Set SMART goals

How do you know what kind of goals to set? The whole point of setting goals, after all, is to achieve them. It does you no good to go through the trouble of brainstorming, evaluating the needs of your business or personal life and burning up precious time, only to end up with goals that are not acted on or completed.

The best goals are SMART goals. SMART is a handy acronym for the five characteristics of well-designed goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. So, how do you set SMART goals for your business or personal life?

Specific – A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. Your goals should be straightforward and emphasize what you want to happen. Specifics will help you to focus on your efforts and clearly define what you are going to do. To set a SMART goal answer the three W’ questions:

1. WHAT are you going to do? Use action words such as organize, coordinate, develop, plan, build etc.

2. WHY is this important to do at that time? What do you ultimately want to accomplish?

3. HOW are you going to do it? (By doing)

Ensure the goals you set are very specific, clear and easy. Instead of setting a goal to network, set a specific goal to attend two networking events.

Measurable – Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.

To determine if your goal is measurable, ask HOW questions, e.g. How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished? Here’s an example: