A Quick Guide Into the Art of Effective Goal Setting

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rticulars:</p><h2 id="c2b6">S — Specific</h2><p id="fe48">Your goal must be specific. A vague goal has no place in your life. It only serves to distract and dilute your efforts. Do not set a goal like “I want to get rich soon.” Instead, consider something like “I want to make $1,000 in the next two months,” or “I will launch my own website and seek to create passive income.” The difference between the second and third examples when compared to the first one is distinct. With the second and third goals, you know exactly what you want and even perhaps, know how you intend to get it. That is exactly how to set a goal — definite, precise, and specific.</p><h2 id="6f97">M — Measurable</h2><p id="a454">Always endeavor to choose goals that you can measure and track easily. Try to break your plans for reaching your goals into phases. Set milestones or breakpoints that allow you to monitor your progress. It is not good enough to have a goal and be unable to say in explicit terms how far along you have come in completing it.</p><h2 id="8e6a">A — Attainable</h2><p id="4324">Make your goals big yet attainable. Establish the difference between difficulty and impossibility. Unless you acquire fins, for instance, you cannot break the world record in swimming if you do not even know how to swim now. Think big, dream big, but be practical.</p><h2 id="678d">R — Relevant</h2><p id="e13f">A goal may be big, attainable but

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may be irrelevant to you and society as a whole. Make sure that what you are after is something you are interested in or have a passion for. If your goals are not relevant to you, you will end up extracting only a tiny bit of satisfaction from them.</p><h2 id="25ee">T — Time-bound</h2><p id="05b9">Until you start thinking of your goal in finite terms, you have not started at all. A goal without a time limit remains only a dream. Imposing a time limit springs you into action without the dangers of procrastination.</p><p id="69cf">The only thing worse than having no goals is working toward the wrong goals since they may lead you on a fruitless merry-go-round. Andrew Carnegie said it best when he stated,</p><p id="91ed" type="7">“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.”</p><p id="df4c">Take notice of this advice. What is the worst that could happen?</p><h1 id="177a">Join Medium With Our Referral Link</h1><p id="eb16">If you enjoy reading stories like these and want to support our work, consider signing up to become a Medium member. For $5 a month, you can gain unlimited access to thousands of writers across the platform. We’ll also receive a small commission. Just click the link below to get started.</p><p id="e9d5"><a href="https://jaleelnicole.medium.com/membership">https://jaleelnicole.medium.com/membership</a></p></article></body>

Let’s get straight to the point. You should utilize SMART.

Not everyone knows how to set goals, and keep them. Many try to set goals but end up choosing them for the wrong reasons at the wrong time. They end up finding out that goals contain guidelines that must be met and satisfied before they can be deemed productive and positive.

Goal setting is subjective and specific to each individual. There is no blanket rule or manual for setting goals. It all depends on individual likes and dislikes and the particular circumstances in question.

With this in mind, I provide the “SMART” checklist for assessing the goals you have created. If they do not meet the requirements of this checklist, it may be prudent and wise for you to adjust them immediately or write new goals that do. The “SMART” checklist is increasingly particular among young entrepreneurs, writers, and upstarts.

SMART is an acronym for the five most important things to check a goal against before you declare it worthwhile and chase-worthy. Let us break it down into particulars:

S — Specific

Your goal must be specific. A vague goal has no place in your life. It only serves to distract and dilute your efforts. Do not set a goal like “I want to get rich soon.” Instead, consider something like “I want to make $1,000 in the next two months,” or “I will launch my own website and seek to create passive income.” The difference between the second and third examples when compared to the first one is distinct. With the second and third goals, you know exactly what you want and even perhaps, know how you intend to get it. That is exactly how to set a goal — definite, precise, and specific.

M — Measurable

Always endeavor to choose goals that you can measure and track easily. Try to break your plans for reaching your goals into phases. Set milestones or breakpoints that allow you to monitor your progress. It is not good enough to have a goal and be unable to say in explicit terms how far along you have come in completing it.

T — Time-bound

Until you start thinking of your goal in finite terms, you have not started at all. A goal without a time limit remains only a dream. Imposing a time limit springs you into action without the dangers of procrastination.

The only thing worse than having no goals is working toward the wrong goals since they may lead you on a fruitless merry-go-round. Andrew Carnegie said it best when he stated,

“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.”

Take notice of this advice. What is the worst that could happen?

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