The Power of SMART Goals: A Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Achievable Objectives

In all likelihood you have heard the phrase, “Fail to plan, plan to fail,” or something similar to that. A very quick Google search will reveal that Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” (according to Goodreads.com) or “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” (according to deliberatedirections.com). In the end, good old Ben probably said something slightly different, but that is what made it through history (a longitudinal game of “Telephone,” so to speak). Regardless of what was actually said, the idea behind it is true. Success happens when you plan for it.

If you want to be successful at something, you need to plan for it. Until you make a plan, you are just wishing and hoping something will happen. Success requires action and effective actions require planning. I can think, “Gosh, I would love to go to England someday.” I might even be a little more detailed and think, “I would like to go to England before I retire.” These are lovely thoughts, but that is all they are…thoughts.

Effective planning requires many different steps, but the first thing you must have is a goal. Looking back on the travel goal from a few moments ago, you cannot plan a trip if you do not know where you are going.  It is all well and good to get in the car and start driving, but if you do not have a destination in mind, you will certainly never get there. Put another way, Stephen Covey, in his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, suggests that one of the habits is to “ begin with the end in mind.” In product design, we might refer to it as reverse engineering. Regardless of how you look at it, effective planning starts with a goal.

And not just any goal, the effectiveness of your plan is largely shaped by the clarity with which you can identify the goal.

I have spent many years in the field of education, and a large part of my work with my future educators is helping them develop effective lesson plans. Lesson plans are the backbone of good instruction, and the backbone of well-crafted lesson plans are, you guessed it, high-quality goals.

So, whether you are creating an engaging lesson, planning a travel excursion, thinking about a career change, or preparing for a financial goal, you are going to need a strongly crafted goal if you want to be successful.

By now, you should be thinking,  “I get it already, I need a goal!” But you should also be thinking, “How do I know if I have a high-quality goal?” I am so glad you asked. Years in education have taught me a great acrostic for structuring goals…you need to make them SMART goals.

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S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Specific – The more specific the better. I want to travel to Europe…Well, Europe is a big place. Specific would be, I want to spend 3 weeks in Europe where I will spend 2-3 days in Florence, 2 days in the Alsatian region of France, 3 days in Munich, and 4 days in Vienna, Austria. The specificity of the goal allows you to pinpoint exactly what you are planning for. I want more money is certainly a goal, but what does more mean? Start with something broad and keep asking yourself to be more specific. Where, what, why, when, and how are great question prompts to help clarify.

Measurable – If you can’t measure a goal, how will you know when you have achieved the goal? Think about it this way, “I want to make more money.” What does more money mean? More than you have now? How much is more? When will you know you have made more money? As you are looking at your goal, you should be able to clearly define when you have achieved your goal and that can only happen if it is measurable. After all, the best part of goal setting is being able to celebrate when you achieve a goal. If it is not measurable, you will not know when you get there and you will not be able to celebrate.

Attainable – Attainable means that you should be able to reach your goal. This does NOT mean that it will be easy. A well-crafted goal should make you stretch beyond where you are today.  But it can not be so far of a stretch that you may not be able to make it.  More importantly, you have to believe it is attainable. If you do not believe something is attainable and you have it as a goal, then every time you review your goal, in the back of your mind, you will be thinking, “Yeah right…” For example, I can have a goal that I want to be a downhill ski instructor. Now, this is attainable for some, but I have a significant aversion to strapping boards to my feet and jumping off a mountain. Either I have to get over my aversion, or no amount of effective goal-setting and planning will enable me to achieve this goal. It is simply not attainable. When you are considering if a goal is attainable, remember that if you put your mind to it, you can do anything, but are you willing to commit the resources? If not, then the goal might not be attainable.

Relevant – Does the goal matter to you? If it does not, then you will not likely achieve it and what is more, it is not a smart goal. Each goal you have has to be relevant to where you are trying to go. This particular concept can be challenging. It requires that you ask yourself hard questions about what you want. You may think you want to lose weight. You can engage in goal setting and creating a plan. But if you are not invested in reducing your snacking, then the goal of losing weight may not be truly relevant to you. Think about what really matters to you. Each goal you set has to align, or be relevant, to the priorities in your life.

Time-Bound – This is where the rubber hits the road, my friends. Most people function differently under a deadline. Setting a clock on a goal gives it importance. And it gives you a concrete marker to evaluate the success of the goal. For example, “I want to earn $300 per month driving for Uber.” By when? If you want to earn $300/month driving for Uber by 2027, that is very different than saying “I want to earn $300/month driving for Uber in the next 3 months. You will work very differently towards each of those goals. And how would it be different if you just said, “I want to earn $300/month driving for Uber.” By when? What motivation do you have to get there? If you do not care when you achieve the goal, you are less likely to work toward the goal.

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There you have it, SMART goals. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Think about some goals you have right now, are they SMART? I believe that each of us is capable of doing anything we put our energy behind. However, without the benefit of SMART goals, you are much less likely to achieve those goals. Go out there and try implementing the SMART goal process and see what a difference it makes in your success rate. Even if you do not achieve the goal on the first attempt, having the SMART goals will allow you to analyze what happened and develop an even stronger plan the next time. Go out there and make it happen!