So… What the heck does all of this have to do with goal setting?
Smart Goal Setting Strategy
Good solid goal planning must be based on where you'll be when you actually achieve
them… i.e. from your perspective, in the future. You need to consider it from that
point of view, and ask yourself the question, “in order for this outcome to be true,
standing here in the future, what needed to be true back and then in what I am referring
to as the present?” This is a decidedly different orientation from, “what do I need
to do now to get there?” The difference is very important. It is the difference
between those that are highly successful in setting and achieving goals and those
who are not.
Achieving personal goals as well as career goals has become big business for
the life coaches and educational planning mentors advertising online. What makes
for an achievable goal? What is the proper goal or "right" goal for a young person
entering the work force to have? How do you measure performance goals? When planning
long term goals, how far away is long term?
An example of a good goal is one set forth with the acronym by author Paul J.
Myers. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic,
and Tangible makes for SMART advice.
Let's break those down into understandable examples, shall we? Specific
is fairly obvious, or is it? It is easy to have a general goal (graduate school,
on to more educational goals, etc.) but can you break it down into a more specific
goal? How about graduate school with a 3.5 GPA, or setting the goal of exactly how
to get into a higher branch of education before graduating? That is a specific goal
which can be broken down in chunks.
Measurable is knowing how long it will take to complete each task. Let's
continue to use the example of getting into college. A good task here would be to
check in with your guidance counselor to measure how well you are currently doing
in school and take the steps necessary to ensure that you will graduate, including
a math tutor or some help with English. That way there will be no surprises when
you take a look at your year end grades.
Attainable is where you get into whether or not the college you want is right
for you. What kind of grades do you need to get in? Can you do it? Maybe you could
set your sights higher? In life we often set our expectations too high in personal
areas, and too low in academic ones.
Realistic is easy. You've probably got someone over your shoulder telling
you if your goals are realistic. Writing out the time line and showing it to a friend
or counselor can be a big help in determining how to set up realistic goals. A word
of caution here: do not confuse realistic with mediocre. You may have goals, which
on the surface looked to be outrageous, but if they are realistic to you they may
very well be attainable. It was never “realistic” for Thomas Edison to invent the
electric light bulb in the sense of what was known were easily achievable-- yet
for him it was "realistic" based on what he wanted to accomplish.
Tangible is about being able to measure your performance and see the results.
Celebrate when you get to this part of your goal setting. Put a picture of what
your future could look like when you meet your goals on your wall and look at it
with optimism every day.
You can do it!
