you ever considered that maybe the problem is not with you, but actually with your goals? perhaps we just need to modify the goals and make them a little bit smarter; not just literally smart, but actually SMART which stands for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Achievable, Relevant/Realistic, & Time bound. 

Why SMART Goals?

In order to fulfill our dreams, we need to have some planning; in other words, setting proper goals will lead us to our dreams, or they will always remain far-fetched; in fact, that’s the main difference between a goal and a dream. Goals are just like roadmaps; without them we are lost among our floating dreams. A smart goal outlines our long-term vision, and keeps us motivated. So, if you’re aiming to have some personal progress, learn a language, do a market research, or whatever, there you go, you need to set some smart goals. Let’s dig into SMART goal planning and consider this as a lead goal: " I want to learn French."

Specific

The first step to setting up a goal is to make it as specific as possible; you may have long-term or short-term goals or even ambitious ones; in any case, clarify your aim, and break the goals down and see what’s the first & the main step, you need to take and define the exact thing you want to do. Set up your target step by step and forget about killing two birds with one stone. For example, you’re planning to lose some weight, learn French, or increase your sales. These are goals but not yet smart. Clarify what you’re aiming to do. Draft your goal answering such questions:

     - What do I want to do exactly?

     - How & Why is this goal important to me?

     - Who is involved?

     - Where is it located? How can I access it?

     - Which resources or limits are involved?

To develop the initial lead goal, let's make it more specific: "I want to learn French by taking online courses in LernLing Website."

Measurable 

A goal needs to be measured with numbers or a quantity, if there’s no way to measure your goal then how you’ll know whether you have achieved it or not. For example, I’m going to lose 5 KG weight in 2 months, or  I’m going to increase the sales 10% in 2 weeks. When you are able to measure your goal, you can see if it’s possible to reach such number in the defined period. Tracking your achievements, can help you remain motivated, or can help you get a clear picture of your progress for future goals. A measurable & trackable goal should address questions like “How much/many” or “How will I know when the goal is accomplished?” Now it's time to make our goal measurable: "I can track my developments in French by doing regular assessment tests, and I will receive a certificate."

Attainable/Achievable 

A goal must be attainable, it must be set so realistically that you can truly do it; in other words, the required resources or facilities must be accessible. You should ask yourself this question: “do I have the resources and capabilities to achieve the goal? If not, what am I missing? Can I replace the missing part with something similar? Have others done it successfully before? Answering such questions, your goal could be more realistic & achievable and you should be able to accomplish them easily. Imagine you would like to try using a language learning technique, but you have none of the facilities, or you want to exercise at home, while you have no sport equipment; in this case you need to be more realistic and set up your goals based the available resources. Choose a technique which you have most of its requirements, or design your sport plan based on non-equipment exercises. Here's how our goal gets more attainable: "I have enough free time to study at least 4 hours a day plus I enjoy doing extra activities to achieve level B1."

Relevant

Steps you follow or things you do to achieve a goal must be relevant and related to the final aim. Actually, every step should lead you towards your final objective. Take Learning French as an example, if you plan to do it, beside taking a course, you need to do some self-study activities like listening to a podcast or music; if you’re listening to music, better be it in French or listening in other languages will be so irrelevant to your plan. All other activities could function like streams or rivers which will end up in the sea, and that sea is your final destination, your main goal. ask yourself this question: Why I'm doing this? and here is how our initial goal gets more relevant: "I work in an international French company, and if I know French, I can communicate with my friends and colleagues better; it will also help me get promotions"

Time-bound 

And finally, there should be a time limit to whatever you plan to do. When there’s no time limit, everyone tends to procrastinate and delay the tasks, then they miss the deadline and finally, they fail accomplishing their ultimate goals in the expected time. Keeping time-sensitive goals helps you avoid postponing, and stay on your schedule. Whenever there’s a deadline, you can attain the goal. Here's how our initial goal gets time-bound: "I will complete my courses in two months, by taking intensive courses."

Now, Let's compare the initial goal with the final smart goal. "I want to learn French" and "I want to learn French and get my B1 certificate in a period of 2 months by taking online courses in LernLing website in order to communicate better and get promotions in my job since I work in an international company based in France. I have enough time and facilities for reaching this goal."

In general, having smart goals is top essential for every individual, as it can help each and every one of us to make realistic goals for our personal development or business progress. Achieving success is rarely possible without a proper planning. so, let’s make our goals as smart as possible to benefit better.

SETTING UP SMART GOALS

Robi B