How to Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals

My reading challenge 2020 as an example

We are at the end of the year. A new decade is coming soon — well, in 2021. But some people do consider 2020 as the start of a new decade. No matter what, it is the right time to review the old year/decade's achievements. And set some new goals for 2020 — the new year, for some, the new decade.

It´s the time of the year to make some new year's resolutions. Or setting goals for the next 12 months. How I like to call it. Goal setting is “the object or aim of an action, for example, to attain a specific standard of proficiency, usually within a specified time limit.”, according to Latham & Locke (2002, p.705). A lot of research has been done, and literature published about the topic “Goal Setting.”

Here is my take on it. Goals play an important role in my life for years now. Having needed to finance my university endeavor myself, it was necessary to learn efficiency. I started to pass exams at the university quickly. Any mistake, and I would have ended up broke with some debt cashed in. So I needed that degree coming in as quickly as possible. In those days, a master's degree was almost a guarantee to a higher-paid job.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his motivational video, describes it's apparent. If you don´t have a vision and if you don´t have goals— you drift around. Goals help me focus my time and resources on moving my life in the direction I want it to be. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Just moving forward.

Goals are a great way to hold myself accountable for my progress. Whenever something doesn´t go the way I wanted it to be, I can review my actions and check how they impact my progress towards achieving goals. It´s a great way to take the necessary learnings from the inevitable failures in life.

How to set goals

My favorite method is S.M.A.R.T Goals. S.M.A.R.T is an acronym that stands for:

• Specific: Well defined, clear, and unambiguous
• Measurable: With specific criteria that measure your progress towards the accomplishment of the goal
• Achievable: Attainable and not impossible to achieve
• Realistic: Within reach, realistic, and relevant to your life purpose
• Timely: With a clearly defined timeline, including a starting date and a target date. The purpose is to create urgency.

It´s a clear and simple method to bring structure to one's goals. What´s behind it?

Specific

Specific goals have a significantly greater chance of being accomplished. To make a goal specific, the five “W” questions must be considered:

1. Who: Who is involved in this goal?
2. What: What do I want to accomplish?
3. Where: Where is this goal to be achieved?
4. When: When do I want to achieve this goal?
5. Why: Why do I want to achieve this goal?

For example, a general goal would be “I want to read more.” A more specific goal would be “I will read one new book per week.”

Measurable

A goal needs to be clearly measurable. It´s necessary to define criteria that quantify whether actions lead towards a goal or in a different, not necessarily wanted direction.

In the book example, it is already in there. In 2020 I will read one book per week.

Attainable or achievable

There are goals. And there are dreams. It´s the part in which we distinguish visions from goals. What was a vision yesterday might be a goal tomorrow? But for today far too big. Looking at the money, it would be a sound vision to beat Jeff Bezos's net worth when someone has no money at all. It still is attractive and achievable in a lifetime. Otherwise, Jeff Bezos wouldn´t be there. And as we see — for Jeff, it needed to build Amazon to achieve that goal.

Attainability is always in the eye of the beholder. When we look at the list of the richest people globally, beating Jeff Bezos might be a suitable goal for Bill Gates in 2020, whereas it might be far too big for someone with savings of 10,000 euros.

In my picture of reading, is a book per week attainable? I love reading. Since I got an iPhone, I was more into websites and magazines. It´s just a shift from one device to another. Not so much browsing google, but more picking up a book — physical or Kindle.

Realistic

This again is something that lies in the eye of the beholder — not a coach or consultant. I wrote down the goal during my coaching education — I want to run a marathon every month. It was out of reach for many people. It was just too big for their mindsets. Well, ultimately, I did it.

Thus, A SMART goal must be realistic in that the goal can be realistically achieved given the available resources and time. A SMART goal is likely realistic if you believe that it can be accomplished. Ask yourself:

1. Is the goal realistic and within reach?
2. Is the goal reachable given the time and resources?
3. Are you able to commit to achieving the goal?

Timely

Finally, a goal must have a clear start date and an end date. It is like a task in a project plan. Having dates defined, resources, and potentially broken down into single steps already.

Building on the book goal: I will read 52 books in 2020. A book is completed when I have written a review on medium. I call it #readingchallenge2020

Putting it into Practice

Mind the language

This is not part of the S.M.A.R.T method, but something I highly recommend: minding the language. It makes a huge difference for the mind whether a goal is described.

“I will try reading 52 books in 2020” or “ I will read 52 books in 2020”. Also, framing the goal from the future gives an additional boost. “In 2020, I will have read 52 books”. Talking from the perspective of January 2021.

Once a goal is set up in mind, it is important to write it down. At least a single sentence like “By the end of 2020, I will have read 52 books” is completing the process. Ideally, this goal is printed out and posted at a place seen several times per day. Some coaching clients paint their goals or write a story around them.

For corporate goals, it could be written in a company presentation for employees and emphasizes daily. Walk the talk. It increases the stakes of achieving the goals.

Having said that. In the process of writing the article, I have phrased out my goal for the #readingchallenge2020:

By the end of 2020, I will have accomplished reading 52 books. Each book will have a review written by me on Medium.

It´s printed out in my bedroom. So whenever I go to bed, it reminds me to read a few pages.

What is your goal for 2020?

When editing this article in February 2021, I can look back at about 60 books read. The method works well, but I was lazy on the sub-goals of writing a review on Medium to each book. Something I want to improve in 2021.

Check out

• my other profiles,
• sign up for my newsletter,
• subscribe to my medium profile for frequent updates,
• or sign up to medium to support the writer’s community.