The Design Lounge

S.M.A.R.T. Goal Setting – a must for every business!

How to set clear and helpful goals
The setting of clear goals is a valuable skill which anyone would do well to master. So how do you go about goal setting and what are SMART goals? Briefly and in the most widely used form SMART goals are:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-based

The purpose of setting goals in this way is to help clarify them as much as possible and in this way increase the chances of achieving them. You can learn this simple and important skill easily and use it in your own personal and corporate planning. This worksheet by Cornerstone will be very useful in giving you a good start in developing this skill.   After some time of using this you will find that it comes naturally and you will be able to do it without much effort.

Writing smart goals gets easier the more you do it. When you are just starting out it can be a little difficult to develop them. These ten tips, in addition to the other material you will find on this site on goals, will help you to set your goals with ease whether they are personal or business goals.

10 Tips to Writing S.M.A.R.T. Goals

1. Have a personal or corporate mission and vision statement
Having a personal or corporate mission will greatly assist you in making your goals coherent and relevant. If you do not know where you are headed in the long term your goals are likely to be less focused. In addition, you may find that though you achieve your goals, your progress may not be noticeable or may not make a huge difference in the long run as the goals may not be related.

2. Break complex goals into smaller goals
The larger your goal is the more daunting it may appear and the less realistic it may seem that you can achieve it. Breaking such a goal into smaller sub goals and activities will help to keep it in perspective and be less frightening.

3. Do not use negatives in your goals
Negative words have a detrimental effect on our motivation and perception of things. In fact your mind is more likely to do something that is put in the negative rather than avoid it.  For instance, rather than saying “I am not smoking for the next 2 months” you would be better off saying “I am free from smoking for the next 2 months” or even better “I am breathing only clean and fresh air for the next 2 months.”

4. Keep the tone positive
This ties in well with avoiding using negatives. When writing SMART goals, keep the tone of your goals positive and optimistic. This reinforces the feeling that they are achievable.

5. Use verbs
Verbs are action words. Try to include actions when writing SMART goals. The use of words that make you think in terms of pictures and actions is a good way to give life and energy to your goals.

6. Use the present tense for more power
Phrase the goal as if you have already achieved it in the present tense. For example:“I now weigh 60 kilos which is the ideal weight for me because I exercise for an hour three times a week”  There is nothing better than the feeling of  having already attained something to spur you on.

7. Think big, but start small
If you have a very big goal it may be a good idea to start with a smaller goal and then make it bigger once you achieved the smaller goal.

For example, suppose you want to build a business that earns you a million dollars every year. That may be too huge a goal to have right from the start. So you could instead break it down into a 5 year series of goal to earn incremental sums of money each year. This could be 100,000 the first year, 300,000 the second year, 600,000 the third, 800,0000 the fourth and then finally 1,000,000 in the fifth year.

As you achieve the goal you set every year your confidence grows and so does your experience and knowledge about your business, not to mention your contacts and opportunities.

8. Stretch yourself
When writing SMART goals stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone. Setting goals in this way ensures that you stay motivated. Goals that can be easily achieved eventually become boring and uninspiring. So if earning 10,000 dollars is something you can now do with your eyes closed then you need to push your goal to earning 15,000 or 20,000 dollars.  The challenge will keep you more focused and energised.

9. Limit yourself to a few goals at a time
Setting too many goals is just as good as setting no goals at all.

It will simply overwhelm you and you won’t know where to start. If you find yourself with too many goals to work on it is a good idea to prioritise them. Choose the ones that are most important to what you want to achieve and focus on them. A mission or vision statement will go a long way in helping you to prioritise and decide what is most important when writing SMART goals.

When you have achieved these you can then move on to the others.

5 – 7  goals at a time is a good guide to use, but assess yourself personally in terms of what you can handle and the magnitude of each individual goal.

10. Share your goals with someone
Share your goals with someone who will encourage you as well as help to keep you on track to achieving them.

We all get discouraged along the way and so it is important to have someone know about your goals so they can help you when you are down and celebrate with you when you are up.

Stay tuned for the next series in March “Beyond Goal Setting, Taking Action”

Ref: Cornerstone Executive Life Coaching
Ref: Project Management Methodologies